What the Termination of Therapy Process Looks Like

In most therapeutic relationships, there comes a point when the termination of therapy process is initiated—either  by a client or a therapist-initiated termination—and therapy needs to come to an end.

Despite being relatively commonplace and inevitable, terminating therapy with a client can be challenging—especially if you don’t know what steps to take. You may ask yourself therapy termination reflection questions, such as: How do you tell them? When do you tell them? And how do you end things on a positive note?

Let’s take a look at everything you need to know about the termination of therapy process—and how to end therapy in the best way possible, for both you and your client.

When do you terminate therapy with a client?

Before we jump into how to terminate therapy with a client, let’s quickly touch on when therapists should start the termination of therapy process.

One reason for a therapist-initiated termination is that the client is emotionally ready to be done with therapy. 

“In the best circumstances, therapy termination occurs when the client has met their treatment goals and is no longer in need of services,” says Courtney Hebdon, LCSW and Director of Clinical Quality and Client Safety at Thriveworks.

But not every therapist-initiated termination happens because a client is ready to move on. According to Hebdon, there may be other valid reasons a clinician might terminate a therapeutic relationship—including job changes for the clinician, the client may need a specific kind of therapy the clinician does not offer, or the client needs more or less intensive services than are offered.

In other situations, the client may have their own reasons for ending therapy—for example, relocation, financial challenges, or not feeling the therapist is the right fit for them—and, as such, opt to end the therapeutic relationship.

Whatever the reason, there are steps you can take to have a successful therapy termination.

Let’s take a look at some best practices for the termination of therapy process.

Talk about termination early and often

If you want the termination process to go smoothly, you don’t want the first time the client hears about termination to be when you’re ending the relationship. 

The more time you give clients to acclimate to the idea that therapy will end, the more prepared they will be when that ending comes—which is why it’s so important to talk about termination early and often.

“When a therapist is initially meeting with a new client, it can help to talk with them directly about how your work together will end one day,” says psychologist Jenna Brownfield, PhD. “This helps set the expectation that termination will happen at some point, and that it can be something you talk about together in therapy.”

In addition to bringing up termination early, it’s also important to discuss the termination of therapy process as your clients progress through treatment. This way, you can  help them plan ways to support themselves and their mental health long-term—-even after the therapeutic relationship ends.

“As clients make progress and become settled into their happier new normal, begin conversations about maintenance and independent self-improvement,” Hebdon says.

Bottom line? Talking to your clients about termination early and often allows them “to mentally and emotionally prepare for the culmination of…[the] professional relationship,” says Raffaello Antonino, counseling psychologist and clinical director and founder of Therapy Central. 

Let the client know about the termination of therapy process

While it’s important to normalize conversations around terminating therapy from the get-go, when you actually make the decision to move forward with a therapist-initiated termination, it’s important to let the client know.

Keep in mind, though, that this shouldn’t be a one-sided conversation. Instead, Antonino recommends you “open a dialogue with the client about ending the therapy—and see how they feel and where they stand.”

This is an opportunity to ask the client how they feel about their progress, evaluate their readiness to terminate the therapeutic relationship, and ensure they’re on board to move forward. 

“When the clinician feels the client is ready, they should begin the discussion of therapy termination with the client, ensuring they feel good about their progress and are ready to fly solo,” says Hebdon.

If the client is on the same page, great. You can work together to develop a therapy termination process that works for both of you. And if not, you can have deeper conversations with the client to understand their resistance to ending therapy, help them become more comfortable with the termination of therapy process, and offer support to prepare them for the end of the therapeutic relationship—for example, by reducing the frequency of sessions.

Schedule termination sessions

Unless there is an emergency or a real threat to the therapist and/or client, you should avoid ending therapy abruptly. Instead, you’ll want to schedule termination sessions to provide closure and end the therapy process on a positive note.

The termination session therapy activities you include in your session will depend on both your client and the reason you’re terminating therapy. For example, if you’re terminating therapy because the client is in a good place and ready to move on, you might spend the session reflecting on how far they’ve come. 

“My favorite thing to do with clients in a termination session is to review where they were when they came in, and give a broad overview of how I see their progress having occurred,” Hebdon says. “This is often really eye-opening for the client.”

On the other hand, if you’re terminating therapy because you’re moving and are referring the client to a new clinician, your termination session would likely look different. 

“These kinds of terminations should still include a termination session, but the content of that session is about looking forward to a new provider and assessing further needs rather than looking back,” says Hebdon.

When planning your termination sessions, it’s also important to consider how much time you—and the client—will need to wrap things up. 

There isn’t a one-size-fits-all solution for how to terminate therapy with a client and how many sessions they’ll need during the termination of therapy process. To ensure a positive end to therapy, it’s important to use both your professional judgment as a therapist and your knowledge about the client to determine how many termination sessions would be appropriate.

“It is important to give clients time for termination because it helps reduce potential harm to them, allows them the opportunity to synthesize their work in therapy with you, and can leave them with a positive view of therapy as a whole,” says Brownfield. “This, in turn, makes them more likely to seek therapy again in the future.”

Partner with the client to terminate therapy in a way that works for them

As mentioned, there’s no universal framework for a terminating therapy—what works for one client and therapist may fall flat for another. So, if you want to set yourself up for success, consider getting your client involved in co-creating the topics and objectives of termination sessions that will work for them.

“It can be meaningful to collaborate with the client leading up to the final session about how they want to structure the termination session,” Brownfield says. 

For example, some clients may want to keep their final session light, while others might be more emotional and want to share a goodbye letter or a poem that summarizes their experiences in therapy. Some clients may want to spend their last session reflecting on their success—while others may want to review and practice the coping tools and strategies they learned along the way.

The point is, by giving clients a say in how therapy ends, you can ensure that it ends in a way that works for them.

“Allowing clients to brainstorm and collaborate with you on what kind of goodbye rituals would be important for them helps ensure that things end on a positive note,” says Brownfield.

Offer resources and leave the door open

Finally, as you’re wrapping up the termination of therapy process, it’s important to “offer clients references for future needs,” says Antonino. 

When applicable, you should also let the client know that the door is open if they ever want or need to return to therapy.

“Termination, I believe, isn’t an end—it’s a new chapter,” says Antonino. “And a positive termination experience ensures clients know that they can always return if new challenges arise.”

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