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Terminations

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Abstract

Whether the person leaving the group is a group member or a group therapist, the basic dynamics of separation are the same, involving the separation process as well as mourning. Terminations evoke ambivalent feelings of both separation-pain and hope. Group members and the departing person experience a loss, which reminds them of other losses, and the departing person (group member or therapist) may also experience some guilt. Any termination will have an effect on the-group-as-a-whole, as well as on the individual members, and must be dealt with prior to the actual leaving, as well as after the termination.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Group Psychotherapy, Washington Square Institute for Psychotherapy and Mental Health, 41 East 11 Street, 10003, New York, NY

    Dorothy Flapan Ph.D. (Director)

  2. Washington Square Institute for Psychotherapy and Mental Health, USA

    Gerd H. Fenchel Ph.D. (Dean)

Authors
  1. Dorothy Flapan Ph.D.
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  2. Gerd H. Fenchel Ph.D.
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Flapan, D., Fenchel, G.H. Terminations. Group 11, 131–143 (1987). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01456616

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01456616

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