Therapy Termination Activities: 10 Printable Worksheets

Most lists of therapy termination activities are a page of ideas: make a memory book, write a letter, close with a circle. The ideas are good. What's missing is the sheet you hand the client, and a plan for which one to use when. This page gives you both: 10 printable termination worksheets written in plain words for your clients. Five are for adults (a progress review timeline, what worked and what I'll keep doing, a relapse prevention plan, a letter to my future self, and questions for the last session), and there is one each for teens, children, parents and caregivers, couples and groups. Print this page or save it as a PDF, and pick the sheets that fit.

After the worksheets comes the part for you: goodbye rituals, what the ACA, NASW and APA codes ask of an ending (A.11, 1.17 and 10.10) and how to avoid abandonment, what to do when the ending isn't planned, a door-open policy and booster sessions, and how to document the ending, with a sample final session note.

The worksheets are TranqBay's own wording. You can print them for your clients. Every client and example in this article is invented. Any resemblance to a real person is a coincidence.

How to print this page or save it as a PDF

What termination activities are for

Termination is a phase, not a single goodbye. In a planned ending, the last few sessions have their own work: looking back at what changed, making sure the client can keep it going alone, planning for setbacks, and saying goodbye to a relationship that mattered.

A study of 65 psychotherapy experts from different schools of therapy asked how often they used 80 termination tasks in a planned ending. Most of the tasks reached a consensus, with few differences between orientations, and they fell into eight groups (Norcross and colleagues, 2017). The plan and worksheets on this page cover all eight:

A plan for the last four sessions

For open-ended therapy, start talking about the ending when most goals are met, scores on your measures have stayed in the target range for a few weeks, the client is using skills without being prompted, and sessions have started to feel like check-ins. For brief or session-limited therapy, name the number of sessions at the start and count down from there.

Raise it plainly: "We've met most of the goals we set in March. I'd like to talk about how we'll know we're ready to finish, and how you'd like to finish." Then agree a date together. Four sessions works well for a client you've seen for months; a client seen weekly for a year or more may want more, and a short course of therapy may need only two.

Therapy termination activities for adults

Activities that work well with adults in the last sessions:

Relapse prevention, based on a cognitive-behavioral model of relapse first built for addiction treatment, is now used alongside the treatment of many problems, including depression (Witkiewitz and Marlatt, 2004). Worksheet 3 uses its core ideas in plain words. If the client has had suicidal thoughts during treatment, keep or update a separate written safety plan as well: a relapse prevention plan is for staying well, not for a crisis.

Termination worksheet 1: progress review timeline

Looking back: where I started and where I am now

Use this sheet to look at the whole of your therapy, not just the last few weeks. Fill in what you can before our session, and we'll go through the rest together. Rough dates are fine.

When I started

Turning points along the way

Think of three to five moments that mattered: a session, a week when something shifted, a hard stretch you got through.

My goals, then and now

Where I am now

Termination worksheet 2: what worked and what I'll keep doing

What helped, and what I'm taking with me

Therapy works partly because of what you did between sessions. This sheet is about keeping that going after we finish.

What I'll keep doing

Write each one with when and how often, like "a 20-minute walk after work, four days a week."

Termination worksheet 3: relapse prevention plan

My staying-well plan

Most people have ups and downs after therapy ends. This plan helps you spot the early signs and act before a bad week turns into a bad month. Keep it somewhere you'll see it, and read it again in a month.

My warning signs

Early signs are small changes that come first, like sleeping less, skipping meals, canceling plans, scrolling late at night or snapping at people.

Situations that are harder for me

What I'll do

If I slip

A slip is a few bad days or an old habit coming back. It's information, not proof that therapy didn't work.

Coming back

If I'm in crisis

Termination worksheet 4: letter to my future self

A letter to open later

Write a letter to yourself to open in six months, or on a hard day. Write it the way you'd talk to a good friend. You don't have to use every prompt. Put a date on the envelope, or set a reminder on your phone for the day you'll open it.

Termination worksheet 5: last-session reflection questions

Questions for our last session

Choose a few that matter to you. You can write a word or a sentence, or just think about them before we meet.

Therapy termination activities for teens

Many teens engage more with endings that feel like their own: something they choose, make or keep, rather than a form. Activities that suit them:

Agree with the teen what goes to the parent before that meeting, within your consent agreement and your state's rules on minors. Our guide to therapy questions for teens has a section on confidentiality and what parents hear.

Termination worksheet 6: my therapy highlight reel (teens)

My therapy highlight reel

You've done a lot of work in here. This is your chance to sum it up your way. Short answers are fine.

Termination activities for kids in therapy

Young children often follow time more easily when they can see it, and an ending more easily when they can make or hold something. Activities that work with children:

Some children go back to old behaviors for a session or two as the ending nears. Name it with the caregiver ahead of time, so nobody reads it as treatment failing.

Termination worksheet 7: my goodbye book (children)

My goodbye book

You can draw or write on this page. A grown-up can write down what you say.

Termination worksheet 8: for parents and caregivers

Keeping it going at home

We'll fill this in together at our caregiver session. Keep it somewhere easy to find.

