Terminating Therapy

The first book of its kind to provide an in-depth approach to termination of therapy, Terminating Therapy guides you through the practical, ethical, legal, and emotional challenges of how and when to end therapy. Written for a wide range of practitioners at every level of experience, this book provides straightforward advice on ending therapy on a positive note.

With a focus on the termination of psychotherapy, this guide examines the pertinent additional training that will aid mental health professionals in providing the most financially sensible and clinically deep treatment for their clients. It covers a wide spectrum of therapy approaches, patient populations and termination strategies.

What sets off the termination of analysis and psychodynamic therapy from the variety of endings that enter into all human relationships? So asks Herbert J. Schlesinger in Endings and Beginnings: On Terminating Psychotherapy and Psychoanalysis, a work of remarkable clarity, conceptual rigor, and ingratiating readability. Schlesinger situates termination - which he understands, variously, as a phase of treatment, a treatment process, and a state of mind - within the family of "beginnings and endings" that permeate one another throughout the course of therapy. For Schlesinger, therapeutic endings cannot be aligned with the final phase of treatment; ending-phase phenomena are ongoing accompaniments of therapeutic work. They occur whenever patients achieve some portion of their treatment goals and supervene when therapy stagnates. Small wonder that an assessment of the patient's relationship to time and capacity to end therapy are key aspects of diagnostic evaluation. By linking beginning and ending phases not to the chronology of treatment but to the patient’s experience of it, Schlesinger brings revivifying insight to a host of psychodynamic concepts. Nor does he shy away from a trenchant critique of the instrumental “medical model” of psychiatric and psychotherapeutic training, which militates against the therapeutic exploration of treatment endings. Schlesinger's exemplification of how to begin treatment from the point of view of ending; his sensitive delineation of the mid-treatment "ending" crises characteristic of "vulnerable patients"; his richly woven case vignettes illustrating various "ending" contingencies and permutations - these inquiries are gems of pragmatic clinical wisdom. Endings and Beginnings distills lessons learned over the course of a half century of practicing, teaching, and supervising psychotherapy and psychoanalysis and is a gift to the profession.

The topic of terminating therapy is not one that clinicians normally consider. However, the session limits placed on clinicians by managed care require that the end of therapy be built into the treatment plan from the onset. With a focus on the termination of psychotherapy, A Clinician’s Guide examines the pertinent additional training that will aid mental health professionals in providing the most financially sensible and clinically deep treatment for their clients. Specifically, the book provides information on how to identify and understand when and how to discontinue psychological treatment with clients who have achieved sub-par results, as well as with clients who have ulterior motives such as friendship or support. The volume examines how to identify the client’s motivations early in therapy in order to better plan the course of treatment and to effectively prepare for "unplanned" terminations. It supplies important additional training in its discussions on ethical dilemmas, financial and personal consequences, and troubleshooting when it comes to engaging in termination. Offering a comprehensive and practice-focused guide from distinguished contributors, the book covers a wide spectrum of therapy approaches, patient populations and termination strategies. The book provides an in-depth look at termination by discussing various patient models, types, backgrounds, and problems, noting that with clear goals and a set course of action, the therapist will be better equipped to design a treatment that will best serve the patient’s interest.

A successful termination phase is a critically important component of psychotherapy of any orientation. The authors synthesize and evaluate the clinical, theoretical, and empirical literature on termination. They then offer their own Termination Phase Model designed to help psychotherapists understand and address the full range of both patient and therapist responses that must be considered as therapy winds down and the patient prepares for life without treatment.

Rational Emotive Behaviour Therapy (REBT) is practised all over the world and has many therapeutic, occupational and educational applications. Rational Emotive Behaviour Therapy: 100 Key Points and Techniques presents 100 main features of this system, to help therapists improve their practice. These essential points have been derived from the authors' own practice, and also from their experience as trainers and supervisors of novice rational emotive behaviour therapists. Beginning with an introduction outlining the basics of the approach, this book offers thorough coverage of all the vital topics, including: - therapeutic alliance issues - educational issues - dealing with clients' misconceptions about REBT - encouraging clients to work at change - dealing with obstacles to client change - using the system in a creative way. This concise and highly practical book will be invaluable to psychotherapists and counsellors in training and practice, ensuring comprehensive understanding of the REBT approach.

Becoming a Marriage and Family Therapist is a practical "how to" guide designed to help trainee therapists successfully bridge the gap between classroom and consulting room. Readers will learn how to apply empirically-based methods to the core tasks of therapy in order to improve competency, establish effective supervision, and deliver successful client outcomes. A practical guide to improving competency across the core tasks of therapy, based on over 40 years of observation and teaching by an internationally acclaimed author Presents treatment protocols that show how to apply therapy task guidelines to a range of empirically-supported marriage and family treatments Provides extended coverage on assessing and beginning treatment with crisis areas such as suicidal ideation, and family violence with children, elders, and spouses Suggests how supervisors can support trainees in dealing with crisis and other challenging areas, to build competence and successful delivery

Grounded in extensive research and clinical experience, this manual provides a complete guide to interpersonal psychotherapy for depressed adolescents (IPT-A). IPT-A is an evidence-based brief intervention designed to meet the specific developmental needs of teenagers. Clinicians learn how to educate adolescents and their families about depression, work with associated relationship difficulties, and help clients manage their symptoms while developing more effective communication and interpersonal problem-solving skills. The book includes illustrative clinical vignettes, an extended case example, and information on the model's conceptual and empirical underpinnings. Helpful session checklists and sample assessment tools are featured in the appendices.