When Therapy Ends: The Good, the Bad and the Ugly

Abstract
The end of therapy is a challenging time, for clients and for therapists. Whether the client has done the work and is ready to move on – completed Stage Three of treatment – or therapy ends before that process is complete. In Stage Three, as clients move past dissociation as a defense, they address therapeutic concerns central to the sense of self. Existential questions arise, “Who am I? What does it mean to be me? How do I cope in an emotionally intimate relationship? How do I manage shame, conflict, other big feelings, and life issues while remaining present and connected? How do I grieve what was lost, all the time caught up in trauma?” When therapy ends before the client has completed Stage Three, the process becomes more complicated. Attachment and abandonment issues are intense, with emotions frequently difficult for both client and therapist. This workshop addresses issues and questions inherent in the third stage of trauma treatment, and issues faced when therapy ends prematurely, helping clients and therapists deal with the emotions of healing and letting go, and taking pride in using authentic life skills to create their future and their identity.

This session was originally presented as a live webinar in February 2020.

Target Audience

Intermediate

Learning Objectives

Upon Completion of this webinar, participants will be able to: 

  • Identify the therapeutic tasks of Stage Three therapy 
  • Identify the transference and counter-transference issues arising from termination of therapy 
  • Encourage clients’ development of an authentic sense of self 
     
Course summary
Available credit: 
  • 1.50 ISSTD Certificate Program
    This program is eligible for 1.50 credits in the ISSTD Certificate Program. No certificate of completion is generated for this type of credit.
Course opens: 
05/01/2025
Course expires: 
12/31/2050
ISSTD Member cost:
$0.00
Part of: 
Advancing Clinical Insights of Complex Trauma and Dissociation Content Package
Rating: 
0

Presenter: Lynette Danylchuk, PhD 
Presenter Biography: Lynette Danylchuk, PhD, has been working in the trauma field since mid-80, starting with Vietnam Vets and people with DID. She served 12 years on the original Board of Directors of Survivorship, and then worked for the Board of the Star Foundation for several more years. She had her private practice in San Mateo, California, where, in addition to working with clients, she did (and continues to do) periodic consultation and teaching where she sees a need, including a local graduate school, juvenile hall, or the county trauma-informed services conference. Lynette has been adjunct faculty to graduate schools in the San Francisco area where she has taught, and been a dissertation chairperson. She has given keynote speeches and workshops across the state and at annual conferences of the International Society for the Study of Trauma and Dissociation (ISSTD).

Lynette is a Past President of ISSTD .She has been an active society member since 1996. She has chaired the Volunteer Committee, and the Professional Training Program. She is currently a member of the Board of Directors, the Executive Committee, the Conference Committee, the PTP Task Force, the EMDR/PTP Task Force, and Chair of Certificate Program Committee, and the UN Task Force.

Presenter: Kevin J. Connors, MS, MFT
Presenter Biography: Kevin J. Connors, MS, MFT is a licensed Marriage & Family Therapist in private practice in Long Beach, California and a frequent national and international presenter on complex trauma and dissociative disorders. He is co-author of Treating Complex Trauma and Dissociation: A practical guide to navigating therapeutic challenges. Kevin is the Senior Vice President at California Southern University in Costa Mesa, California directing the Hecht Trauma Institute, a global academic institution dedicated to advancing the education of clinicians treating interpersonal trauma.

He is a Fellow and Past President of the International Society for the Study of Trauma and Dissociation (ISSTD) and served as Chair of their Annual Conference Committee for 8 years. Kevin also serves as Chair of the Institute on Violence, Abuse, & Trauma’s International Summit Planning Committee’s Adult Survivors of Childhood Maltreatment Track and as an Advisory Board Member to the National Partnership to End Interpersonal Violence. Kevin is currently exploring the role of shame and powerlessness in clients with complex trauma and dissociative disorders as well as in investigating the prevalence of dissociation among the general psychiatric population.

Available Credit

  • 1.50 ISSTD Certificate Program
    This program is eligible for 1.50 credits in the ISSTD Certificate Program. No certificate of completion is generated for this type of credit.

Price

ISSTD Member cost:
$0.00
Please login or register to take this course.

"Your Price" above reflects your final price based on your membership status and career level. 

  • ISSTD defines a student as those enrolled in a program of study leading to a degree or certification in the mental health field and who have an interest in trauma and dissociation. 
  • ISSTD defines an emerging professional as mental health professionals who have completed an advanced degree and are in the first three years of their career (or first three years after graduation for researchers).
  • If you do not fall into one of the above categories please register as Professional/Retired. 

These prices are for Tier I countries. For a list of countries by Tier click here. If you are located in a country that falls into Tier II-VI please contact ISSTD at cfas@isst-d.org to receive the appropriate discount code.