Temination

Monday, March 19, 2006

Final Stage: Closure, loss, learning

Concept Addressed: Termination

Why do things end? Is it inevitable, tragic or even beneficial? While reasons abound for entering into therapy in a group setting, one reason persist as to why groups or therapy in general must end; that is the group has completed its function. Whether it was specific task-oriented goal or a more general therapeutic aim, the goal of all groups is to allow members a safe space to process and learn whatever maybe necessary to face the larger complex and sometimes chaotic outside group we call the” the world.”

Response

Eastern thinkers, specifically Buddhist are quick to point to the mortality of all things. They say that time is a universal solvent, that topples dynasties, creates both peace and war and note that all things come to and end at some point. So to with group therapy. Although there are many types of groups, therapeutic to task oriented, one thing they all have in common is that they eventually their members must disband. Corey & Corey refer to this as the termination or final stage. The most successful groups are those where leaders and members address termination head on. By addressing the future sense of loss and recording what has been learned, members are more apt to make deeper realizations in session and are more apt to create action plans to maintain practice independent of group. In contrast, counseling educators warn against abrupt endings noting that group members how simply arrive at the last day of group without ever expecting group to end , find themselves disturbed. They often feel abandoned and much of the work up to this point may loose some of its potency. Additionally some members will feel cheated as if things have ended suddenly.

One thing that was not addressed in my own group experience was this issue. Although everyone implicitly understood that we were in a time limited group for the semester, this fact never surfaced explicitly and perhaps we did not expect to feel a sense of loss during termination. I know that I did not, and was surprised to find myself missing group. The impact of what was processed and what I had come to understand about the other members and myself seemed lackluster. I found myself questioning “What was all that for? Or was that a real group experience.” Interestingly enough even contrived situations generate real emotions and the unique bonds established by this process still hold.

Reflections

What I learned this week was that although people often envision group work to be long and arduous, dynamics operate on groups equally on group that short and long termed. I learned about myself that I can be an effective group leader even when group members are gender and age different. Additionally understand that the care in preparation in content and sessions should also be applied to termination. Group members should be emotionally and practically equipped to handle what follows group as well as what happens during group therapy.