Aphasia therapists' stories of ending the therapeutic relationship

This article uses the medium of clinicians' comments and stories to explore their perceptions of therapeutic relationships and how these relationships come to a close at discharge from aphasia therapy. These narratives are drawn from a qualitative, grounded theory study carried out in South Australia and Northern Territory involving semi-structured interviews with 30 speech pathologists. The stories reported here shed light on the complexities of negotiating boundaries and endings to therapeutic relationships. Interviewees discussed the special nature of their relationships with their clients with aphasia, professional distance, and dependence. Exploration of these narratives is timely because of the increasing emphasis on person-centeredness in rehabilitation, shared decision making, and authentic relationships. This work is important to encourage reflective practice and greater insight into both speech pathologists' professional identities and their therapeutic relationships.