Ending Therapy Session
Started by F0nzie
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I have always been tempted to program my I-phone timer to play Mozart's death march, but maybe just get the lights to blink like intermission at an opera.😀
Most wisdom on this suggest a desk clock that you can see, but the patient can not. Have it in the line of sight toward the patient so you can look at it without turning in your chair. You don't want to let the patient become clock focused as they tend to either avoid material near the end, or worse, drop bombs in the last minute.
We all hate saying "I see we are about out of time, but we can continue with this next session..... but this is bound to happen regularly.
Most wisdom on this suggest a desk clock that you can see, but the patient can not. Have it in the line of sight toward the patient so you can look at it without turning in your chair. You don't want to let the patient become clock focused as they tend to either avoid material near the end, or worse, drop bombs in the last minute.
We all hate saying "I see we are about out of time, but we can continue with this next session..... but this is bound to happen regularly.
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Love it 
umm yea, I just keep forgetting to keep track of the time even with a clock. It'd be nice to have a soft chime 5 minutes before the end of the session and then again at the end.
I figure the 5 minute ding/chime might be a nice gentle reminder that it's getting close to the end of the session.
I had a supervisor that used to time our sessions this way. It was awesome except his was an obnoxious buzzing sound.
umm yea, I just keep forgetting to keep track of the time even with a clock. It'd be nice to have a soft chime 5 minutes before the end of the session and then again at the end.I figure the 5 minute ding/chime might be a nice gentle reminder that it's getting close to the end of the session.
I had a supervisor that used to time our sessions this way. It was awesome except his was an obnoxious buzzing sound.
Hi, I have a clock both myself and the patient can see. It is a large 5" diameter desk clock with a decorative bird on a branch connected to it. I prefer analog clocks as the measurement of time is more apparent on them.
Some people recommend 2 clocks, a small one on a side table which faces the patient (and maybe also has some tissues) and one on the wall behind the patients head so you can see it without looking like you are looking at the clock (this is actually the method illustrated in one of Glen Gabbard's books). I think a patient *should* see the clock so they can keep track of the session.
A friend of mine has a clock on his wall that ran out of batteries at 10 til the hour. Whenever I glance at that clock I think I have to head to my office to catch my next patient. I guess in psychotherapy it could move people out the door... (not seriously a good idea).
Some people recommend 2 clocks, a small one on a side table which faces the patient (and maybe also has some tissues) and one on the wall behind the patients head so you can see it without looking like you are looking at the clock (this is actually the method illustrated in one of Glen Gabbard's books). I think a patient *should* see the clock so they can keep track of the session.
A friend of mine has a clock on his wall that ran out of batteries at 10 til the hour. Whenever I glance at that clock I think I have to head to my office to catch my next patient. I guess in psychotherapy it could move people out the door... (not seriously a good idea).
www.youtube.com/watch?v=kQFKtI6gn9Y
Monty Python's unique solution to this problem. I hope this is the right link, I'm at work and can not see it.
Monty Python's unique solution to this problem. I hope this is the right link, I'm at work and can not see it.
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