The first session of a counselling group can feel stiff and awkward. A few weeks later, the same people may be talking more honestly than they do with friends. That change follows a pattern. Here’s what each stage looks like, and what to expect as a member.
Group counselling usually moves through recognisable stages. The textbook model by Gerald Corey and colleagues calls them pre-group, initial, transition, working and final. Bruce Tuckman’s better-known names, forming, storming, norming, performing and adjourning, describe the same arc: members get to know each other, test the group, settle into real work, then say goodbye.
Why the stages matter
For a group leader, knowing where the group is helps them choose what to do next. The American Group Psychotherapy Association (AGPA) makes this point in its practice guidelines.
For a member, knowing the stages helps you not give up too early. Tension a few sessions in is expected. It isn’t a sign the group is failing.
Two cautions. Groups move through the stages at different speeds, and some get stuck or slip back to an earlier stage. And not every expert sees it as a straight line: some models describe groups circling back to the same themes, going deeper each time.
The main models side by side
| Corey | Tuckman and Jensen | MacKenzie | What’s going on |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pre-group | The leader screens and prepares members | ||
| Initial | Forming | Engagement | Getting to know each other; testing whether it’s safe |
| Transition | Storming | Differentiation | Tension, disagreement, questions about the leader |
| Working | Norming and performing | Interpersonal work | Trust, honesty and real change |
| Final | Adjourning | Termination | Reviewing, ending and saying goodbye |
Corey’s model comes from the textbook Groups: Process and Practice by Marianne Schneider Corey, Gerald Corey and Cindy Corey, retitled Counseling for Groups in its 2025 edition. Tuckman’s four stages come from a 1965 review of research on small groups, and he and Mary Ann Jensen added “adjourning” in 1977. AGPA’s own guidelines use MacKenzie’s four-stage model.
Before the group starts: the pre-group stage
Good groups begin before the first session. The leader decides who the group is for and checks that each person is a good fit. AGPA’s guidelines recommend a preparation meeting with each new member, and describe its tasks as:
- building a working relationship with the leader
- explaining how the group works and why it helps
- talking through worries about joining
- going over the group’s agreement, including confidentiality
What to expect as a member: questions about what you hope to get from the group, and a chance to ask your own. It’s the right time to ask how privacy works and what happens if you miss a session.
Stage 1: Initial (forming)
At the start, members don’t yet know what’s safe to say or how the others will react. Most people stay on the surface and share what feels safe. Members lean heavily on the leader to set the rules.
The leader’s job here is to build trust and a sense of belonging. They reinforce the group’s norms: honest sharing, listening with empathy and accepting each other.
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What to expect as a member: introductions, ground rules and short check-ins. Saying very little is normal. You may worry about being judged, or about whether you’ll fit in.
Stage 2: Transition (storming)
Once the politeness wears off, differences surface. AGPA describes this stage as the arrival of conflict between members and more attention to how members differ, including how they relate to the leader’s authority. Some people become more outspoken; others go quiet.
Take a circle for people burnt out at work. By the fourth session, Kunle says the group is “just complaining”. Ada snaps back that he hasn’t shared anything himself. Someone asks whether the therapist should be giving more advice.
This stage is worked through when the group finds ways to hold the tension and talk through the disagreement, rather than avoid it. The leader helps by naming what’s happening and keeping it safe.
What to expect as a member: frustration, irritation, or a wish to quit. If you can, say what you’re feeling in the group. Working through a rupture, rather than avoiding it, is one of the ways groups build trust.
Stage 3: Working (norming and performing)
Members settle their differences, follow the group’s norms and work towards shared goals. They invest more, in the group’s work and in each other.
The focus shifts to each person’s own patterns in relationships, as they show up in the room. Members test old beliefs about how people see them against how the group actually responds. In the burnout circle, Kunle notices that he goes on the attack whenever he feels judged, and that he does the same at work.
This is where the benefits Irvin Yalom described for groups show up most clearly. His list has 11 therapeutic factors, including hope, finding you’re not alone, learning from how others respond to you, and the sense of belonging he calls cohesiveness. Research links cohesion with better results, especially when leaders work to build it.
What to expect as a member: more honest feedback, both given and received, and more taking part without being asked. You may start to notice your own patterns showing up in the group.
Stage 4: Final (adjourning)
The final stage is about ending well. Members review what they’ve learned, what work remains, and how to carry it into life outside the group. They also deal with separation: the end of relationships that may have mattered a lot.
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AGPA’s guidelines describe what leaders do: remind the group how many sessions are left, help members give each other specific feedback on what’s changed, and use rituals, such as a go-around in which each person speaks in turn.
What to expect as a member: mixed feelings, including sadness, disappointment, even anger. It’s worth coming to the last session even if you’d rather slip away, because that’s where members look back at what’s changed and plan what comes next.
Open groups don’t move in a straight line
All of this is clearest in a closed group, where everyone starts and ends together. In an open group, members join and leave at different times.
AGPA notes that with each departure, the group becomes a new group. Each new member changes it too, and good leaders go over the agreement, including confidentiality, whenever someone joins. So an open group may cycle through parts of these stages several times.
How solid are these models?
They’re useful maps, not laws.
- Tuckman’s 1965 paper was a review of earlier studies, not an experiment. By 1977, only one of 22 later studies he and Jensen looked at had directly tested the model.
- Corey’s stages come from a textbook written to teach group work.
- Real groups vary. They move at different speeds, and a long-running group may circle back to earlier themes.
So treat the stages as a way to make sense of what’s happening, not a timetable.
The stages in a Mytherapist.ng circle
On Mytherapist.ng, small therapy groups are called circles. Each one has up to 12 people, is led by a licensed therapist, and meets on video every week or every two weeks for 60 to 90 minutes. Members use first names or an alias, cameras are optional, and sessions are never recorded.
When you join, you answer two short questions, about whether you’ve had therapy before and how things are right now, and only the therapist sees your answers. Circles can keep taking new members as they run, so they behave like open groups. Expect a settling-in period when you join, and expect the group to shift a little when people come and go. The therapist sets the price, shown before you pay. Our announcement explains how circles work, from joining to the first session.
New to groups? Start with what group therapy is and who it helps. If you lead groups, our guide to starting and running a circle covers the setup, and counselling techniques and skills covers the listening skills that every stage depends on.
Frequently asked questions
What are the stages of group counselling? Corey’s model names five: pre-group, initial, transition, working and final. Tuckman’s model names forming, storming, norming, performing and adjourning. Both describe a group getting to know each other, working through tension, doing real work and then ending.
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What are Tuckman’s five stages of group development? Forming, storming, norming, performing and adjourning. The first four come from Bruce Tuckman’s 1965 review, and he and Mary Ann Jensen added adjourning in 1977.
What happens in the transition stage of group counselling? The early politeness wears off. Differences and disagreements surface, members may challenge each other or the leader, and some people may think about leaving. The group moves on when it learns to talk through the tension instead of avoiding it.
What happens in the working stage? Members trust each other enough to be honest, give and receive real feedback, and look at their own patterns as they show up in the group. It’s the stage the earlier ones prepare for.
How long does each stage last? There’s no fixed length. Groups move at different speeds, some get stuck, and open groups can cycle back when members join or leave.
Is it normal to feel like quitting a group? Yes, especially in the transition stage. If you can, say so in the group or to the leader before you decide. Tension is an expected part of group life, and talking it through is part of how a group builds trust.
This article is awaiting clinical review. It’s based on published research and health guidelines, and we’ll update it once a clinician has reviewed it.
