Thank you for explaining the role and the process of termination. You suggested that the social worker should inform the client about termination immediately after initiating the treatment. One option to efficiently handle termination is to determine the reason for termination. I agree with your point that the early transition to planned termination can be beneficial for clients. It allows the social worker or practicum student to identify the client’s strengths and weaknesses during the change process to avoid abandonment (Garthwait, 2017). When the treatment goals are met, and the client’s positive progress is evident, termination might be viewed as a natural outcome of the intervention.
When the termination is not anticipated or abrupt, the social work practitioner might face certain challenges. As social work practice involves working with vulnerable individuals, building rapport and engaging with clients leads to meaningful professional relationships, which might be difficult to end. To successfully address termination, any intervention should be evaluated for effectiveness regardless of how it ends (Garthwait, 2017).
An evidence-based approach to social work helps conduct an evaluation to determine best practices to approach challenging clients and situations. To avoid unanticipated circumstances, ongoing discussion of the client’s ideas on termination can be employed (Kirst-Ashman & Hull, 2018). The measure might increase the client’s motivation and help him/her use the experience and knowledge from the therapy in the future.
References
Garthwait, C. L. (2017). The social work practicum: A guide and workbook for students (7th ed.). Pearson.
Kirst-Ashman, K. K., & Hull, G. H., Jr. (2018). Understanding generalist practice (8th ed.). Cengage Learning.