Signs the end is approaching, in the order they usually appear:
- Situations that used to trigger a crisis become manageable. They do not vanish, but they no longer floor you.
- You answer yourself. During the week you realise what the therapist would have asked and, more importantly, what you would have replied.
- You have nothing to bring. Sessions turn into a summary of the week, pleasant and without a centre.
- The goals set at the start have been met — which is why they are worth having in writing from the second or third session.
What are not signs of an ending: a good week, the feeling that “I should be managing on my own by now”, or the discomfort of a hard session. A sudden wish to stop exactly when a difficult subject has been reached is worth saying rather than acting on — it is one of the most common moments of dropout, and it usually arrives right before the part that would have mattered.
How it is done properly: it is announced ahead and the ending is worked on. The final sessions have content of their own — what changed, what remains, what you do if it returns, what the relapse signs are and who you call. For some people, parting from the therapist is itself the most valuable material of the therapy, especially where the personal history is full of abrupt departures.
It does not have to be final. Many therapies end and resume years later, at a new stage. Coming back is not a failure; it is the normal way people use support.
If you want to stop because it is not working, that is a different conversation and deserves having in the room rather than through a cancellation. Sometimes it is a mismatch of method or of person — and then what follows is a referral, not a giving-up.