Termination issues

We have an art therapist who is retiring soon, and he is concerned with how to terminate with patients at the hospital--on his unit, and in his groups. I asked everyone in the supervision group to create an image about a time they had to say goodbye to someone, and then asked them to think about the feelings they had at the time. These feelings are comparable to what the patients feel when they have to say bye to therapists who leave the facility, but because they are patients with various issues, their feelings may be amplified, difficult to identify, and harder to express. We discussed how it is the therapist's responsibility to give the patient enough time to process his feelings and still have the opportunity to talk to the therapist about those feelings. 

Patient Discharge

Once, in supervision, we discussed one patient who would be discharged soon. There was some media about it, so I read an article about him to the group. Then, we all created an image about the situation based on our own impressions. The responses were varied, from a large eye representing him being under constant scrutiny, to an image about the public not wanting him in their neighborhoods, yet harboring their own secrets about the abuse that goes on in their own homes.  One image was about the stress the patient has to deal with, another about how controlled the patient is in his art work, perhaps to counterbalance all the things that are out of his control or his dislike for feeling out of control. The exercise helped staff feel empathy for the patient and illuminated ways to be supportive of him during this transitional time. 

Termination in Supervision

Recently, another Art Therapist at the hospital moved on to a new opportunity. She had originally started a Mail Art group for the sex offenders which they really enjoyed. So, on her last day, during supervision, the other Art Therapists in the group all made her a post card, and wrote a personal message to her. She gave us her new address and we sent her our "Mail Art." This was a fun and creative way to say good-bye, share some memories of our experiences, and express sentiments about our work together.

Termination in Supervision

One of the Art Therapists decided to transfer to another facility, so on her last day of supervision, I had everyone in the group make an art journal page for her. We then bound up the pages into a book to take with her. Hopefully, it will help remind her of her colleagues here, some of the things that she learned, and the experiences she had. It was also a nice chance for her co-workers to share something creative and meaningful with her. Termination can be a difficult time for clients and staff, bringing up issues of loss, abandonment, trust, etc., so it's important that it be addressed.