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    “Standing up Together”               

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    “Standing up Together”               

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A small group counseling opportunity for high school students to provide support and community to those who are suffering from the effects of being cyberbullied.

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Stage 1 will be the "getting to know you" phase of the group where participants will get to know each other through a couple ice breakers and begin to earn each other's trust. Session expectations and layout will be set and reinforced during this stage.  Discussion about confidentiality, as well as the limits that accompany it, and the importance of honoring others' confidentiality will be thoroughly covered as well as the consequence of being asked to leave the group if that trust is broken by other group members.

Stage 2 includes the middle sessions and is important for growing and maintaining the trust amongst the group members.  Each session will be opened with the objectives, outline, expectations, and reiterating the ground rules and the continuing importance of confidentiality.  There will be games and discussions in each session to build on their trust and interaction with one another.  Participants will be encouraged to interact with one another outside of the group sessions with small homework assignments that they will work on together outside of the scheduled sessions. Monitoring group interaction and participation will be conducted through observation throughout this stage as well as checking in with each group member individually to assess how they are progressing.

Stage 3 is when the group will come to a close.  All lessons will be highlighted and reviewed as a reinforcement to show participants all they have learned and how far they have progressed since the first session. This will help their confidence that they have the tools to handle life on their own.  A last group activity will be conducted to encourage the relationships they have formed with other group members and to continue those supportive relationships will be valuable to them in the future.  The last session will end with another discussion on the importance of confidentiality and the expectations of continuing it even after the group ends.

A follow up group session will be held 4-6 weeks after the last session to assess how the group participants are doing on their own and to encourage those important relationship once more.

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The following mindsets and behaviors will be met throughout the group sessions.

M 3. Sense of belonging in the school environment

B-SS 1. Use effective oral and written communication skills and listening skills

B-SS 2. Create positive and supportive relationships with other students

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          Publicity Plan                               

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          Publicity Plan                               

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Advertising for this group will be done by posting a sign on my counseling bulletin board, on the counseling Instagram page, as well as emails sent to all high school students and parents with a brief description and how they cant make it known they are interested in being a part of the group. An announcement will be made at the faculty meetings to make teachers and staff aware of the group in case they have any particular students they feel should be recommended. Advertising will start approximately 2 weeks before the start date to allow time for students to see it and think about if they want to join.

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Once a students expresses interest in being a part of the group, they will be screened individually due to the sensitivity of the topic. There will be a discussion of the goals and intended outcome of the group, group rules and expectation, including confidentiality. A conversation will be had with the potential participant about why they feel that group would benefit them and to what level they will actively participate in the group. After this short interview with the student, the counselor will decide if the group would be a good fit for them.

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Parental consent will be required for a student to be a participant in the group. After the screening and selection process is complete, a consent form, such as the one attached, will be sent home with a print out of the group information for parents to sign and return prior to the first session. In addition to parental consent, verbal assent will be required from the participant during the screening process.

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The following are rules that will be understood and followed by all participants of the group.  They will be explained to the student during the screening process and will be required to acknowledge the expectation of compliance of the rules during each session.

1.  Confidentiality - everything that is said in a group session stays in that session.

2.  Show respect for group members and counselor at all times.

3.  This is a safe place!

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The leadership style that would best fit this group is a participative leadership with an emphasis on "supporting". The counselor will guide the discussions to make sure they stay within a reasonable boundary, but allow the participants to open up and share what they want and need to. The counselor is there to be supportive but not demanding or coaching the participants.

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American Counseling Association. (2014).  ACA code of ethics. https://www.counseling.org/resources/aca-code-of-ethics.pdf

American School Counselor Association (2019). ASCA School
Counselor Professional Standards & Competencies. Alexandria,
VA: Author. https://www.schoolcounselor.org/asca/media/asca/home/SCCompetencies.pdf

Cherry, K. (2020). Leadership styles and frameworks you should know. https://www.verywellmind.com/
leadership-styles-2795312

Missouri Professional School Counselors and Counselor Educators. (2015). Professional school counselor small group counseling guide: A professional school counselor’s guide to planning, implementing, and evaluating school-based counseling groups. Retrieved from https://dese.mo.gov/sites/
default/files/guid-respon-serv-small-
group-counseling-guide-2015.pdf

Yalom ID. (1995). The theory and practice of group psychotherapy (4th ed.). New York: Basic Books.

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ASCA School Counselor Professional Standards and Competencies states that conselors will:

B-SS 3 (b) Provide support for students, including individual and small group counseling, during times of transition, heightened
stress, critical change or other situations impeding student success

When a student is a victim of a cyberbully, the effects can impede on student success, therefore it is ethical to provide those victims with a group counseling opportunity to support those individuals during these situations.

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There are many of Yolom's therapeutic factors that may possibly be observed throughout this group.  Since this group "Standing up Together" is designed to build relationships with other students who are experiencing the same issue, universality will most definitely be present.  Another therapeutic factor that could potentially be seen is installation of hope.  These students need to know that their lives will go back to normal after falling victim of a cyberbully, even though at the moment they not feel that way.  They will be given the tools needed to cope and succeed, they will just need to find that hope that they can do it on their own.  Also present may be altruism.  Creating a community within the group will present an opportunity for the participants to rise up and help one another.

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The 2014 ACA Code of Ethics section A.9.a. underneath the section on group work, states that:

A.9.a. Counselors screen prospective group counseling/therapy participants. To the extent possible, counselors select members whose needs and goals are compatible with the goals of the group, who will not impede the group process, and whose well-being will not be jeopardized by the group experience. (p. 6)

There will be a screening and selection process in place for this small group counseling for this very purpose.  It it an ethical duty of a counselor to screen participants to ensure all participants have the best experience that they deserve.