Termination activities for couples

Couples need the same review and relapse planning as individuals, plus a plan for how they'll keep talking without you in the room. Activities that work in the last sessions:

If you have any concern about violence at home, check in with each partner privately before the last session, and give safety resources privately too, such as the National Domestic Violence Hotline (1-800-799-7233, or text START to 88788).

If one partner wants to keep seeing you on their own, that's a role change. The ACA asks counselors to get informed consent and explain the client's right to refuse services related to the change, and lists "changing from individual to relationship or family counseling, or vice versa" as an example (A.6.d). Talk it through with both partners before you agree. If you use Gottman-based work, our Gottman Method worksheets pair well with the maintenance plan.

Termination worksheet 9: our relationship maintenance plan

Our plan for after therapy

Fill this in together. Where it says "each of us," both partners answer.

Group termination activities for adults

In a group, the ending belongs to everyone, and members say goodbye to each other as well as to you. Plan the last one or two sessions around it:

Remind members that confidentiality goes on after the group ends. Skip group photos and social media posts about the group, and agree on how members will handle running into each other outside.

Termination worksheet 10: group closing round

Closing our group

Think about these before our last session. We'll share some of them out loud. Leave out other members' names and stories.

End of the worksheets. The rest of this page is for therapists.

Goodbye rituals for the last session

A ritual marks the ending as real and gives the client a way to say goodbye that isn't only talk. Keep it simple and let the client choose:

Some clients bring a gift to the last session. The ACA recognizes "that in some cultures, small gifts are a token of respect and gratitude" and asks counselors to weigh "the therapeutic relationship, the monetary value of the gift, the client's motivation for giving the gift, and the counselor's motivation for wanting to accept or decline the gift" (A.10.f). A card or a small handmade item is usually easy to accept; something expensive is a conversation. Put your gift policy in your practice policies, and note in the record what you accepted or declined.

Endings stir up feelings for therapists too, especially with long-term clients. If a client's ending is affecting you more than you expected, take it to supervision or consultation.

How to plan a good ending: what the ethics codes ask

Each code says much the same thing: end therapy when it's no longer helping, prepare the client, offer other options when needed, and don't leave someone who still needs care without a way forward.

ACA (counselors), A.11 and A.12. "Counselors terminate a counseling relationship when it becomes reasonably apparent that the client no longer needs assistance, is not likely to benefit, or is being harmed by continued counseling." They may also end it "when in jeopardy of harm by the client" or someone close to them, or "when clients do not pay fees as agreed upon," and they "provide pretermination counseling and recommend other service providers when necessary" (A.11.c). If you lack the competence to help, refer, and suggest "culturally and clinically appropriate" alternatives (A.11.a). Don't refer "based solely on the counselor's personally held values" (A.11.b). On a transfer, complete "appropriate clinical and administrative processes" and keep communication open with the client and the new provider (A.11.d). And "Counselors do not abandon or neglect clients in counseling," including arranging continued care "following termination" (A.12). The ACA defines abandonment as "the inappropriate ending or arbitrary termination of a counseling relationship that puts the client at risk" (ACA Code of Ethics).

NASW (social workers), 1.15 to 1.17. End services "when such services and relationships are no longer required or no longer serve the clients' needs or interests" (1.17(a)). "Take reasonable steps to avoid abandoning clients who are still in need of services," and withdraw "precipitously only under unusual circumstances" (1.17(b)). Ending over an overdue balance is allowed only if the fee arrangement was clear, the client "does not pose an imminent danger to self or others," and the consequences have been discussed (1.17(c)). Never end services "to pursue a social, financial, or sexual relationship with a client" (1.17(d)). If you expect an ending or interruption, "notify clients promptly" and seek a transfer, referral or continuation "in relation to the clients' needs and preferences" (1.17(e)). Standard 1.15 asks for reasonable efforts to keep services going through interruptions such as relocation, illness or death (NASW Code of Ethics, Section 1). These numbers are from the 2021 Code; NASW's Delegate Assembly votes on proposed amendments on November 18, 2026 (see our NASW Code of Ethics guide).

APA (psychologists), 10.10. Terminate "when it becomes reasonably clear that the client/patient no longer needs the service, is not likely to benefit, or is being harmed by continued service" (10.10(a)), or when "threatened or otherwise endangered" (10.10(b)). "Except where precluded by the actions of clients/patients or third-party payors, prior to termination psychologists provide pretermination counseling and suggest alternative service providers as appropriate" (10.10(c)). Standard 3.12 asks psychologists to plan for interruptions caused by their own "illness, death, unavailability, relocation, or retirement" or by the client's "relocation or financial limitations," and 6.04(d) asks them to discuss limits in financing "as early as is feasible" (APA Ethics Code).

AAMFT (marriage and family therapists), 1.10. In the code effective January 1, 2026: "Marriage and family therapists do not terminate treatment with clients without making reasonable efforts to provide appropriate arrangements for the continuation of care" (AAMFT Code of Ethics).

