Dear Tacit,
If I am seeing a therapist I really trust and they leave the agency where they were working, should that agency tell me where the therapist went so I can still see her if I want to?
Signed Where Did My Therapist Go?
Dear Where Did My Therapist Go,
This is an excellent question for anyone who is currently in therapy/seeing a counsellor. Unfortunately, there is no legal black and white answer I can offer. In Canada, agencies are not automatically required to tell clients where a therapist is going next. When a therapist leaves, the agency may simply inform clients that the clinician is no longer with them. Unfortunately, this can cause some unexpected surprises and be quite confusing for clients.
However, an agency that is behaving in an ethical manner and therapists who work under a regulated College (or a governing Association) are all expected to adhere to a concept called the “continuity of care”. What this means is that a client should not suddenly be left without the support they feel they need when they are in the middle of their mental health treatment journey. In simple terms, it’s about making sure the client’s progress doesn’t get dropped or disrupted in a way that could cause them any harm. It is the responsibility of both the therapist who is leaving and the agency they work with to ensure that no client ever feels abandoned.
What is usually considered “best practice” when a therapist is leaving the place where they have been working is that the client is informed of this pending change well ahead of time (ideally, weeks/months in advance). This allows the client to have the appropriate time to discuss their transition needs (emotionally and logistically) with their therapist before the change happens. Of course, this amount of advance notice is not always possible, especially if the therapist’s decision to leave the agency happens more suddenly.
It’s helpful if the client and their therapist get time for a discussion about what is happening and the client is not just told about the change from the admin person at the agency, when they try to book their next session. Sometimes an email will be sent out to the current clients who are being impacted by the change, by the agency. And other times, the therapist themselves will share the news with their clients, individually. In the best-case scenario, both forms of communication will happen – the therapist and the agency work together as a team, to support the client.
Part of the discussion that needs to happen is about helping the client manage any feelings of mistrust, fear, anxiety, sadness or loss that they might experience when they learn that their therapist is leaving. The bond between the therapist and their client is often a deep one, for many reasons. And sometimes, it is the first or only time a client has been able to be vulnerable in certain emotional/psychological ways. Any changes happening in this therapeutic relationship require appropriate care and nurturing, so the client does not end up hurt or feeling unsafe in any way.
And part of the discussion will be ensuring that the client is given control over what happens next, as far as their mental wellness needs go. Neither the therapist nor the agency should decide what happens for the client. Giving the client the agency (or the power to choose what they feel is best for their needs) is the best way to show respect and to honour the autonomy that every human being should be awarded over their own lives.
The client should be given a few different options about what they can do next. They can be supported in transferring to another therapist within the same agency (or a therapist in another agency altogether, if they prefer) – and they should be given some suggestions about who else might be able to meet their needs. Or they can be supported in taking a break from their therapy process if they decide to see no one moving forward (if they feel their needs have been suitably met by the time they have their last session with their current therapist). Or the client can be supported in potentially continuing to see their same therapist by transferring to wherever the therapist will now be working (if this is possible). A good therapist and agency will explain all of these options equally, encouraging the client to make the best choice possible based on the client’s needs (and not based on any pressure to do what the therapist/agency prefers).
In general, if the therapist/agency that a client is connected to is not allowing the client these choices and these levels of support, it might be time to find another counselling option! If the therapist or agency is putting their own needs before the client’s, then it is likely telling you all you need to know about their levels of ethical comportment and professional integrity.
But keep in mind, there might also be some circumstances that the agency/therapist cannot discuss/divulge in any great detail – to protect the privacy of the therapist who left. The client does not have the right to all the information they might want. They do always have the right to receive the support they need (from both the therapist and from the agency) to move forward in their counselling journey in the best way possible, based on what the client feels is best.
Take care!
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