Quote:
Originally Posted by Ididitmyway
It's about HOW they terminate, and I assert that therapist's position requires them to conduct termination with utmost respect for the client even if they hate the client's guts. They should never communicate to the client in any way, implicitly or explicitly, that the termination is somehow the client's fault. "I no longer feel I am competent enough to work with your specific problems" is one of the appropriate ways to phrase it when break the news to the client and this is the only objectively truthful reason for termination. No matter how difficult the client may be, the difficulty they present only means that the therapist came to his/her limitations and should honestly acknowledge that and refer client to someone more competent to attend to client's unique needs.
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Agree about how termination is handled being critical. For me it was termination and its aftermath that was most significant part of it all, and most damaging.
But even if termination IS done for valid reasons, IS handled with utmost care, and referrals ARE given, that still leaves the client potentially in a terrible bind if they are destabilized by the rupture.
What if the client ends up in a state of near suicidal despair despite a reasonably well handled termination? Is the T ethically obligated, whether according to ethical codes or not, to reconsider termination or to offer some level of help? Or are they absolved of responsibility? My T seemed to feel that once the termination had been carried out, I was on my own.
Maybe she was not best equipped but is that ALWAYS better than abrupt termination? Maybe continuing in some fashion to a safe point IS better in some cases?
And I think Ts get let off the hook rather easily, by just saying they can't help. Even good intentions and well handled termination can become a smokescreen behind which the T can hide from the fundamental failure of the process, and then just slip away.
Also, what seems to be rarely acknowledged is that if a client is traumatized by therapy or by a painful termination rupture -- even if it is handled with some measure of care -- they might well find it difficult if not impossible to trust the process again and so their ability to get support is now hindered. In my case the whole basis of termination was that I would quickly and easily be rescued by one of ex T's referrals. But the inherent danger and flaws that led to such distress with my previous T were there waiting with other Ts. I have given up for now, and am left to pick up the pieces on my own, though I will likely make another attempt to find someone to talk to.