Reactions to Termination of Individual Treatment

Sixty-nine MSW practitioners were queried about termination reactions in their most recently terminated individual case. Clients'strongest reactions were positive affect (that is, a sense of pride, accomplishment, and indepen-dence), evaluation of success, evaluation of the therapeutic experience, and positive flight (constructive outside-treatment activities). Least strong client reactions were nihilistic flight, regression, denial, recapitulation, and expression of a need for further treatment. Practitioners' strongest reactions to termination were pride in the client's success and pride in their own skill; their least strong reactions were relief, doubt about their own effectiveness, doubt about their client's progress, and reexperiencing of previous losses. Overall, positive evaluative responses far outweighed the negative for both clients and practitioners. Study participants' reactions varied depending on who made the termination decision, on the treatment outcome, and on the difficulty of terminating.