Groups in Practice

A School Counselor's Collection

Debra Madaris Efird

• Publisher: Routledge
• Year: 2012
• eBook ISBN: 9781136471537
• Topic: Psychology
• Subtopic: Mental Health in Psychology
• Index: Psychology

This practical, user-friendly manual will provide school counselors with the information they need to set up and run twelve different counseling groups. Though the author has test-driven the groups with middle school students, the content is easily adaptable for upper elementary and high school students. Each chapter is devoted to a specific group and includes

• a rationale for the group
• step-by-step breakdowns of each session
• reproducible worksheets and activities
• group-specific evaluation form.

Special sections within each chapter provide tips to make implementation easier and address potential problems. Also included are the American School Counselor Association standards that are addressed during the course of the group. Traditional group topics such as Divorce, Grief, and Study Skills join unique groups tailored for students dealing with Asperger Syndrome, Attention Deficit Disorder, Juvenile Diabetes, and Relational Aggression. The author has used her extensive experience to create this invaluable guide which school counselors at all levels of experience will find an essential tool in their group work.

Chapter 1

Off to a Fine Start

Group counseling is a fail-proof way to fire up the fun in your daily work as a counselor. You will find it fulfilling, exasperating, and sometimes astonishing. Let me walk you through it. And if you find anyone out there more dedicated than I am to keeping things simple, let me know.

Using this book will help you develop or enhance your group counseling efforts. To ensure that your group counseling program is grounded in the American School Counselor Association (ASCA) National Standards for Student Competencies, pertinent ones are indicated in each chapter. Including these competencies confirms that your groups rest on a solid foundation and are being provided to meet established needs of students.

A thorough reading of this first chapter is crucial to help you get off the ground and running. Though it is tempting to go straight to the Contents page to see which group topics reach out and grab you, it is wise to spend a few minutes going over background essentials. In this chapter you will learn vital points of soliciting group members, determining the composition of your groups, informing students of group meetings, and setting up group rules. You will discover how to make everything more fun and also manage the occasional problems that come up in groups. You will become familiar with the format of each chapter. At the end of this chapter, you will find forms that you may want to revise or copy for your own use.

There are two basic ways to get started. You can spend time assessing what your population needs or you can just make some general assumptions and go for it: every school can use a divorce group, a grief group, or a stress group. If you like, you could start there and later determine if there are other specific groups you need in your school. For those of you more inclined to use a needs assessment, I have included a sample one that I have found useful.

Though there are some exceptions, I solicit students for most groups through guidance lessons that reach all of the students in my charge. I start at the very beginning of the school year during my introductory guidance lesson. In a five-to-ten minute discussion tacked onto the end of my guidance lesson, I either explain the group sign-up form or the needs assessment form, depending on which route I have chosen for solicitation. I distribute the forms and then collect one from every student. In this way I have been inclusive, offering my services to all.

Some groups necessitate a different solicitation format. Members of the Asperger and Juvenile Diabetes groups are chosen by obtaining from appropriate personnel a list of students with those diagnoses and then sending parent permission letters in advance to determine interest. For my Latina Pride group, I select Latinas who are connected to the English as a Second Language (ESL) class, either by active class membership or by consultation. You could solicit members for this group during the regular guidance lesson method mentioned above, but at many schools you would end up with overwhelming numbers. By limiting membership to those still connected with the ESL program, I believe that I am focusing on students with the greatest need for help with cultural adjustment problems. For membership in the Relational Aggression group, I ask teachers for suggestions on whom to include as well as use my own judgment based on which students are frequently in my office with “girl drama.” For the Fitness group, I solicit members by posting signs around the school directing students to the guidance office to pick up more information and parent permission letters. Due to my fear of students being stigmatized for being overweight, I do not find it appropriate to gather these members through my regular guidance lesson format.

After I have completed an almost endless round of guidance lessons to reach the huge numbers in my caseload, I tally the forms to see how many sections of each group I will need. If I use the needs assessment solicitation method, I usually choose to tally only the students who indicate a high number (3 = Very Often) in each topic. If I am really lucky, they will have checked “group counseling” at the bottom of the form. But I include all students who circle a 3 in my initial meetings, regardless of whether or not they noted “group counseling” on their form. Then I choose which groups to start based on the topics that have the most 3’s.

If it looks like I am going to have more than four or five groups, I will need to run a few for six weeks and then start the other ones after the first groups are finished. Using the needs assessment form provides you with a lot of information about student needs, which may cause you to feel obligated to run groups back to back all year long. If you are uncomfortable with a schedule that stringent, it is fine to start small. I’ve run as many as six different groups simultaneously, but I won’t try that again. After all, group counseling isn’t the only thing a school counselor does! If I have twenty-five students signed up for a particular group, I divide it into three sections. I pay attention to the composition of the groups, too. I try not to end up with only one boy sitting in a group with seven girls. I also have an eye out for rowdies, so I try not to place too many of those types in the same group.

The next step is to write out an individual note for each student, filling in the blank with the student’s name and the date and time of the group. Then I place these in homeroom teacher mailboxes the afternoon of the day preceding the meeting. (If you give teachers things too early, they lose them just like the students.) And, of course, I must admit that sometimes I find myself running around crazily to homerooms on the day of the group, dispensing notes to students like I’m handing off the baton in a relay race. Whatever it takes to be ready!

At the first session, I always explain which group is convening. Yes, take nothing for granted. There is always one student who says, “I meant to sign up for the divorce group instead,” or, “I thought I signed the line about NOT wanting to be in group.” I go over the outline briefly. I explain the schedule in detail to ensure that the students understand how to follow it over the course of six (or however many) weeks. I point out that disruptions may occur (an unscheduled assembly or snowstorm) and that they will be notified via announcements if group must be cancelled or changed. I explain that there will be three ways to help them remember to come to group: (1) looking at the schedule which is now in their hands but later should be taped in their notebooks or locker, (2) listening to announcements, and (3) reading the note their teachers should hand them in homeroom on group days. Yes, that last one is a tall order: completing an individual note for every child in group for a minimum of six whole weeks. But they’re worth it.

