The lived experience of the post-termination period of long-term psychotherapy

Abstract

This study aimed to gain insight and understanding into adult clients' personal lived experiences of the post-termination period of long-term psychotherapy. International research which examines the post-termination phase of psychotherapy has found that this particular lived experience can have both positive and negative consequences for clients' psychosocial wellbeing. Few recent studies focusing on adult clients' personal experiences of the post-termination phase could be located and none of these studies were conducted in a non-Western context. The study's aim was to address this gap in the existing literature by using interpretative-phenomenological analysis (IPA) to explore the lived experience of the post-termination period of long-term psychotherapy for two South African adult clients. Data were collected via individual in-depth semi-structured interviews. Analysis of the data yielded the following themes: Therapy remembered as amazing, but hard work, Vivid memories of therapy retained post-termination, Seeing the therapist differently, Keeping the therapist alive, Being different after therapy, "I started losing all my ground I had gained" , and Resuming the external journey. These findings corroborated and expanded upon existing research in the area.