Stage 5: Final Stage—Consolidation and Termination

One of the group leadership skills that is especially important as a group evolves and is
moving toward a fi nal stage is the capacity to assist members in transferring what they have
learned in the group to their outside environments. During each stage of the group, participants
are applying lessons learned in the sessions to their daily lives. The consolidation of this learning
takes on special meaning as a group moves toward termination; this is a time for summarizing,
pulling together loose ends, and integrating and interpreting the group experience. Joyce, Piper,
Orgrodniczuk, and Klein (2007) identify the following as essential tasks to address during the
termination phase of group therapy:
 Review and reinforce changes made by each of the members of the group.
 Assist members in reexamining their relationship with the group leader and other
group members.
 Help participants learn how to face future challenges with the tools they acquired in
the group.
I see the initial and final stages as the most decisive times in the group’s life history. If the
initial phase is effective, the participants get to know one another and establish their own
identities in the group. An atmosphere of trust develops, and the groundwork is laid for later
intensive work. Throughout the life of a group, the members are engaging in the cognitive work
necessary to make decisions regarding what they are learning about themselves and others. As a
group evolves into its fi nal stage, cognitive work takes on particular importance, as well as
exploring feelings associated with endings. To maximize the impact of the group experience,
participants need to conceptualize what they learned, how they learned it, and what they will do
about applying their insights to situations once the group ends. If the fi nal phase is handled
poorly by the group leader, the chances that the members will be able to use what they have
learned are greatly reduced. Worse yet, members can be left with unresolved issues and without
any direction for how to bring these issues to closure.
It is essential that termination issues be brought up early in the course of a group’s history.
In every beginning the end is always a reality, and members need periodic reminders that their
group will eventually end. According to Mangione, Forti, and Iacuzzi (2007), endings in a
therapeutic group are frequently emotionally charged and complex events. Rutan, Stone, and
Shay (2007) state that termination often evokes emotional reactions pertaining to death and
mortality, separation and abandonment, and hopes for a new beginning. Leaders have the task of
facilitating a discussion of the emotional aspects associated with termination.
As a group leader, unless you recognize your own feelings about termination and are able
to deal with them constructively, you are in no position to help members deal with their
separation issues. Mangione and colleagues (2007) maintain that group workers need to be aware
of their personal limitations pertaining to endings or loss if they expect to act ethically and
effectively when assisting members at this stage of the group experience. It may be that you find
endings difficult, for a variety of reasons, which will likely mean that you will not facilitate
members’ expressions of feelings about endings.
Avoiding acknowledging a group’s completion may refl ect an unconscious desire on the
part of the leader or members not to deal with the role that endings play in their lives. I have
found that many people have had negative experiences with endings in their personal
relationships. Frequently, people leave us with the assurance they will keep in contact, yet many
of them fade away in spite of our efforts to keep in touch. Some of us have friends and relatives
who have ended a relationship with anger, leaving us with unfinished business. In our everyday
lives, we often lack the modeling for dealing effectively with termination, which is the reason
that doing so becomes especially important in group counseling. When termination is not dealt
with, the group misses an opportunity to explore an area about which many members have
profound feelings. Even more important, much of what clients take away from a group is likely
to be lost and forgotten if they do not make a sustained effort to review and make sense of the
specifics of work they have done. Dealing with termination is essential for all types of groups,
whatever their duration.
There is a danger that as group members become aware that the end of the group is nearing
they will isolate themselves so that they do not have to deal with the anxiety that accompanies
separation. Work generally tapers off, and new issues are rarely raised. If members are allowed
to distance themselves too much, they will fail to examine the possible effects of their group
experience on their out-of-group behavior. It is crucial that the leader helps the participants put
into meaningful perspective what has occurred in the group.

EFFECTIVE WAYS OF TERMINATING A GROUP

 This section deals with ways of terminating the group experience by exploring questions
such as these: How can members best complete any unfinished business? How can members be
taught, as they leave the group, to carry what they have learned with them and to use it to deal
more effectively with the demands of their daily existence? What are the relevant issues and
activities in the closing phases of a group? Because of space limitations, most of my discussion
focuses on the termination of a closed group; that is, a group that consists of the same members
throughout its life and whose termination date has been decided in advance. Issues pertaining to
termination are given brief coverage here; for a more comprehensive treatment of tasks
associated with termination in psychotherapy, see Joyce, Piper, Orgrodniczuk, and Klein (2007).

Dealing With Feelings During the fi nal stages of the group, it is a good practice for the leader
to remind members that there are only a few sessions remaining. This allows members to prepare
themselves for termination and to achieve successful closure of the group experience. Members
need help in facing the reality that their group will soon end. Feelings about separation, which
often take the form of avoidance or denial, need to be fully explored. It is the leader’s job to
facilitate an open discussion of the feelings of loss and sadness that accompany the eventual
termination of an intense and highly meaningful experience. The members can be helped to face
separation by the leader’s disclosure of his or her own feelings about terminating the group.
During the initial phase, members are often asked to express their fears of entering fully
into the group. Now, members should be encouraged to share their fears or concerns about
leaving the group and having to face day-to-day realities without the group’s support. It is not
uncommon for members to say that they have developed genuine bonds of intimacy and have
found a trusting and safe place where they can be themselves without fear of rejection. They may
dread the prospect of being deprived of this intimacy and support. Also common are concerns of
not being able to be so trusting and open with people outside the group. One of your leadership
tasks is to remind the participants that if their group is special—close, caring, and supportive—it
is because the members made the choice and did the work together. Therefore, they can make
similar choices and commitments, and be equally successful, in their relationships outside the
group. This “boost of confi dence” is not intended to deny the sense of loss and the sadness that
may accompany the ending of a group. On the contrary, mourning the separation can be an
enriching experience if the members of the group are encouraged to fully express their feelings
of loss and anxiety.

