Final Stage

Question 1

Final Stage

Characteristics

Answer 1

• Sadness and anxiety over reality of separation
• Members pull back and participate in less intense ways
• Members deciding what course of action they are likely to take
• There may be some fears of separation as well as fears about being able to carry over into daily life
• Members express their fears, hopes, and concerns for one another
• Session devoted to preparing members to meet significant others in everyday life
• Members involved in evaluation of the group experience
• May be some talk about follow-up meetings or plan for accountability

Question 2

Final Stage

Member Functions

Answer 2

• Consolidate their learning and transferring to the outside environment
• Deal with feelings about separation and termination so members do not distance themselves from the group
• Prepare to generalize learning to everyday life
• Complete any unfinished business
• Evaluate the impact of the group and remember that change takes time, effort, and practice
• Make decisions and plans concerning changes members want to make and how they will go about making them
• Find ways to reinforce themselves without the support of the group
• Find ways to continue new behaviors through self-directed program

Question 3

Final Stage

Leader Functions

Answer 3

• Provide a structure that enables participants to clarify the meaning of their experiences
• Assist members in dealing with any feelings they might have about termination
• Provide members with opportunity to express and deal with unfinished business
• Reinforce changes members have made and ensure that members have information about resources
• Assist members in determining how they will apply specific skills in life situations
• Help members summarize changes they made
• Develop specific contracts and homework assignments
• Develop conceptual framework to help them understand, integrate, consolidate, and remember what they learned in group
• Provide opportunities for members to give constructive feedback

Question 4

What are some examples of activities you can do when closing a group?

Answer 4

• Good-bye letters
• Discussion of what worked and didn’t work
• Think about new students coming into group
• Contract to themselves
• Support group
• Revisit an activity
• Seat in the middle (say something nice to the person sitting in the chair)
• Potluck

Question 5

Termination of the Group Experience

Answer 5

• Some members will engage in behavior that makes it easier for them to leave the group:
• Distant
• Problematic
• Argumentative
• Diminish the work that they themselves have accomplished or others have accomplished
• Group leaders can teach members how to process endings and have a sense of closure to both in the group and in relationships outside of the group
• Group members may experience and express closure differently due to their cultural backgrounds