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Original Research:

Why Clients Stop Seeing Their Therapists: A Thematic Analysis of Google Reviews

Abstract: 

Relationships end between therapists and their clients, and discovering why can prove socially and emotionally difficult for both clinicians and clients. While some investigations have been conducted on the cause of client-initiated termination, social, logistical, and ethical concerns make this difficult knowledge to uncover. In an effort to better equip clinicians with this knowledge, the author analyzed publicly available, client-written Google reviews of psychotherapists and social worker therapists to identify what clients post regarding why they stop seeing their therapist. 110 public Google reviews were collected and analyzed from 57 practices across Ontario, and a thematic analysis was conducted to identify the most common reasons clients stated for not continuing with the clinician. From the analysis, the most common reasons for termination included professionalism, finances, practitioner availability, ethics, feelings of harm, administrative practices, misalignment, space, and experiences in session. Limitations to the research and further investigations are also discussed.

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