Termination of Therapy Letter Sample and Process
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Learning how to terminate a therapeutic relationship is an essential component of being a behavioral health clinician. We’ve created a termination of therapy letter sample, along with a step-by-step guide to help you through the termination of therapy.
Whether a therapist-initiated termination or client-led, finding the right termination of therapy letter sample can make life easier by clearly laying out the termination of therapy process to your client.
Use our termination of therapy letter sample in your own practice when you need to end a therapeutic relationship with a client.
What to know about the termination of the therapy process
The final stage of a therapeutic intervention is the termination of therapy stage.
Ending a therapeutic relationship can be emotionally taxing, which is why it’s important to ensure that the relationship ends in a helpful rather than harmful way, even if the relationship ends abruptly.
While it is often the goal to end therapy on mutually-agreeable terms and leave the therapeutic “door” open, there may be times when termination will end any future interactions.
Reasons for termination of therapy
There are several reasons why someone might choose to terminate therapy.
The reasons behind termination of therapy broadly fall into four categories:
Forced termination
- The therapist was a student on a practicum and returned to college.
- The therapy was a short-term intervention, like crisis intervention in a school setting.
- In a group therapy scenario, the group may have run its scheduled course and come to a natural end.
Client-initiated termination
- The client feels they have benefitted from the therapeutic process and wants to take a break.
- A change in therapist is requested by the client. Perhaps they feel more aligned with a different clinician and want to end their current therapeutic relationship.
Therapist-initiated termination
- Natural completion. This occurs when the therapist believes that the client has made substantial progress toward addressing their therapeutic goals, or has noticed a reduction or elimination of symptoms that they attended their initial session with.
- Conflict of interest concerns. A clinician may become aware of a situation in which there is a conflict of interest, such as already being the therapist of a close family member or partner of the client. In this instance, the therapist would be in conflict by providing services to both clients and would have to refer the second client to another therapist.
- Dual-relationship concerns. A therapist cannot engage in a dual-relationship with clients, which is against their code of ethics. For example, a therapist cannot employ, become friends with, or date a person they provide behavioral health services to. They would be obliged to terminate the relationship and refer the client to another therapist.
Safety considerations
While therapists are well-versed in dealing with a range of behavioral health issues, such as domestic violence, there may be occasions when the therapist needs to make a referral if they believe the safety of the client or their immediate family is at risk from the client’s behavior or actions.
Therapists may also assess the need for a client to see a specialist, who is more experienced addressing the issues the client is facing—for example, an obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD) specialist for those struggling with more severe, or life altering behaviors associated with OCD.
They may also need to terminate the relationship if they believe their own safety is at risk.
Tips for successful termination of therapy
There are several steps behavioral health practitioners can that to ease the termination process, such as:
- Set clear goals at the beginning of the therapeutic relationship. Establish how long your client wants to engage in therapy and how you’ll recognize those goals have been achieved.
- Check in regularly about the client’s goals and progress throughout sessions.
- Regularly review the therapeutic relationship and ensure that it remains beneficial to the client.
- Reinforce the right of the client to end the relationship when they feel they have achieved their goals.
- Set a date for termination when it is appropriate and remind the client of how many sessions they have before that date to keep sessions focused.
- Seek feedback from clients to understand their point of view on your skills as a clinician and incorporate them into your practice and supervision.
Termination of therapy letter sample
Below is a therapy termination letter sample you can use in your own practice.
Download the full termination of therapy letter sample as a PDF above so you can edit it according to your specific situation.
Dear [Client’s name],
As we discussed during the last several sessions, it is clear to me:
Sample language for reasons (select the relevant reason):
- That our ongoing work together has not been beneficial to you.
- You have consistently missed appointments.
- Your interactions with me have threatened my personal safety.
- You have indicated your wish to terminate services with me.
- Our group work has come to its agreed end date.
- I have become aware of a conflict of interest dual-relationship.
It is my ethical mandate to appropriately discontinue therapy if it is no longer helping my clients. As such, I strongly believe it to be in your best interest for us to end our work together.
I am providing you with the names and contact information of several psychotherapists. Each of these professionals is licensed, has training and experience in their field, and is located nearby to you. I hope you will contact them and make arrangements to begin treatment with one of them.
- Name/Degree/License/Phone/Area of expertise
- Name/Degree/License/Phone/Area of expertise
- Name/Degree/License/Phone/Area of expertise
If you would like me to discuss your situation and our treatment with them—and will give me written permission to do so—I would be happy to speak to them. If you run into any difficulties, let me know and I will be happy to help you in this transition in any way I can.
If you feel it’s necessary, I will meet with you up to [#] more times to assist you during this time of transition. Please feel free to discuss these issues, or any others that concern you, during our remaining upcoming meetings.
Best,
[Your Name]
[Your Practice’s Name]
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