My T will probably retire in the next few years, and I'm okay with that. I've had two other wonderful therapists in the past that I had to end with due to other circumstances, and what I found is that it is possible to move on and there are other therapists to be found if needed.

No relationship is permanent, as much as we'd like them to be. People change, move, retire, and die. Having been through losing my sister, by far the greatest loss I've ever experienced, I've learned that grief is part of the experience of life. And honestly, I can't imagine for a minute that losing my therapist would in any way be as painful as losing my sister. Perspective helps.

I'm honestly more worried about replacing my pdoc once he retires (he and T are about the same age). He will be much harder to find an equivalent for than my therapists. Pdocs are hard to get into in the first place; really excellent pdocs are even harder to find.