Ending a therapeutic relationship

[kaleda]

Hello.

I would like to know what people think about how a psychotherapeutic relationship should end, from a therapeutic, ethical and legal persepective?

Or is there a concise description of how psychotherapy should end?

And this includes:
1. when the psychotherapy is ended because the psychotherapist's style and methods are not effective any more and the patient and psychotherapist is not seeing changes.

or

2. when psychotherapy is ended because the goals have been met.

I'm not asking for specific advice on how to achieve anything for my self I'm just wondering if there are rules on how to end a therapeutic relationship.

[cognitive]

Legally, the patient has the right to end the therapy anytime he considers appropriate without having to give any explanation for that .

Ethically, a relation may end due to the therapist not respecting the ethical code of the profession ( like giving  information about the patient to a third part without his consent , or falling in love with the patient etc ...) .

If everything goes well, the relationship should end when the goals stated in the contract are achieved .

[corwin137]

Am always a fan of recommending my "hero" Sheldon Kopp, who wrote a book with some great stuff on this subject called "Back to One".  It's a tome about doing therapy in a private practice context, beginning, middle, and end.  It's outta print, but can be found on Amazon.

[Shell]

The book sounds interesting, I read a couple of the reviews!

I do believe (and I'm not speaking with experience as a psychologist, but as a patient) if you or your client decide to end the relationship, that recommending or giving the patient tools that will keep him/her on track to bettering themselves.

When I left my first therapist due to a change in assignment, she gave me relaxation cd's that she had put together for me, and some "reminder" booklets on PTSD and depression.  Those things helped me cope with my issues while I was on my own.  And I was given her e-mail address in case I needed recommendations for another therapist in the area I was heading to.

Of course, that may not always be fitting depending on the reason for terminating the relationship, but if you are ending on good terms then I think it is good to let your patient leave knowing they will be okay.

[SWM]

in my counselling training i was taught that planned endings are best. when therapy has taken place and a client has made the changes they wanted to make, an agreed ending session that focuses on consolidating therapy and also saying goodbyes is beneficial for client and therapist. in practice this rarely happens cancellations and non-attendence are more common. this seems to be truer in private practice where client is paying for every session. this is my experience anyway. in counselling endings are something that are sensed at a certain point in the therapeutic process either by the client or therapist and they are worked out from then.

i am learrning different in CBT. endings are planned from the first session. the endings are agreed early on in therapy and worked towards from the beginning. CBT is more structured and goal directed than counselling there is definite agendas which are agreed and maintained for therapy to be effective.

i dont have enough experience to comment on how successful this yet.

[oujdaboy]

It's hard these days to find a good psy !? in my own opinion

[WildChild]

Yah. its really hard to find a good psy....