My h has joked (but was sort of serious too) that I'll need to be in therapy forever. I asked my t if that was true, and she said, she thinks it's a possibility that, unless i make some good friends i am close to and can confide in, i may always need some kind of supportive therapeutic relationship.

Having said that, i wouldn't want to have any other t than my current t. So whenever she decides that she doesn't want to be a t anymore, i would probably terminate. Whether i started again with somebody new would depend on how well i was able to manage the termination and my own stability.

It takes me so incredibly long to trust a t (10 years so far) that i can't imagine starting out with somebody new all over again.

I do think that the overall goal of therapy is for the client to regain wellness and be able to terminate. But i also think there are exceptions to the rule, and it really is very individualized and depends on many factors. Therapy should never just become a chat session. If there's no pressing issues to work on, then terminating or going to monthly maintenance sessions may be appropriate. But some people simply need to continue therapy for an indefinite period of time.

I personally think i would benefit from therapy indefinitely, but I would hope one day to cut it down to monthly maintenance sessions. I can't see the day when i wouldn't need it at all anymore, but who knows?