Termination Challenges in Child Psychotherapy

Ending therapy in an appropriate and meaningful way is especially important in work with children and adolescents, yet the topic is often overlooked in clinical training. From leading child clinicians, this much-needed book examines the termination process--both for brief and longer-term encounters--and offers practical guidance illustrated with vivid case material. Tools are provided for helping children and families understand termination and work through associated feelings of loss and grief. Challenges in creating positive endings to therapy with children who have experienced trauma and adversity are given particular attention. Several reproducible forms can be downloaded and printed from the companion website in a convenient 8 1/2" x 11" size. The companion website also features nine full-color figures.

Eliana Gil, PhD, is founding partner in a private group practice, the Gil Institute for Trauma Recovery and Education, in Fairfax, Virginia. She is also Director of Starbright Training Institute for Child and Family Play Therapy. Dr. Gil has worked in the field of child abuse prevention and treatment for over 40 years. A licensed marriage, family, and child counselor; an approved marriage and family therapy supervisor; a registered art therapist; and a registered play therapy supervisor, she is a former President of the Association for Play Therapy, which honored her with its Lifetime Achievement Award. She is the author of The Healing Power of Play, Helping Abused and Traumatized Children, and Play in Family Therapy, Second Edition, among many other publications. Originally from Guayaquil, Ecuador, Dr. Gil is bilingual and bicultural.

David A. Crenshaw, PhD, ABPP, RPT-S, is Clinical Director of the Children's Home of Poughkeepsie, New York. A Fellow of the American Psychological Association and of its Division of Child and Adolescent Psychology, he is past president of the Hudson Valley Psychological Association, which honored him with its Lifetime Achievement Award, and of the New York Association for Play Therapy. Dr. Crenshaw has taught graduate play therapy courses at Johns Hopkins University and has published widely on child therapy, child abuse and trauma, and resilience in children. His books include Creative Arts and Play Therapy for Attachment Problems (coedited with Cathy A. Malchiodi), Play Therapy: A Comprehensive Guide to Theory and Practice (coedited with Anne L. Stewart), and Play Therapy Interventions to Enhance Resilience (coedited with Robert Brooks and Sam Goldstein).

1. Termination as a Necessary and Useful Closure of the Formal Therapy Relationship
2. Open-Door Terminations: A Developmentally Sensitive Approach
3. The Revolving Door of Managed Care
4. Premature Termination
5. Unique Issues in Termination in Child Therapy
6. Countertransference Issues
7. Critical Goals and Specific Strategies for Successful Termination
8. Case Studies of Failures and Successes in the Termination Process