Oh, man, occhi. Sorry; yeah that's tough on everybody. I can't help but note you were feeling like you made great progress with a lot of people just a short while ago. I remember one therapist once telling me that breakthroughs tended to happen about 3/4 way to the ending point, so having an endpoint in mind can be important for people, or maybe those bright moments wouldn't have happened.

Still rough, though. Reminds me of when I was student teaching my senior year of college. I had a group of 3rd graders I really bonded with. One boy in particular, a bright little misfit boy who was beyond his years mentally but isolated socially. We got on well and his parents remarked that he liked school better because of my presence there. The kids threw a party for me, with help from my mentor teacher, and it was all very sweet and nice, except for the fact that that one boy refused to come. He was just really angry at me for not being his teacher any more.

Smaller-scale issue, but yes, partings are hard, even though they're part of life. Hugs!

I remember one therapist once telling me that breakthroughs tended to happen about 3/4 way to the ending point, so having an endpoint in mind can be important for people, or maybe those bright moments wouldn't have happened.

Yeah, that about fits how it's been for me this year. I *do* think that having an end point is motivating. But yeah -- having a bunch of kids mad at you for abandoning them is heartbreaking. And there's nothing to do, really, except believe that they're all strong and skillful enough to do really well on their own.

Which they are. So I will keep reminding myself of that.

It's like having 10 break-ups back-to-back

My god, THAT's why I was so fricking pissed off at the end of our internship run! I never got that. :))

OK, one of the pissy ones just came back and asked if we could reschedule his appointment, which he had walked out on. And he was very nice about it. So that helps.

My god, THAT's why I was so fricking pissed off at the end of our internship run! I never got that.

Yeah, I heard one of the other counselors using the break-up metaphor to describe why the entire senior class seems to be hostile right now. If you're pissed off at someone, you're less likely to feel hurt. Repress! Repress! Repress! :-)

Ouch, good luck with the final day, and give yourself some time to recover.

I must say, though, that it's interesting to hear about it from the counselor's perspective -- I'd always wondered whether it was ever hard for therapists to "let go," and it's somehow heartening to hear that it can be (though I'd assumed this was the case).

My last therapist "break-up" was really tough for me -- we had a really good connection, and when she expressed that it was tough for her, it really helped and meant a lot. Actually, the very last session, I was bizarrely cheerful -- because I felt so lucky to have worked with her.

I'd always wondered whether it was ever hard for therapists to "let go," and it's somehow heartening to hear that it can be

OMG, it's so hard. I don't know if it would be different working with adults, but part of it right now for me is just that I'm working with kids (well, high-school kids) and they're so friggin' vulnerable. And for some of them I kind of hate to leave them at a school without an advocate, or at least someone who's there to tell them that it's the system that's a bit fucked (though I use different words!), not them.

I had kind of forgotten how crappy institutions can be, really. It's been really rewarding providing a space in the institution where kids can complain about / process that system, and I just hope that they can all keep finding that balance between being true to themselves and still fit in with others.

And I know they *will* find that balance -- we pretty much all do, and I very much have faith in these particular kids' strengths.

Sigh. Obviously I'm feeling sentimental. :-/

Actually, it's also partly that these endings are not necessarily therapeutically timed. We're ending because it's the end of the school year, not because all the therapy work has ended. Everyone's ending in reasonably good places (as Miko pointed out, having an end point did spur a lot of progress in the past few months), but it feels like a forced end.

It's been really rewarding providing a space in the institution where kids can complain about / process that system, and I just hope that they can all keep finding that balance between being true to themselves and still fit in with others.

My guess is that their experiences with you (regardless of the forced ending) will go a long way toward ensuring that they're capable of processing the system and finding that balance.