Examining the Effects of the Group on Oneself Toward the end of the group it is useful to
give all members an opportunity to put into words what they have learned from the entire group
experience and how they intend to apply their increased self-understanding. I routinely discuss
the various ways in which participants can go further with what they have learned in the group.
This is a time for making specific plans for ways members can continue to build on what they
learned in their group. To be meaningful, this discussion must be concrete and specific. Global
statements such as “This group has been great. I really grew a lot, and I learned a lot about
people as well as myself” are so general that the person who made the comments will soon forget
what specifically was meaningful about the group experience. When someone makes this kind of
sweeping statement, you can help the person express his or her thoughts and feelings more
concretely by asking these questions: “How has the group been good for you? In what sense have
you grown a lot? What do you mean by ‘great’? What are some of the things you actually
learned about others and yourself?” Emphasizing the importance of being specific, helping
members to conceptualize, and encouraging the open expression of feelings about endings and
the meaning of the group can increase the chances that members will retain and use what they
have learned. If members have kept up their writing about their group experience in their journal,
they often have an excellent basis for assessing the impact of the group as a factor in bringing
about signifi cant change. During the fi nal stage, I suggest that members of my groups write
about most of the topics that are addressed in this section.

Giving and Receiving Feedback Giving and receiving feedback are crucial during the fi nal
phase. Although members of an effective group have been sharing their perceptions and feelings
at each session, the opportunity to give and receive summary feedback has a value of its own. To
help participants take advantage of this opportunity, during one of the last few sessions I
generally ask members to give a brief summary of how they have perceived themselves in the
group, what confl icts have become clearer, what the turning points were, what they expect to do
with what they have learned, and what the group has meant to them. Then the others in the group
say how they have perceived and felt about that person. I have found that concise and concrete
feedback that also relates to the hopes and fears that the person has expressed is most valuable.
Vague comments such as “I think you’re a great person” are of little long-term value. It is useful
to ask members to write down specific feedback in their journals. If they do not record some of
the things that people say to them, they tend to forget quickly. If they make a record, months
later they can look at what others told them to determine whether they are progressing toward
their goals.

Completing Unfinished Business Addressing unfinished business should not be put off to the
very last session. Time should be allotted in previous sessions to work through any unfinished
business relating to transactions between members or to the group process and goals. Even if
some matters cannot be resolved, members should be encouraged to talk about them. For
example, a member who has been silent throughout most of the group may say that she never felt
safe enough to talk about her real concerns. Although it may be too late to work through this
member’s comment to everyone’s satisfaction, it is still important to look at this statement rather
than completely ignoring it. In another case, two people who were in confl ict may be ending the
group without fully resolving their differences. If they come to understand what has blocked
them from working through the confl ict, both will have learned something about themselves in
the process.

SUMMARY OF THE FINAL STAGE

Stage Characteristics During the fi nal phase of a group, the following characteristics are
typically evident:
 There may be some sadness and anxiety over the reality of separation.
 Members are likely to pull back and participate in less intense ways in anticipation of
the ending of the group.
 Members are deciding what courses of action they are likely to take.
 Members may express their hopes and concerns for one another.
 There may be talk about follow-up meetings or some plan for accountability so that
members will be encouraged to carry out their plans for change.
Member Functions and Possible Problems The major task facing members during the fi nal
stage of a group is consolidating their learning and transferring what they have learned to their
outside environment. Of course, they have probably been doing this to some extent between
sessions if the group hasbeen meeting on a weekly basis. This is the time for members to review
the process and outcomes of the entire group and put into some cognitive framework the
meaning of the group experience. After their group has ended, the members’ main functions are
to continue applying what they have learned to an action program in their daily lives and to
attend a follow-up group session (if appropriate). Here are some of the tasks for members at this
time:
 Deal with their feelings and thoughts about separation and termination.
 Complete any unfinished business, either issues they have brought into the group or
issues that pertain to people in the group.
 Make decisions and plans concerning ways they can generalize what they have learned to
everyday situations.
 Identify ways of reinforcing themselves so that they will continue to grow.
 Explore ways of constructively meeting any setbacks after termination of a group.
 Evaluate and express the impact of the group experience.

Some problems can occur at this time:

 Members may avoid reviewing their experience and fail to put it into some cognitive
framework, thus limiting the generalization of their learning.
 Due to separation anxiety, members may distance themselves.
 Members may dwell on confl icts that occurred in their group.
 Members may consider the group an end in itself and not use it as a way of continuing to
grow.

Leader Functions The group leader’s central tasks in the consolidation phase are to provide a
structure that enables participants to clarify the meaning of their experiences in the group and to
assist members in generalizing their learning from the group to everyday situations. The leader
should focus on these tasks:
 Reinforce changes members have made and ensure that members have information about
resources to enable them to make further changes.
 Assist members in determining how they will apply specific skills in a variety of
situations in daily life, including helping them to develop specific contracts and action
plans aimed at change.
 Help members to conceptualize what is taking place in the group and identify key turning
points.
 Help members to summarize changes they made and to see commonalities with other
members.
 Assist participants to develop a conceptual framework that will help them understand,
integrate, consolidate, and remember what they have learned in the group.
 Create an aftercare plan for members to use at a later point.