Related Experiment Videos
Client and therapist reasons for termination: a conceptualization and preliminary validation
David M Todd1, Frank P Deane, Rodney A Bragdon
1Department of Psychology, University of Massachusetts at Amherst, 01003, USA. David.Todd@Psych.Umass.EDU
Journal of Clinical Psychology
|January 1, 2003
Summary
Understanding why therapy ends is crucial. This study found that while therapists and clients sometimes agree on termination reasons, therapists more often cite success, and negative feelings are rarely reported by either party.
Area of Science:
- Psychology
- Clinical Psychology
- Psychotherapy Research
Background:
- Limited research exists on therapist and client concordance regarding therapy termination reasons.
- A systematic conceptualization integrating both perspectives is needed to advance this research area.
Purpose of the Study:
- To develop and apply a comprehensive conceptualization of therapy termination reasons.
- To examine therapist and client perspectives on termination and their relationship with outcome.
Main Methods:
- A coding system based on a literature-derived conceptualization was applied to naturalistic data.
- 123 therapist-client pairs from a psychology training clinic provided open-ended termination data.
- Coders reliably categorized client-reported reasons for termination.
Main Results:
- Therapist and client reasons for termination showed some concordance, particularly for departures.
- Therapists were more likely than clients to cite success as a reason for ending therapy.
- Negative client feelings about therapy were infrequently reported and showed low agreement between participants.
Conclusions:
- The developed conceptualization and coding system offer a reliable method for analyzing termination reasons.
- Findings suggest differing perspectives between therapists and clients on therapy outcomes and reasons for termination.
- Methodological limitations may influence the reporting of negative client experiences as termination reasons.