Part Three

Twentieth Session, 22 Weeks After the Initial Intake

You are meeting with the client for the termination session. You review the treatment goals and the client’s progress. The client is no longer experiencing panic attacks, and she reports that she has felt panic attacks coming on but that she intervenes early and often to prevent them from occurring. You and the client have prepared for this date during the last few sessions in order to prepare the client for transitioning to independence from therapy. You and the client discuss her use of coping skills and natural supports to continue to manage panic symptoms. You also inform the client of how to reconnect if she needs to receive therapeutic support again and then terminate services.

You are supervising a counseling resident, and their established client has canceled several sessions in a row.

Which of the following would you encourage the counselor to do?

Question

Part Three

Twentieth Session, 22 Weeks After the Initial Intake

You are meeting with the client for the termination session. You review the treatment goals and the client’s progress. The client is no longer experiencing panic attacks, and she reports that she has felt panic attacks coming on but that she intervenes early and often to prevent them from occurring. You and the client have prepared for this date during the last few sessions in order to prepare the client for transitioning to independence from therapy. You and the client discuss her use of coping skills and natural supports to continue to manage panic symptoms. You also inform the client of how to reconnect if she needs to receive therapeutic support again and then terminate services.

You are supervising a counseling resident, and their established client has canceled several sessions in a row.

Which of the following would you encourage the counselor to do?

TheoryPractice · Accepted Answer

follow up with the client to ascertain the reason for their cancellations. Determining the reason for the cancellations is most important because this can open up a dialogue for getting back on track in the counseling relationship. It may be helpful to cancel future sessions if the client will receive cancellation fees, but this does not get to the bottom of what is happening with the client. It can also be helpful to encourage the client to trust the process, but this does not open up dialogue about what they are experiencing. If the client would like a referral, you should support them. However, it is more helpful to process what is happening with the client to cause the cancellations because this may be an issue related to why they are in treatment, and if unresolved, they may continue to have this issue with the next therapist.

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