Therapeutic Good-Byes with Planned and Unplanned Endings

Course

This training helps social workers engage in thoughtful and therapeutic good-byes with clients no matter what the circumstances of the ending–planned, unplanned, and everything in between. The course will focus primarily on good-byes with adult clients, but some case examples will discuss good-byes with adolescent clients as well.

We'll explore:

When the therapist and client agree the work is done
When the therapist needs to leave or an external event forces a good-bye before the work is done
When clients make the choice to end the work

Simulated therapy session: This course includes a simulated session between the instructor, Kim O'Brien, and Jasmine (portrayed by an actor). Jasmine is graduating college and moving to another state. After several years working together, it's time to say good-bye.

Course curriculum

1. Welcome to the Course!
2. Our Plan
1. Overview: Types of Good-byes
2. Why Are Good-byes Important?
3. When Do You Start Preparing Clients for Good-byes?
4. The Client and the Therapist Agree the Work is Done
5. When Therapy Needs to End Before the Work is Done
6. When Clients Make the Choice to End the Work
7. The Simulation: Client Background Information
8. Jasmine & Kim Say Good-Bye (Part 1)
9. Jasmine & Kim: Good-bye (Part 2)
10. Jasmine & Kim: Good-bye (Part 3)
11. Jasmine & Kim: Good-bye (Part 4)
12. Simulation Session Debrief
1. Overview: Common Questions
2. Is It Okay to Accept Gifts? Is it Okay to Give Gifts?
3. How Can I Bring a Trauma-Informed Lens to Good-byes?
4. Are Good-byes Always Good-byes?
5. Is It Okay To Show Emotion?
1. Review Overview
2. Review
3. Bibliography
4. Nice Work!
1. Overview: Posttest
2. Posttest
3. Overview: Course Evaluation
4. Course Evaluation: Therapeutic Good-byes with Planned and Unplanned Endings (Created 9/26/26)
5. Congratulations!

About this course

$29.00
2.5 CE Credits (Clinical)
Online, self-paced, noninteractive course
Available in the U.S. and Canada

Meet the Instructor

Kimberly O’Brien, PhD, LICSW is the founder and director of Unlimited Resilience, LLC and co-founder and director of Athletes Better Together. She is also a research and training consultant at the Behavioral Research & Training Institute at Rutgers University. She obtained her MSW (’05) and PhD (’11) from Boston College and completed her postdoctoral fellowship (’13) at Brown University. Her research is focused on intervention development for suicidal adolescents and their families, with additional specializations in substance use, interventions which utilize technology, and athlete mental health and suicide prevention. Dr. O’Brien has co-authored over 75 articles and book chapters related to adolescent suicide, substance use, and mental health, and was awarded the Young Investigator Research Award from the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention in 2019. She is also co-author of the book Mentality Wins: The Athlete’s Playbook for Thriving in Sport and Life, as well as the book Emotionally Naked: A Teacher’s Guide to Preventing Suicide and Recognizing Students at Risk.

Course Details

Credits: This course offers 2.5 clinical continuing education credits. Learn more

Cost: $29

Format: This is an online, self-paced, noninteractive course that includes reading and recorded videos (asynchronous course).

Registration: To register for this course, click the "Enroll" button. This course is self-paced, so you can join at any time after completing your registration and payment.

Practice Level: Beginner

Target Audience: Clinical social workers who are interested in learning new clinical skills for engaging in therapeutic good-byes with clients.

Learning Objectives

By the end of this training, you will learn to:

Explain the role that “good-byes” have in the therapeutic process.
Compare and contrast approaches to therapeutic endings based on circumstances (unplanned, planned, etc.).
Recognize and respond to common client and clinician responses to endings (with a particular focus on trauma and attachment).

Continuing Education Credits

Continuing education credits are offered to social workers in all U.S. states except New York and across all Canadian provinces. If your state uses CE Broker, you will need to manually upload your certificate of credit. Learn more

Additional Information

Refund & Cancellation Policy: GetPractice will fully refund requests from learners who have not completed a course. If a learner has completed all requirements of a course and received their certificate of completion, they are no longer eligible for a refund.

Accessibility: Please email [email protected] to discuss any questions or requests regarding accessibility & accommodations.

System Requirements: This course is hosted on the GetPractice site. To complete the course and all required course materials, learners will login to the GetPractice course site. Learners will need a computer or smartphone and an internet connection to complete the course.

Course Completion Requirements: To complete the course and receive their certificate of credit, learners will complete all online lessons in the course, a posttest (a passing score of 80% is required, learners can retake the test if needed), and a course evaluation. Once these components are successfully completed, the learner’s certificate of credit will be available immediately on the course page and in their learner account.

Availability Notice: This course is currently available to customers located in the United States and Canada.

Questions or Concerns: Please reach out to [email protected]

Course Creation Date: 9/26/26

GetPractice LLC, provider #2517, is approved as an ACE provider to offer social work continuing education by the Association of Social Work Boards (ASWB) Approved Continuing Education (ACE) program. Regulatory boards are the final authority on courses accepted for continuing education credit. ACE provider approval period:11/14/25-11/14/26. Social workers completing this course receive 2.5 clinical continuing education credits.