This document discusses the final stage of a group. It identifies key tasks for leaders during this stage, including dealing with feelings of separation, reviewing the group experience, emphasizing that behavioral change requires practice outside of the group, and providing feedback. For open groups, tasks involve educating members on termination and exploring cultural perspectives on endings. For closed groups, tasks focus on dealing with unfinished business. The document also provides guidance on evaluating the group experience and preparing members for possible setbacks after the group ends.

1. Final Stage of a Group
Chapter 9

3. Main
Objectives:
Chapter 9
● to identify and define the key characteristics
of a group during the final stage
● to describe the main tasks of the final stage
of a group
● to discuss the importance of dealing with
feelings of separation
● to describe some methods for reviewing the
group experience
● to emphasize that practice outside of the
group is necessary for behavioral change to
occur
● to clarify the kind of feedback that is useful
during the final stage of a group
● to describe the use of a contract and
homework as a way to assist members in
furthering what they learned in a group
● to describe guidelines for applying group
learning to life
● to consider methods for evaluating a group
experience
● to describe the importance of follow-up

5. Ending an Open Group
● Tasks of the final stage of an open group:
○ Educate members to give adequate notice when they decide it is time to terminate
○ Discuss informed consent from the beginning of a group and explain how to
terminate productively
○ Assist the member leaving to prepare emotionally for termination and give others
the opportunity to express their reactions
○ Explore cultural influences on perspectives and understandings of endings
○ Assist the leaving member to review what has been learned in group and what to
do with the learning
○ Make referrals, when appropriate
○ Help members learn how to face future challenges with the tools they gained

6. Ending a Closed Group
● Tasks of the final stage of a closed group:
○ Deal with feelings of separation
○ Dealing with unfinished business
○ Reviewing the group experience
○ Practicing for behavioral change
○ Giving and receiving feedback
○ Discussing ways of carrying learning further- using
contracts and homework

8. Giving and Receiving Feedback
● The sentence completion method can enhance the quality of
feedback and can result in focused feedback
○ Examples:
■ My greatest fear for you is…
■ My hope for you is…
■ I hope you will seriously consider…
■ I see you blocking your strengths by…
■ Some things I hope you will think about doing for yourself are…
■ Some ways I hope you’d be different with others are...

9. Case Vignette
Reluctance to Termination. You are leading a group with a predetermined date for termination. Three
weeks before the group is to end, you remind the members of this fact and encourage them to begin
taking care of any unfinished business they might have. You sense a great deal of hesitation to
considering termination. They would like to keep the group going, and some of the statements made are:
● “It took us 13 weeks to reach this level of trust and now we have to quit! Why can’t we keep going?”
● “I don’t want to say goodbye. These people in here have become good friends and I don’t want to
even think of having this group end.”
● “If I could keep working with this group, I am sure that I could get through some of the problems
that have kept me in a stuck place for so long.”
What would you want to say to each of these members? What are some advantages of a time-
limited group? Would you be willing to continue this group if members seemed to be getting something
from the experience? Why or why not?

10. Applying Lessons to Everyday Life
● Assist members in translating what was learned in a group to
their lives and developing action plans geared towards change
● Inform members that relapse happens. Prepare them to cope
with unexpected outcomes
● Some points to share with members:
○ Group is a means to an end
○ Change is bound to be slow and subtle
○ Focus more on changing yourself than on changing others
○ Decide what you will do with what you learned about yourself

11. Case Vignette
Follow-Up Procedures. Before the termination of a group, the group leader reminds the
members of a follow-up session with the entire group. She also encourages them to develop
specific contracts pertaining to what they are willing to do before the follow-up group. The
leader senses the members are willing to transfer what they learned in the group to their
daily life outside. After three months pass and the group meets again, most of the members
report setbacks and difficulties in putting to use what they learned in the group. Some said
they felt depressed because they had been sure they would be able to change.
If you were this leader, what are some things you’d want to say to the members at
the follow-up? What kinds of suggestions might you make now on resources for further
growth? What factors could help explain the apparent regression of many of the members?
In your own groups, how would you prepare the members for possible setbacks? What are
some ways you might help them review what they learned?

12. Leader Functions: Ending Stage
● Assist members in dealing with any feelings they might have about
termination
● Provide members with an opportunity to express and deal with any
unfinished business within the group
● Reinforce members’ changes and ensure they have information about
their continued growth
● Assist members in determining how they will appluy specific skills
● Work with members to develop specific contracts and homework
● Provide opportunity for feedback for others
● Reemphasize importance of maintaining confidentiality

13. Leader functions After Termination
● Offer private consultations if any member should need
this service
● Provide for a follow-up group session or follow-=up
individual interviews
● Identify referral sources for members who may need
further assistance
● Evaluate the strengths and weaknesses of the group

14. Member Functions: Ending Stage
● Deal with feelings about separation and termination so they
do not distance from the group
● Prepare to generalize learning to everyday life and decide on
changes they want to make and how they plan to make them
● Complete unfinished business, either issues brought into the
group or issues that pertain to people in the group
● Evaluate the impact of the group and remember that change
takes time, effort and practice

16. Assignment:
For next class...
● Read Chapter 11
● Work on
Assignment #4 Due
Next Class
● Research an idea to
help with the ending
of a group and be
prepared to share

17. Assignment 4:
1. What are the leader’s responsibilities
when bringing a group to an end?
2. What assessment techniques might you
use at both the beginning and the end
of a group?
3. What personal characteristics of yours
might get in the way of helping
members in your groups deal with
separation and termination issues?

18. Grading Rubric
● Each question needs to have at least a one-page
response
● For each question, you must cite the text at least
once
● You will need to create a reference page for the
textbook
● You will need a cover page
● Grammar as well as APA format will be looked at
and considered as part of your overall grade
● Each question will need to be answered fully and
clearly, with thoughtful, informed responses
● You may go over the 1-page limit, but you do not
have to