CT Bereavement Group Facilitation 2 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: A group member monopolizes every session by telling lengthy stories about their deceased spouse. The most appropriate facilitator response is to:
- Interrupt and redirect attention to other members
- Allow unlimited sharing as grief has no time limits
- Gently set time boundaries while validating their need to share (Correct answer)
- Ask the member to attend individual therapy instead
Correct answer: Gently set time boundaries while validating their need to share
Gentle limit-setting validates the grieving person while ensuring equitable participation and group cohesion.
Question 2: Which theoretical framework emphasizes the dual process of oscillating between loss-oriented and restoration-oriented coping in bereavement groups?
- Worden's Tasks of Mourning
- Dual Process Model by Stroebe and Schut (Correct answer)
- Continuing Bonds Theory
- Kübler-Ross Stage Model
Correct answer: Dual Process Model by Stroebe and Schut
The Dual Process Model by Stroebe and Schut describes healthy grievers oscillating between confronting loss and attending to life changes.
Question 3: When a bereavement group includes members at very different stages of grief, the facilitator should primarily:
- Separate members into stage-matched subgroups
- Use the diversity as a therapeutic resource showing hope of progress (Correct answer)
- Focus exclusively on the most acute grievers
- Discourage members further along from sharing their progress
Correct answer: Use the diversity as a therapeutic resource showing hope of progress
Diverse grief stages allow advanced members to model hope while newer members provide meaning through helping relationships.
Question 4: A facilitator notices two group members have formed a close friendship outside the group. According to best practices, the facilitator should:
- Immediately terminate both members from the group
- Explore the dynamic with the group to maintain transparency (Correct answer)
- Ignore it as outside relationships are private matters
- Encourage all members to form outside friendships
Correct answer: Explore the dynamic with the group to maintain transparency
Extra-group relationships should be explored openly to address potential subgrouping and maintain group integrity.
Question 5: The concept of 'instillation of hope' in bereavement groups refers to:
- Telling grievers their pain will soon end
- Members witnessing others adapt and find meaning after loss (Correct answer)
- Facilitators providing optimistic predictions about recovery
- Prescribing positive thinking exercises
Correct answer: Members witnessing others adapt and find meaning after loss
Yalom identified instillation of hope as a curative factor where members see peers progress, increasing their own hope.
Question 6: A bereavement group member reveals they have begun abusing alcohol since their loss. The facilitator's priority action is to:
- Continue the group session as planned
- Conduct a private assessment and refer for substance use evaluation (Correct answer)
- Have the group confront the member's behavior
- Immediately discharge the member from the group
Correct answer: Conduct a private assessment and refer for substance use evaluation
Substance abuse following bereavement requires individual assessment and appropriate referral before group continuation.
Question 7: In a closed bereavement group, when a long-standing member must leave early due to relocation, the facilitator should:
- Simply announce the departure at the member's last session
- Plan a structured termination ritual acknowledging the member's contributions (Correct answer)
- Avoid discussing the departure to prevent triggering other members' grief
- Ask the departing member not to attend remaining sessions
Correct answer: Plan a structured termination ritual acknowledging the member's contributions
Planned termination rituals for departing members mirror healthy grief processing and provide closure for all members.
CT Bereavement Group Facilitation 2
A group member monopolizes every session by telling lengthy stories about their deceased spouse.
The most appropriate facilitator response is to: