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I know I'm not done with therapy, but I for sure have lost sight of the goal, the end, things being good enough to not need therapy every week...

How would you know when you are done with therapy? How would you know when you are "ready" to end? (Even if the ending would hurt.)

Would it be reaching certain goals in life? In therapy? In healing? I don't even know what that would look like for me anymore. I think I knew when I first started. Just curious what thought people might have on this. I bet it looks different for everyone in some ways.

jane
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JD - this is a question I constantly asked the one I just ended with and her response was "you will know when it is time" which I found to be an incredibly useless response.
I have read the following books:

Termination in Psychotherapy - Joyce, Piper, Klein
Positive Endings in Psychotherapy- Steven Kramer
Terminating Therapy- Davis
Good Enough Endings - Jill Salberg
Endings in Clinical Practice -Walsh

I am not sure how useful they would be - but they do exist.
Jane, I felt sad reading your post. I'm feeling the same way right now. I reached the goal I had when I went into therapy (simply, 'to stop crying'), but it seems that I "should" have more goals....why do I feel this way, because of my T's judgements about my life, some of which I agree with. I have new goals, therefore, that developed through this past year of therapy. I feel like I can't achieve them, though, so I feel like therapy is over for me. My T said she hasn't given up on me, though, so maybe we can still move forward. A friend, who is a social worker, that I emailed when I felt in such turmoil last week gave me this email response (maybe it can help you, too):

Has this therapist helped you achieve any of your goals? Did she ever help you identify what you hoped to achieve? Is your life different - even slightly better - than it was when you started? Do you journal? Can you journal with your therapist? That would give you a platform for conversation each week. I know that I have asked more questions than answered any.

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