How to Die: Preparing Groups for the Loss of the Leader

Abstract: All group therapists in private practice face an important decision: What will happen to their groups after they die? Shockingly few studies have addressed the effects of the death of a group therapist on group members. Indeed, in past generations, older group therapists were known for "dying in the saddle," leaving group members unprepared and without leadership. For many group members, the leader's ill-planned exodus reawakens trauma related to abandonment and loss. This article explores how to better prepare group members for the permanent loss of a group leader due to death or retirement. Interventions include disclosure, preparing the group, assigning group communicators, and creating a professional will—a legal document that outlines the group leader's wishes and plans for the group in the event of their death or retirement.