How is a typical final psychotherapy session with your therapist?

Question

I feel very attached to my therapist and we need to end it inevitably! :(. I feel like not turning up to my final appointment which is in early Jan. But may be it is important to go for closure. Please suggest if you have experienced it?

Answer 1

I have been in your position as the patient ending therapy and also on the therapist end, and neither is easy. Although each therapist follows their own approach, normally a termination session will go like this. You will talk about how you've changed, what you can still work on, who you can go to for help in the future, and if future therapy-as-needed is an option.

Since you said inevitably I'm guessing that the last one may not be available for you. Its really hard to end therapy i think because you share such personal information and although the two of you are not "friends", you are probably closer than many other people in your life. You should feel free to discuss any feelings of anger or abandonment. To make the most of it, i suggest you start thinking about everything you would like to say for the session, the good, the bad, thank yous, or any builtup anger as i've said. Its your choice of course, but i do think you should go to the last session. If you have any other concerns feel free to email me. Good luck, take care
Dr. Max S.

Answer 2

I have experienced exactly the same feeling and in one ofour appointments she broached the subject of our therapy ending and I sidestepped the issue and asked her if we could leave that discussion until our final appointment and then I skipped our last appointment. I didn't plan to skip the last session - I just blanked it out and pretended it wasn't on my calendar. Silly and a bit of a lame thing to do but it was an unconscious avoidance.

I also picked an argument with her. It was an unconscious thing, to make it easier to part company and I only realized it in retrospect.

We eventually said goodbye by email.

Very common to become attached to your therapist. They get attached, too. Talk about it. They are used to it.

Really: just say "I'll miss you" It happens all the time. Almost everyone who gets on well with a therapist feels as you do and therapists are trained to recognize it.

Answer 3

enable's see, that replaced into yeeeears in the past, N. Uh... what did I say? i think of it replaced into, "Being the eternal optimist that i'm, i presumed the kicks to my face have been including character and resilience, yet unfortunately, NO!" all and sundry needs a splash scientific care in specific circumstances. ;-D