CHAPTER 13 ENDINGS Settings, Modalities, Methods, and Skills Summary of Content 1. Context of Ending Decisions to end worker-client relationships can occur in several ways. The clients and worker may make them jointly. They may be imposed by the nature of the setting, as at the end of the school year or the end of hospitalization. They may have been determined in advance as part of the agreement, as in planned short-term service. Occasionally, the decision to end comes about through an unexpected event involving either the worker or the client. The ending phase makes specific demands of workers and clients to (1) explore feelings and thoughts aroused by the ending (2) review the accom- plishments and what remains to be achieved (3) plan for the future, includ- ing transfer to another worker or referral to another agency (4) evaluate the service provided. 2. Preparation for Ending Workers consider in advance the likely influence of agency, temporal, and modality factors. The agency itself influences the content and process of ending, particularly with respect to temporal features. Organizations differ in how they structure and use time. A public school, for example, has a natural temporal