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Chapter Nine – An Ending – Page 278
to the growing edges and significant questions that have been important for you”. 4
Paula joked that the uncomfortable silence that followed the invitation was Frances’s
time (Frances being late then as she had been in virtually every session of the
semester). 5 When they did eventually respond, group members brought in a lot.
Nancy went first, acknowledging a difficult experience but also her capacity to deal
with it, and an honesty about her own early attitudes and their subsequent revision. Tom
too wanted to acknowledge his earlier difficulty with the programme. He was wary of
sounding contrived. Kelly was subdued, although seemingly grateful for some of her
experience. Veronica was very articulate, and took more time than her share, and we
encouraged her. That leaves Mary, Paula, Ron, Heidi, and Frances (who took their turns
after the break in the middle of the session). Feeling the urgency now that I think I was
unable to feel and express to Judi in that break (which might have been expressed as,
“How are we going to get through all that we have to try and do?”), I wonder how best
to capture what they said. What comes to mind are Mary’s surprise at the impact of the
reflective group; Paula’s deep reflection on a surprising experience; Ron’s disturbed
feeling in relation to the course and in this session; Heidi’s intense and harrowing
experience dealt with largely elsewhere; and Frances’s determination to be and not be
various things, but her loss at the same time of a sense of who she is. The time after
these turns is very short, filled by thanks from the staff to the students, and some thanks
from some students to the staff. The staff conclude by suggesting that the students keep
in touch, and in particular, that they might wish to give talks in the Agency’s
programme of seminars for the wider community of psychotherapists and mental health
4 This is the invitation that is offered to the class taking this semester at the first session.
5 This joke is, I believe, representative on several levels, which include a shared anxiety about the task, as
well as an expression of negativity to Frances as the scapegoat for the group.