Challenging Endings: First Year MSW Interns’ Experiences with Forced Termination and Discussion Points for Supervisory Guidance

Abstract

Every year, students prematurely end their work with some clients due to the completion of their internship, rather than the client's achievement of goals and thus a more natural endpoint of treatment. It is important to understand students' experiences with forced termination to provide them with the necessary knowledge, skills, and support to optimally manage this complex phenomenon. This paper reviews the social work literature on forced termination arising from the ending of students' internships and presents, in their own words, the experiences of four first-year MSW interns with forced termination. Finally, based on the literature and as borne out by these students' experiences, some areas for discussion and reflection between interns and their supervisors in handling forced termination are offered.

Faculty Respond to COVID-19: Reflections-on-Action in Field Education

“…Even with reassurances that students would earn full field credit for the spring semester, students continued to be overwhelmed by the information. Some interns found the forced (and sudden) termination process to be difficult (Gelman et al 2007 ). Forced termination was especially difficult for students whose agencies could not support a remote termination process with clients through phone or videoconference.…”