ABSTRACT
This chapter provides some guidelines for the major activity that occurs in the late phase of Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT)—relapse prevention—as well as approaches to tapering sessions and ending treatment. It deals with space for therapist to reflect on their own learning and decide upon the next steps they will take to refine their skills as a cognitive behavioral therapist. Relapse prevention is a strategy in which clients think ahead to signs that they are experiencing another episode of their mental health disorder and ways to, proactively, apply the CBT principles and strategies that they have learned. In addition to the focus on relapse prevention, in the last sessions before the completion of treatment, cognitive behavioral therapists typically discuss clients’ reflections on the course of treatment and their reactions to the end of treatment. CBT is an example of a “living” approach to psychotherapy that continually is honed while, at the same time, retaining its fundamental principles.
