Therapist ‘fired’ or vanished

[afewtoomanychoices]

Hello
The practice at which I see my therapist has suddenly notified me that she has left. I said how does this work with no closure for me, to which their answer was that for legal reasons they can tell no more. I slightly got it out of the receptionist that it wasn’t her choice and she would never want to leave her patients like that. This leads me to into thinking she was fired. Even so, if she was (and the practice promotes closure), what could she have possibly done , or the practice have done that could have made her leave with no warning. I really liked her and to just be told one day to the next that ‘X won’t be returning’ and other alternatives will be suggested is surely unethical towards me?!( I already have abandonment issues!)
Does anyone have any idea around the practice of course upholding confidentiality yet also the implications on the patients this could have? Let me know thank you x

Well no she may have had a family emergency, an illness or similar necessitating her leaving her job. So she wouldn’t want to but it’s necessary in this moment.

It’s nice to get a closing out talk but if she’s left then there’s nothing that can be done there. I don’t see how it’s unethical because if she really couldn’t continue with the job then they’ve done everything they can.

Ah, that happened to me. Lost a perfectly good therapist due to a disagreement between him and the organisation he worked for. His replacement was absolutely useless.

They do not owe you closure, or an explanation, as it would be very unprofessional.
Perhaps with your next therapist, you can discuss how to manage those feeling of abandonment.

@Seafog are you always so rude?

I'm sorry OP. This is hard. Nothing to say except that this was not your fault. Best of luck finding a new therapist.

Could be all manner of reasons why she left.

Family issues. Health issues. Yes ideally itwould have been better that you were made aware, but perhaps her circumstances did not allow it.

Hopefully you will find another therapist who has helped like this one. But don't compare, give a new one a chance. Good luck!

I recognise you from some other threads on schools- is this at the Tavi by any chance? There are a lot of changes happening there at the moment.

I really feel for you.

Thank you so much everyone. No it’s not at Tavistock. And I know the therapist doesn’t ‘owe’ me anything but it’s usually common to ensure there’s some closure. And if there is no possibility of this I guess I would have liked some sort of answer from the practice as to why. But then again, I know there’s all these employment laws, confidentiality etc. I just didn’t know whether I had a legal right to know something more but I guess I don’t

I guess on the other side of it though - if you had been diagnosed with a terminal illness or your father had recently died or you had been attacked my an abusive partner - would you want clients to be told about it in the name of ‘closure?’ They have already explained that the therapist did not want to leave but had to.

100% I agree if it’s a very personal decision. Just maybe a note from her not giving an explanation or details but just saying thank you and bye? Been seeing her weekly for a long time. But anyway I guess nothing can be done and it is what it is!

I think you have to just let this go as you have absolutely no right to any information about the therapist. I could be a thousand different reasons why she's left not necessarily because she's done anything wrong. You won't be told.

For what it's worth, its very likely that your therapist is holding you in mind.
Very often reasons for a sudden departure are not shared, as well as for obvious confidentiality reasons, because they don't want to add an extra burden to the client.
If you wanted to, you could ask if you could send a card to be forwarded to the therapist. You could then write how you have progressed ( in a general sense) as a thank you , which may help you with any transition too. I would probably leave the envelope unsealed just so that others can check that what you are writing is ok (from a safety perspective)