Therapy End – To Tackle It U0026 Deal With Future Relapses

Every loss, farewell or end in our lives fills us with uncertainty and fear of what will happen in the future. This is especially true if we have relied heavily on the person or situation in question. We can no longer trust his support, and this is especially the case at the end of therapy.

In cases like these, when the goals that were initially set in the therapy have been reached, we are faced with the end of the therapy. With this, we can experience fear of relapse and not being able to face the world without the security that psychological support provides.

These fears are very common, and in order to guarantee success after a successful end to therapy, the patient must deal with them before the meetings end. There are several techniques and purposes for this, and all are designed to deal with these fears. These are the main goals:

• To help the patient to be proud of the changes made during the therapeutic process.
• To create “security mechanisms” that can enable tackling of possible relapses and crises.
• To enable the transition from a life with therapy to a life without it.

Although it may seem simple, all patients and therapeutic processes are different. You must analyze each case individually. In this article, we will talk in a general way about how to help patients manage a therapy termination successfully.

When a patient has an appointment with a psychologist, this often happens with the expectation that the psychologist will solve the person’s problems. This usually happens because we are used to a medical scenario. The doctor prescribes an external solution that usually does not include any specific change in our lives; at least not beyond taking a pill every now and then.

But many do not realize that a good psychologist does not work that way. In psychological treatments, the goal is for the patient to become their own therapist. She begins in an inferior and expectant role towards the psychologist, but the hope is that in the end she masters and effectively uses the tools provided by the therapist.

However, this does not mean that the patient in question is qualified to care for or give advice to others after she has been treated; rather, she has become an expert on herself and her own problems. After completing treatment, she can use what she has learned on herself, without the need for continuous psychological supervision or company.

It is very important that the psychologist conveys this message very clearly to his patients. We must inform them that the patients themselves are the participants and the main managers of changes in their lives.

We as psychologists can only help them achieve well-being by trying to improve their abilities with very specific tools. Beyond this point, it is the patients themselves who must use the tools and reap the results. They are the ones who have gone where they are today.

When faced with a therapy termination, it is usually positive to ask the patient to reflect on what he or she has learned. It can be helpful to write a letter to your former self – to the person who sought psychological help to tackle a problem she has now overcome or learned to deal with.

This will help her acquire and internalize a different perspective on what she is capable of doing. It will also provide her with the tools needed to tackle any relapses in the future.

The “safety mechanisms” are resources that patients must have access to in order to cope with possible relapses. These mechanisms include the explanation of their problems at the beginning of therapy and the normalization of the “weaknesses” as an additional part of the whole process.

At the beginning of all therapeutic processes, the therapist should explore the background and consequences of all the problems for which the patient is seeking therapy. This analysis should include situations or people who are causing the problem. It should also include the emotions that cause it to arise.

This information is very important to perform a tailored and successful treatment. However, it is also very important for the end of therapy, as it can contain valuable clues to possible relapses.

Let us consider the fact that relapses almost always occur under obvious circumstances. The key to these circumstances is as important as the personal keys when it comes to dealing with and anticipating behaviors. And if we identify situations where problems may arise, we will be better prepared to deal with them.

Deep knowledge of the problem is not only important to be able to predict potential relapses, but also gives us the necessary clues to deal with them. To analyze the problem from a global and personal perspective, we will therefore know when it may arise.

We will also know what resources we can use in all situations. In this way, psychologists can teach their patients the “safety mechanisms” that will help them get over every pit in the road.

We need to make it clear to patients that they are in control of their problems. If relapse occurs, only they themselves can redefine it as a simple case.

The difference between the two terms is determined by the amount of control we shoulder regarding the problem we sought help for. Another influencing factor is the thoughts that arise when the problem comes back to the surface. Let’s take a simple example:

Skipping one day of our diet does not mean that we have lost all the effort we have already invested in the success or successes we have made. It is up to us to decide whether to continue or go back to our old habits.

During relapse in therapy, we can make the same decision. We can decide whether to give up or get up and see it as another small fall on the road.

Another thing that can prevent a therapy ending is the length of the therapy. The longer the process, the more discomfort, fear and difficulty the patient will feel. In these cases, it is not a matter of fear of possible relapses, but rather of living without a psychological overview. This is done without anyone adjusting, reviewing and validating the success.

This may be due to the relationship with the psychologist and all the affection, friendship and dependence that may have developed. If this is the case and the therapeutic process will be protracted, the psychologist must distance himself from the patient. He is not the patient’s friend and will not always be by his side.

This process can be complicated when the patient does not have good social support. Sometimes the psychologist begins to shoulder this role in the patient’s life, even if he did not intend to. In that case, one of the therapeutic goals before an end to therapy is that the patient enriches his social network as much as possible.

If the individual does not already have such a network, he or she must develop a new one in order to be able to ventilate or share his or her problems.

In the end , this is what we want there to be an agreement between patient and therapist when the treatment leads to its end. Both must agree on what was achieved during the meetings. The patient must also know how to cope with life outside of therapy.