A therapist should clearly lay out his or her termination policies on the very first day of therapy. It's not something most clients want to hear about or deal with and it's a scary thought, but it should be very, very clear. I think it should even be in writing.

My therapy was terminated not because it wasn't "working," but because I refused to do something he demanded I do. He knew I would not do it because we had talked about it before and he knew I was not ready, but he demanded I do it anyway or he wouldn't see me again. (By the way, he ALWAYS said he would never force me to do it. He said he would help me with it and he said he would never give up on me.)

It's not about therapy not working. It's about ending it in the most humane way possible. I know there won't always be ideal terminations, but what happens to a lot of clients is horrible and damaging and needs to be acknowledged by licensing boards more often. Of course things don't always work out and of course it isn't always ideal to continue therapy, but many therapists are so clueless and hurtful about termination that people end up worse off than ever. It needs to be discussed all along and clear that one day therapy will end and there should be clear policies about it.