To provide a level of confidentiality, I identify the groups I am currently running by number when they are announced on the public address system. Group 1 may be the FAIR group, Group 4 may be the Living with JD group, and so on. Group members are told to listen carefully for their group number, which they usually do not have a problem remembering. I also offer students the opportunity to come up with a name for the group if they want, but most of the time they just accept the names I have posted in the Contents of this work.

Be sure to talk about group rules at each introductory session. I ask them to generate a few group rules, and they normally do a fair job. Some points I always make certain are covered: being confidential, taking turns talking (not monopolizing), laughing with (not at) others, and following general school rules. It is wise to emphasize that group membership can be revoked if behavior becomes unmanageable.

I also give students the parent permission form at the first session, though you may choose to hunt them down in advance to distribute them. I like to be able to explain what the group is all about and let them see who else is there before they bother with committing. After all, it is an introductory session that barely moves into the topic. (A few exceptions, as mentioned earlier, are the Asperger and Juvenile Diabetes groups, for which I always send the letter to the parent before meeting with the students.)

A regular annoyance is enticing students to return their signed permission forms promptly. I always ask that they bring them within the next couple of days to my mailbox in the guidance office. The sooner I have all parent signatures in my possession, the sooner I can send out a memo to teachers noting the group schedule excusing the students from class. I do not want to list a student’s name on the memo if he has not brought me proof that he can be in the group, but there are invariably a few who insist on returning them late. (Or you may choose to not give teachers a list of students in your groups, relying instead on the individual meeting notes you send each week as sufficient for getting them out of class.) If you can stand a little bribery, you may find that the promise of a small piece of candy or gum (if allowed) works wonders with students. If they return their forms to your box the very next day, they will get the treat at the next meeting. You will need to check your box often and keep accurate records! Sometimes I actually call parents for verbal permission and a promise to send in the form. If you are not in such a hurry to inform your teachers and you can patiently wait until the second meeting, it will reduce your stress over this matter. One thing I am a stickler on, however: if a student shows up for the second meeting and no parent form has been returned, I send him back to class. No form, no group. You may feel heartless, but you have to draw the line somewhere.

Without fail, my last session is somewhat of a review. Sometimes a new activity or topic is combined with it, but you can depend on me doing some sort of summary of the previous sessions. I think this is especially important as a way of reminding my young charges that they were not just “getting out of class” for six weeks! Mainly, I hope the review shows them that deliberate steps have been taken to move them from where they were in their thinking, feeling, and behaving to where they are now. I want them to assess their own progress (or lack of it) and understand that they must take some responsibility for making changes in their lives. I give them an evaluation form at the end of the last meeting, which helps create closure as well as providing me valuable feedback. I also assure them that they are welcome to see me individually as needed throughout the rest of the year.

I personally believe in conducting groups without expensive supplies. I imagine that most school guidance departments are on tight budgets, so I have not bought costly workbooks or games or other items to complement my groups. You can follow my group plan with little or no measurable cost in supplies. Any guest speakers, of course, are volunteers. I must admit that occasionally I’ve taken my own money and bought a coffee shop gift card or a small bunch of flowers from the grocery store for outside speakers as a token gesture of gratitude.

You may notice as you browse through this book that sometimes it appears I am suggesting the same activity for various groups. Yes, I am! For example, I suggest the “Things You Can/Cannot Change” worksheet for the Latinas group, the Obesity group, and the Self-Esteem group. However, if you look carefully, you will see that some of the statements have been tailored to fit that particular group. Sentence Completion exercises are used numerous times, but you will find that each set of statements has a totally different focus. If I have found something that works for one group, I am quite fond of tweaking it for another one.

Whenever conducting activities, it is wise to keep in mind that most students prefer something a little more fun than pencil/paper activities. So I have taken many worksheets that could be completed, boring-style, and presented the same information in a more user-friendly way. You will note I frequently have students pull a slip of paper from a basket and respond to it. They find this irresistible and chancy, like opening a fortune cookie. Hand the basket to only one student at a time and have them draw just one slip at a time. Otherwise, they’ll spend their time worrying or thinking about how to answer theirs and not listening to the others. There will invariably be one in the group who will have difficulty with the slip drawn. That’s fine. You can explain that every question does not apply to everyone and allow that student to draw another. But you may need to put a limit on it—this isn’t a shopping trip for just the right fit. After speaking, have them return the slips to you to avoid those being redrawn.

If there is a sheet of information with points to cover, I don’t read it to them myself. Instead, I ask them to each take turns reading a sentence. I word things in a simple fashion, so they usually do not stumble. If they do, I gently correct and move on, sometimes reminding them that this is not English class. Sometimes I jazz it up by having them read their statement in a fake accent or while in some weird position like crouched under the...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Title
• Copyright
• Contents
• Preface
• Acknowledgments
• 1. Off to a Fine Start
• 2. ADD + (Plus)
• 3. Asperger Boys Club (ABC)
• 4. Divorce: Stuck In the Middle
• 5. Fitness Matters
• 6. Good Grief
• 7. Juvenile Diabetes: Living with JD
• 8. Latina Pride
• 9. Relational Aggression: Friends and Important Relationships (FAIR)
• 10. Self-Esteem: Making Our Way
• 11. Standing Up To Stress
• 12. Study Skills: Going for the Gold Star
• 13. Underachievers: Boys Improving Grades (BIG)
• 14. Summary: Crossing the Finish Line
• Index