Introducing My Life as the Terminator

What do giving your cellphone number to clients, delaying the inevitable, and freaking out have in common? They're all bad strategies for terminating my clients. No, I'm not going to hire the governor to execute my clients. Termination in social work refers to stopping one's work with a client.

We had a meeting with all of the case managers on Wednesday in which we discussed our strategies and anxieties about terminating clients. It's unfortunate for our clients that several of us interns are terminating because our internship is over, not because our work is really finished. I trust that the next interns will be equally good, if not better.

I know I won't miss my clients in 6 months, but it's still a little agonizing to think about leaving my endearing senior clients and single mothers behind. I won't be able to savor the latest tales from my middle aged nudist client, or wage war on my crafty Philippino's most recent money scheme, or soak in the activist story from an elderly woman I know only by phone. Who will bring me more lyrical poetry and confuse their lives with their novel? I'm afraid to leave them more than they're afraid to leave me.

Today, I told one of the frail looking ladies whom I meet with that my last day is in August. Rather than reacting emotionally as I dreaded, she continued on in her fixation to find the perfect Section 8 apartment near the beach. She didn't even miss a beat! I had to suppress a laugh at my own neediness as a case manager.

I hope that future interns will hear the motto we talked about on Wednesday: termination begins on day one. I think that this process (which has thus far been only painful for me) could be even smoother if the clients are told up front that their beloved case manager will be leaving in one year.

I'm going to end with a happy story. I told one of my most capable clients that I'll be leaving soon. She said, Aww! I'm miss you, Bryce, and then she shared her story of going through detox and rehabilitation for drug abuse, learning parenting skills and holding down a job, getting a beautiful apartment near the beach, and saving up for a car. I wanted to cry happy tears. Sometimes endings aren't sad after all.