What criteria do social workers use to terminate treatment? Sixty-nine practitioners reported on their most recently terminated case. The most important criteria were improved coping in the environment, improved intrapsychic functioning, the client's wish to terminate, meeting initial goals, and changes in therapeutic content. Practitioners rarely considered terminating treatment unless they perceived treatment as successful, although many different success indicators were used.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
American Psychiatric Association. (1987). Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders, 3rd ed., rev. Washington, DC: Author.
2.
BartonB. R., & MarshallA. S. (1986). Pivotal partings: Forced termination with a sexually abused boy. Clinical Social Work Journal, 14, 139–149.
3.
EldridgeW. D. (1983). Practitioners and self-evaluation. Social Casework, 64, 426–430.
4.
FiresteinS. K. (1978). Termination in psychoanalysis.New York: International Universities Press.
5.
FortuneA. E. (1985). Planning duration and termination of treatment. Social Service Review, 59, 647–661.
6.
FortuneA. E. (1987). Grief only? Client and social worker reactions to termination. Clinical Social Work Journal, 15, 159–171.
7.
FortuneA. E.PearlingiB., & RochelleC. D. (in press). Reactions to termination of individual treatment. Social Work.
8.
FoxE.NelsonM., & BolmanW. (1969). The termination process: A neglected dimension in social work. Social Work, 14, 53–63.
9.
GloverE. (1955). The technique of psychoanalysis.New York: International Universities Press.
10.
GreeneL. R. (1980). On terminating psychotherapy: More evidence of sex-role countertransference. Psychology of Women Quarterly, 4, 548–557.
11.
HessH., & HessP. M. (1984). Termination in context. In ComptonB., & GalawayB. (Eds.), Social work processes, 3rd ed. (pp. 559–570). Homewood, IL: Dorsey.
12.
KramerS. A. (1982). The therapist's view of termination in open-ended psychotherapy. Unpublished doctoral dissertation, University of Chicago.
13.
KramerS. A. (1986). The termination process in open-ended psychotherapy: Guidelines for clinical practice. Psychotherapy, 23, 526–531.
14.
LevinsonH. L. (1977). Termination of psychotherapy: Some salient issues. Social Casework, 58, 480–489.
15.
RicheyC. A.BlytheB. J., & BerlinS. B. (1987). Do social workers evaluate their practice?Social Work Research and Abstracts, 23, 14–20.
16.
RooneyR. H. (1985). Does inservice training make a difference? Results of a pilot study of task-centered dissemination in a public social service setting. Journal of Social Service Research, 8, 33–50.
