Letting Them Free

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There is a saying that states as follow, “Everything that begins must get to an end”. Human beings are born and later die. The grass and plants grow to serve their purpose and later on die. Students initiate classes that at one point must end. Many perishable foods are good until they get rotten, and this can continue on and on. When it comes to professional counseling this cycle also applies. Every client that seeks professional mental health initiates a journey that is intended to guide the individual through a path of healing. This journey begins with the intention to reach a finish line which in counseling is known as the termination of the counseling.

John C. Thomas and Lisa Sosin dedicate a chapter in their book to skills to terminate a counseling session. It is very interesting like they both say how counselor in training are prepare with multiple techniques and theories to counsel the client; however, they are source of let alone to figure out the proper and effective way to culminate a counseling treatment. Thomas and Sosin incorporated the following quote in their book, “To terminate the counseling abruptly would be similar to a surgeon dismissing the patient from the operating room without closing the wound (Aten et al., 2009). This quote is absolutely true. If the counselor does not terminate the treatment with the client properly they can end up causing damage to the client and ruining all the progress accomplished. Thomas and Sosin states three functions of the counseling termination; first, it signals that counseling has ended, second, termination is a way of encouraging ongoing therapeutic changes, and three, termination reminds both the counselor and the counselee that growth has occurred (Gladding, 2009).

Appropriately and diligently concluding a counseling treatment is vital to the client’s accomplishment. This final session can be the icing to the cake for a client’s recuperation or the demolition of everything built throughout the entire treatment. It is of great importance for each counselor in training to learn and implement great skills to terminate a counseling session. That final session is letting the client free to incorporate society with the changes gained through therapy.

Reference

Thomas, J. C. & Sosin, L. (2011). Therapeutic expedition: Equipping the Christian counselor for the journey. Nashville, TN: B & H Publishing Group