“There are many reasons clients decide to end therapy. According to clinical psychologist Deborah Serani, Psy.D, ‘Sometimes they’ve reached their goals. Sometimes they need a break. Sometimes the connection with their therapist isn’t there.’ Sometimes they notice a red flag. Sometimes they’re about to face a new fear or realize a new insight, said Ryan Howes, Ph.D, a clinical psychologist and author of the blog ‘In Therapy’.
‘Whatever the reason, it’s vital to bring it into your sessions as soon as you feel it,’ said Serani, author of the book Living With Depression. Howes agreed. Wanting to end therapy is a critical topic to explore, he said. And it could be as simple as telling your therapist, ‘I feel like it’s time to end therapy, I wonder what that’s all about?’
Therapy gives people the opportunity to have a positive ending, unlike most endings, which tend to be negative, such as death and divorce, Howes said. An end in therapy can be ‘more like a bittersweet graduation than a sad, abrupt, or complicated loss. Ideally, you can have a satisfying closure to therapy that will help you end relationships well in the future.’”
