Reflection · Practice
Endings are part of the work, not the end of it
How therapy finishes tends to matter as much as how it goes. A planned ending can do things that no other part of the work can.
People often assume the ending is administrative — the point at which sessions stop. In psychodynamic work it is usually where a good deal of the material finally becomes visible.
Why we name it early
Whether the work is short-term or open-ended, I try to keep the ending in view rather than let it arrive as a surprise. Knowing something will finish changes what a person is willing to bring to it.
What often surfaces
Earlier separations, losses that were never marked, the wish to leave before being left. These themes can stay quiet for months and then arrive in the last few weeks with real force.
Finishing well
A few sessions to review what has changed, to say what has been difficult, and to leave the door genuinely open. People sometimes return years later; how we ended tends to determine whether that feels possible.