Letting Go of the Work You Love: How to Retire and Close Your Practice Without Abandoning Your Clients
- Speakers:
- Margaret Wehrenberg, PsyD | Lynn Grodzki, LCSW, MCC
- Duration:
- 3 Hours
- Format:
- Audio and Video
- Copyright:
-
Oct 10, 2025
- Product Code:
- POS150334
- Brochure Code:
- SUM94384
- Media Type:
- Digital Seminar
Tags: Summit/Freebie Publishing
Description
Retirement isn’t as simple as walking away—it requires careful planning, precise timing, and transparent communication.
You may be asking yourself: When is the right time to close my practice? How can I prepare my clients for this inevitable transition? Will ending their therapy mid-process cause harm? And how do I cope with my own anxiety, guilt, and overwhelming concerns about letting go?
Whether your ending is planned or unplanned, therapists are bound by strict ethical codes that prohibit abandoning clients. For therapists in leadership roles—managing group practices, clinics, or agencies—the complexity deepens with the added responsibility of those they lead.
To close their caseloads, therapists must be prepared to navigate the full range of client emotions and understand the impact of loosening the vital attachment bonds that underpin successful therapy—both for themselves and their clients. This is a complex clinical challenge, requiring an advanced comprehension of the attachment issues that get triggered during a forced ending, and one that most therapists are unprepared for.
Until now, the clinical steps and skills for letting go of an entire caseload have been largely unexplored and rarely discussed.
This unique workshop equips therapists with the knowledge, case examples, and support necessary to plan for the end of their work with compassion, care, and integrity.
Credit
Speaker
Margaret Wehrenberg, PsyD Related seminars and products
Margaret Wehrenberg, PsyD, a licensed clinical psychologist, is the author of nine books on the treatment of anxiety and depression, including her most recent e-book, Pandemic Anxiety: Fear, Stress, and Loss in Traumatic Times (January, 2021), bestselling book, The 10 Best-Ever Anxiety Management Techniques (W.W. Norton, 2018), and You Can Handle It: 10 Steps to Shift Stress from Problem to Possibility (PESI, 2017). She has also written a book for the general public, The 10 Best Anxiety Busters.
An expert on the treatment of anxiety and depression, she also has extensive training and expertise in the neurobiology of psychological disorders. In addition to clinical work, she coaches business professionals on managing anxiety and has contributed articles for the Psychotherapy Networker magazine. She has produced Relaxation for Tension and Worry, audio soundtracks for breathing, muscle relaxation and imagery to use with anxious clients. Margaret blogs on depression for Psychology Today. Noted for humor, pragmatic treatment approaches, and her interactive teaching style, Dr. Wehrenberg is a sought-after speaker for conferences and trainings, consistently getting the highest ratings for her dynamic presentation and high-quality content. She is one of PESI’s most highly rated speakers and her evaluation from the most seasoned professionals often rank her training “as among the best I have ever attended.”
Speaker Disclosures:
Financial: Dr. Margaret Wehrenberg maintains a private practice. She receives royalties as a published author. She is an international presenter and receives compensation. Dr. Wehrenberg receives a speaking honorarium, book royalties, and recording royalties from Psychotherapy Networker and PESI, Inc. She has no relevant financial relationships with ineligible organizations.
Non-financial: Dr. Margaret Wehrenberg is a member of the Anxiety Disorder Association of America.
Lynn Grodzki, LCSW, MCC Related seminars and products
Lynn Grodzki, LCSW, MCC, is a psychotherapist in private practice, a master certified coach, and the author of Therapy with a Coaching Edge: Partnership, Action and Possibility in Every Session and Building Your Ideal Private Practice.
Speaker Disclosures:
Financial: Lynn Grodzki maintains a private practice and receives royalties as a published author. Lynn Grodzki receives a speaking honorarium and recording royalties from Psychotherapy Networker and PESI, Inc. She has no relevant financial relationships with ineligible organizations.
Non-financial: Lynn Grodzki has no relevant non-financial relationships.
Additional Info
Questions?Visit our FAQ page at www.pesi.com/faq or contact us at www.pesi.com/info
Access for Self-Study (Non-Interactive)
Access never expires for this product.
For a more detailed outline that includes times or durations of time, if needed, please contact cepepesi.com
Objectives
- Examine the four-stage Model of Readiness to Retire to close a clinical practice in an ethical and client-centered manner.
- Utilize attachment theory to address the impact of forced endings of therapy to minimize client regression or traumatization.
- Determine the ethical considerations of ending therapy with clients, including timing, pacing, and the use of self-disclosure.
Outline
Retiring Well: Therapist Readiness, Decision Points, and Planning
• Distinguishing between planned and unplanned retirements
• Navigating ambivalence: Understanding the push and pull factors around the decision to retire
• The Four-Stage Model of Readiness to Retire
• Preparing for the emotional and logistical complexity of ending a helping profession
• Releasing professional identity and developing a renewed sense of self
Clinical Implications of Retirement: An Attachment-Centered Approach
• Understanding how client attachment styles influence responses to therapy closure
• Best practices to prevent client regression and avoid abandonment
• Integrating the ending of treatment into ongoing therapeutic goals and treatment planning
• Maintaining secure attachment during the final phase of therapy
• Managing transference and countertransference during the transition
Ethical Issues for a Compassionate Ending of Therapy
• Ethical and effective communication with clients, including appropriate use of self-disclosure
• Key ethical responsibilities when concluding a caseload
• Understanding and preparing a professional will: components and importance
• Tools for healthy closure, including therapist self-awareness and emotional regulation
• Final tasks: consolidating gains, providing referrals, managing crises, and saying goodbye
• Reflecting on your professional impact: A Legacy Exercise
Target Audience
- Counselors
- Marriage and Family Therapists
- Social Workers
- Psychologists
- Chaplains
- Psychiatric Nurses
- Other Health Providers
Reviews
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