[Ad Intra]

I fill like I'm finished with therapy. How do I bring up termination?

[Deeplyhurt77]

I had to do end therapy with a therapist since she was telling personal things and acting more like a friend. And to religious. So this should be easier for you, you just explain reasons why you feel like termination..and stick to your guns

[CantExplain]

If you're not sufficiently confident of your relationship to bring up termination, maybe you are not ready to terminate?

[guilloche]

How good has your therapist been?

I think, with really good therapists, you just... do. Talk to them about WHY you feel like you're approaching the end. Give some thought to what YOU need to feel good about ending - do you want to taper down? Set an end date? Just quit right now (hmm... watch out though, that can be a sign that you're avoiding something!). Do you want the option to check in, or to come back if things get rough? This is a great time to figure all that out, and talk about what you want/need.

A good therapist will work with you on this stuff. They might talk to you about your options, your future plans, or if they think you still need therapy - but they shouldn't pressure you to stay with them. That's a red flag to me.

If they're NOT a good therapist (which doesn't sound like what you're talking about) - I'm all for calling, cancelling sessions, and just not returning. You need to make sure the message gets to them though, so you don't get billed as a no-show. In these cases, I usually keep it generic, either I just cancel and don't reschedule, or I say something like, "thank you for your help, but I'm planning to take a break from therapy at this point."

Good luck!

With me, it just kind of came up naturally as it was evident I was stable and really not in need of regular therapy anymore. We kind of just eased our way into less frequent sessions, and then I just stopped making appointments when I found I was ready. It wasn't a big discussion or debate of any kind; in fact, we really never planned for therapy to end. We just allowed it to end when the time was right. The word termination was never used (probably because neither of us were much into therapy-speak). What we always agreed on was that my therapy was meant to end when I was ready for it to, so when I stopped going, he never questioned my decision in any way. I actually could pick up the phone and make appointment to go back in at any time if I wish, and that seems a pretty healthy way to leave things.

[dizzydoo]

I had my last session with T today.

We had been working towards termination for a while, increasing time between sessions, but I had some bad news just before I was going to stop, which caused a setback. However I've got back on my feet now, and felt ready to stop.

We agreed that I was doing well and didn't now need to continue with therapy and talked a bit about the changes I've made and things I can do to help my mood remain stable.