ABSTRACT
As clients work through problems associated with their substance abuse and whatever other problems brought them to therapy, the time eventually comes when the therapy relationship will end and the client will move on to a chapter of life beyond the present therapy. Among professionals, therapists often use termination to refer to the process of wrapping up a course of therapy (although they may use terms like "ending" or "closure," which sound less severe to the layperson, when talking with clients about finishing their work together). Substance abuse treatment providers frequently use the term aftercare to refer to steps the client will take, typically including involvement in other forms of professional care or social support systems, to maintain and expand beneficial outcomes past the end of more intensive intervention (Brown, Seraganian, Tremblay, & Annis, 2002). An important task of termination is thus to help clients clarify plans for their own aftercare.