Pretermination counseling, in practice, is the conversation the plan above builds in: the reason for ending, the client's view of it, their feelings, what they'll do next and, when needed, named referrals. Your state board's rules sit on top of these codes and can be stricter. For a fuller look at abandonment with examples, see the ethics section of our therapy discharge summary example, and for twelve practical recommendations, Vasquez, Bingham and Barnett (2008).

Checklist for a planned ending:

When the ending isn't planned

Many episodes of therapy don't end on the date you agreed. A meta-analysis of 669 studies found an average dropout rate of 19.7%, about one client in five (Swift and Greenberg, 2012). Here's what to do in the common cases.

The client says today is the last session. Don't argue with the decision; ask about it, share your view honestly if you think it's early, and use the time well. A one-session version of the activities:

The client stops coming. Follow the outreach routine in your consent form: a check-in by the contact method the client agreed to, a contact note for each attempt, and a closing letter with a date, your booking link and referrals. Check the risk at the last contact first: if it was elevated, a letter is not enough. Our discharge summary guide has the full routine, the wording to use in the record and a closing letter you can copy.

Money or insurance runs out. Raise it as soon as you know. Options include spacing sessions out, a sliding fee schedule or referrals to lower-cost care. Under NASW 1.17(c), ending over an unpaid balance requires that the fee arrangement was clear, the client is not at imminent risk, and the consequences have been discussed.

You need to end: a move, leave, illness or closing your practice. Tell clients as early as you can, give long-term clients more sessions to finish, offer named referrals, and transfer records with a signed release. Plan for the unplanned too: a professional will names a colleague who can contact your clients and help with referrals if you suddenly can't.

The client isn't benefiting, or needs a different level of care or a specialist. Say so, explain why, and help with the handoff: a referral with a name, a call to the new provider with the client's permission, and a session or two of overlap if the client needs it.

The client threatens you. Your safety comes first (ACA A.11.c, APA 10.10(b)). Consult a colleague, end by letter if meeting isn't safe, include referrals where it's safe to do so, and document what happened and why.

Risk rises as the end approaches. Slow the taper or postpone the end date. NASW 1.17(b) asks social workers to avoid abandoning clients "who are still in need of services." Talk about whether the ending itself is part of the distress, and update the safety plan.

The client doesn't want to stop. The codes ask you to end therapy when the client no longer needs it (ACA A.11.c, APA 10.10(a)), but ending well still takes time. Talk about what ending means to them, space sessions out so they can test their skills, and make the door-open policy concrete: knowing how to come back can make leaving easier.

The door-open policy and booster sessions

A door-open policy tells clients they can come back, and how. It's easiest to explain if it's already in your consent form and on the client's relapse prevention plan. Wording you can adapt:

Booster sessions are planned follow-ups after the main course of therapy, for example at one, three and six months. In a 2013 meta-analysis of 53 studies of cognitive behavioral therapy for young people with mood or anxiety disorders, studies that included booster sessions showed larger effects, and the difference held at follow-up (Gearing and colleagues, 2013). That compares studies with and without boosters rather than testing boosters directly, but it supports offering them, especially where relapse is common.

What happens in a booster session:

If the client has moved. A booster by video still has to follow licensing rules: HHS says health professionals must "be licensed or legally permitted to practice in the state where the patient is located" (Telehealth.HHS.gov, Licensure for behavioral health). Ask where the client is before you book. Our guide to counseling compact states covers which states have joined.

Keeping the door open means staying their therapist. A friendship, a social media connection or a business deal with a former client can make coming back harder. The ACA asks counselors to avoid nonprofessional relationships with former clients "when the interaction is potentially harmful to the client," in person or online (A.6.e), and bars sexual or romantic relationships with former clients for 5 years after the last professional contact (A.5.c). The APA bars sexual intimacies with former clients for at least two years, and after that allows them only "in the most unusual circumstances" (10.08), and the NASW says social workers "should not engage in sexual activities or sexual contact with former clients" (1.09(c)).

Documenting termination

Three documents close a planned ending:

What to do with the worksheets: the client keeps the originals. Keep a copy of the relapse prevention plan in the record, since a booster session or a future intake will start from it. Anything you keep becomes part of the client's record, which the client can generally ask to see (45 CFR 164.524). For a personal sheet such as the letter to the future self, it's usually enough to note that it was written.

Each booster session or check-in gets its own progress note. A client who comes back after a long gap may need a new intake and treatment plan; follow your door-open policy.

A final session note example

An invented client: a 38-year-old pharmacy technician we'll call Lena, seen weekly by video for cognitive behavioral therapy for panic attacks and avoiding driving, spaced to every two weeks for the last four sessions. The note uses DAP; see our DAP notes examples for more on the format.

How this works in TranqBay

TranqBay is practice software for therapists in private practice: a practice website, online booking, video sessions, session notes and a form library in one place. Here is where an ending fits.

Frequently asked questions about therapy termination activities

Before your next ending

Print the sheets you'll use most, and put a door-open line in your consent form now, while no ending is pending. When the next client nears the end, give them worksheet 1 at the first of the last four sessions and follow the plan from there.

If you want booking, video sessions and session notes in one place, look at a practice website template and the booking page a returning client would use to book a check-in. If you're deciding whether to join, this page explains how joining TranqBay works.

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