Doorknob Bombshells in Therapy: The Deadline, the Brain, and Why It Is Important to End on Time

What should a therapist do when a patient reveals critical information at the end of a session?

It’s a near-universal experience among mental health practitioners: a patient drops a bombshell—a critical disclosure that moves the treatment forward—on their way out, with a hand on the doorknob. This “doorknob moment” creates a stressful dilemma for clinicians, especially when the patient is distraught. Should the clinician end the session on time, or run over and be late for the next patient?

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