Termination is arguably one of the most important aspects of psychotherapy, however, the research into training for termination is sparse. Further, student therapists report that their training for termination provided little guidance, instruction, or acknowledgment of clinical realities around treatment endings. Using a semi-structured interview with a sample of 11 student therapists at a psychodynamic training clinic, this study explored experiences of termination and the preparation for those endings. Qualitative thematic analysis indicated that this group of student therapists did not experience shared and structured termination training but did not feel they were unprepared for the endings with their patients. Further, findings illustrate the ways student therapists were trained–via theory, supervision and experience–as well as what they were preparing for: therapist-initiated terminations of psychodynamic, long-term, open-ended treatment. Implications of this analysis are incorporated into recommendations for the future training of student therapists in termination.
","abstract_html":"<p>Termination is arguably one of the most important aspects of psychotherapy, however, the research into training for termination is sparse. Further, student therapists report that their training for termination provided little guidance, instruction, or acknowledgment of clinical realities around treatment endings. Using a semi-structured interview with a sample of 11 student therapists at a psychodynamic training clinic, this study explored experiences of termination and the preparation for those endings. Qualitative thematic analysis indicated that this group of student therapists did not experience shared and structured termination training but did not feel they were unprepared for the endings with their patients. Further, findings illustrate the <em>ways</em> student therapists were trained–via theory, supervision and experience–as well as <em>what</em> they were preparing for: therapist-initiated terminations of psychodynamic, long-term, open-ended treatment. Implications of this analysis are incorporated into recommendations for the future training of student therapists in termination.</p>","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":["Ferrara, Michael"],"institution":null,"degree_name":"Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.)","degree_level":"Dissertation","degree_discipline":"Psychology","degree_department":null,"school":null,"contributors":["Sasha Rudenstine","Paul Wachtel","Diana Puñales"],"advisors":[],"committee_chairs":[],"committee_members":[],"year":2024,"date_issued":"2024-01-01T08:00:00Z","date_published":"2024-01-01T08:00:00Z","updated_at":"2026-07-24T01:58:07Z","subjects":["Termination","termination training","student therapists","psychodynamic","forced","Clinical Psychology"],"languages":[],"rights":[],"rights_urls":[],"identifier_entries":[]},"links":{"outbound_url":"https://academicworks.cuny.edu/cc_etds_theses/1168","outbound_label":"Repository record","outbound_source":"dc:identifier"},"metadata_groups":[{"id":"people","label":"People","entries":[{"key":"dc:contributor","label":"Contributor","values":["Sasha Rudenstine","Paul Wachtel","Diana Puñales"]},{"key":"dc:creator","label":"Author","values":["Ferrara, Michael"]}]},{"id":"academic_context","label":"Academic Context","entries":[{"key":"dc:date.available","label":"Dc Date Available","values":["2025-05-06T07:00:00Z"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_discipline","label":"Discipline","values":["Psychology"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_level","label":"Degree Level","values":["Dissertation"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_name","label":"Degree Name","values":["Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.)"]}]},{"id":"subjects_keywords","label":"Subjects and Keywords","entries":[{"key":"dc:subject","label":"Dc Subject","values":["Termination","termination training","student therapists","psychodynamic","forced","Clinical Psychology"]}]},{"id":"identifiers","label":"Identifiers","entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier","label":"Identifier","values":["https://academicworks.cuny.edu/cc_etds_theses/1168"]}]},{"id":"additional","label":"Additional Metadata","entries":[{"key":"dc:description.abstract","label":"Abstract","values":["Termination is arguably one of the most important aspects of psychotherapy, however, the research into training for termination is sparse. Further, student therapists report that their training for termination provided little guidance, instruction, or acknowledgment of clinical realities around treatment endings. Using a semi-structured interview with a sample of 11 student therapists at a psychodynamic training clinic, this study explored experiences of termination and the preparation for those endings. Qualitative thematic analysis indicated that this group of student therapists did not experience shared and structured termination training but did not feel they were unprepared for the endings with their patients. Further, findings illustrate the ways student therapists were trained–via theory, supervision and experience–as well as what they were preparing for: therapist-initiated terminations of psychodynamic, long-term, open-ended treatment. Implications of this analysis are incorporated into recommendations for the future training of student therapists in termination.
"]},{"key":"dc:title","label":"Title","values":["Teach them how to say goodbye: student therapist termination at a psychodynamic training clinic"]}]}],"canonical_facts":{"dc:contributor":["Sasha Rudenstine","Paul Wachtel","Diana Puñales"],"dc:creator":["Ferrara, Michael"],"dc:date.available":["2025-05-06T07:00:00Z"],"dc:description.abstract":["Termination is arguably one of the most important aspects of psychotherapy, however, the research into training for termination is sparse. Further, student therapists report that their training for termination provided little guidance, instruction, or acknowledgment of clinical realities around treatment endings. Using a semi-structured interview with a sample of 11 student therapists at a psychodynamic training clinic, this study explored experiences of termination and the preparation for those endings. Qualitative thematic analysis indicated that this group of student therapists did not experience shared and structured termination training but did not feel they were unprepared for the endings with their patients. Further, findings illustrate the ways student therapists were trained–via theory, supervision and experience–as well as what they were preparing for: therapist-initiated terminations of psychodynamic, long-term, open-ended treatment. Implications of this analysis are incorporated into recommendations for the future training of student therapists in termination.
"],"dc:identifier":["https://academicworks.cuny.edu/cc_etds_theses/1168"],"dc:subject":["Termination","termination training","student therapists","psychodynamic","forced","Clinical Psychology"],"dc:title":["Teach them how to say goodbye: student therapist termination at a psychodynamic training clinic"],"thesis:degree_discipline":["Psychology"],"thesis:degree_level":["Dissertation"],"thesis:degree_name":["Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.)"]},"updated_at":"2026-07-24T01:58:07Z"}