The Process of a Member’s Planned Termination from an Analytic Group

Abstract

We discuss the dynamics of a therapy group when a female member announces her planned and then mutually agreed termination. To our knowledge, this subject is a relatively neglected area in professional literature. The group held sessions for a total period of one and a half hours a week for approximately six years. The group was slow-open and consisted of seven members and the conductor. The conductor conducted the group in accordance with the theoretical background of Foulkes. We describe the announcement of the member's termination, the group dynamics and the group's transference-countertransference feelings. Interestingly, after the member announced her departure from the group another member's grandfather died, which intensified the issues of death, loss, separation and mourning within the group.