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This group consists of four boys in kindergarten who are all five years of age. These students were selected from teacher referral and counselor observation. These kindergarten students could use small group intervention time to focus on regulating their emotions. Whole group guidance lessons and morning meetings have focused on feelings, emotions, and regulating skills, but with 25 students in each class, these students need more time to practice these skills.

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The ASCA mindsets and behaviors that apply to this small group include:
Mindset Standards-
M1: Belief in development of whole self, including a healthy balance of mental, social/emotional and physical well-being
M3: Positive attitude toward work and learning
M5: Belief in using abilities to their fullest to achieve high-quality results and outcomes

Behavior Standards-
B-LS1: Critical thinking skills to make informed decisions
B-LS2: Creative approach to learning, tasks and problem solving
B-LS7: Long- and short-term academic, career and social/emotional goals
B-SMS1: Responsibility for self and actions
B-SMS2: Self-discipline and self-control
B-SMS7: Effective coping skills
B-SS5: Ethical decision-making and social responsibility
B-SS6: Effective collaboration and cooperation skills
B-SS9: Social maturity and behaviors appropriate to the situation and environment

(American School Counselor Association, 2021)

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Information regarding this group will go out to staff in a Google Form. Teachers will be able to share students who fit the criteria for this specific small group.

Administrators will be made aware of this small group during their weekly administrative meetings with the counselor.

Teachers will receive this Google Form through their email. The counselor will follow up with a team meeting.

Parents will be contacted once a small group has been made to notify them their child will be participating in the group, what it's for, what the sessions will be about, and any other important details.

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Once students have been selected, the counselor will do a quick check-in with students one-on-one to discuss what the group will be about. If the student agrees to participate in the group, the counselor will complete a screener with the student that contains five questions.

If the screener shows that students have a need for emotional regulation, the student will be assigned to the group.

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Parents sign consent for their child to speak with the counselor when they sign the parent/student handbook at the beginning of each school year. However, because this is a planned group with six sessions, parents will receive a consent letter prior to the small group beginning.

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Family Consent Emotional Regulation Small Group Letter

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Group rules will be brought to each group when meeting. Each session will begin with the group rules and confidentiality guidelines will be discussed.

If students have additional rules they feel should be added to the group, the counselor will add to this list of rules to review each time the group meets.

Small group counseling guidelines were modified from (Missouri Professional School Counselors an Counselor Educators, 2015)

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Stage 1: Relationships will start being built the first time students meet with the counselor to gain assent for being in the group. During the first session, students will meet each other and start forming relationships, even if they do not know each other. The group rules will be discussed at each additional meeting, and any rules the students think need to be added will be discussed. Confidentiality will be discussed at each meeting. During the initial session, this conversation will last longer. Students will be told that confidentiality means that what they say during group, stays in group, but there are some limits to that. The limitations that will be discussed are that confidentiality can be broken if someone is hurting them, if they want to hurt someone, if they want to hurt themselves, or if they give permission to share with a trusted adult. Abuse will be described as emotional abuse, physical abuse, sexual abuse, or neglect. Because this group is focused on feelings and emotions, students may share what happens when adults get angry in their houses. If this happens, the counselor will ask to talk privately with the student and explain that confidentiality will be broken by reporting to Child Protective Services if they disclose that they are being hurt. The counselor will demonstrate that they can share strategies they learn with others not in the group if they feel it could help them, but that if another student says something personal to them, students will keep that information confidential.

Stage 2: The group sessions will have opportunities for students to discuss scenarios with one another and role-play emotions and feelings. This will help students work cohesively in the group sessions because they will interact with one another. Quick checks will be given to students during each session to check for understanding of the materials covered that day and to check on past topics of conversation. Some quick checks may be written down, and others may be as simple as a thumbs up or thumbs down to check for understanding.

Stage 3: As the group comes to a close, the counselor will let the group know that they can continue checking on each other at recess and lunch when they come in contact with each other and that the counselor will do a bi-weekly check-in with each of them. The counselor will block off time each week to do a quick check-in with students. Students will do a self-assessment to see how comfortable they are with managing their emotions and not being in group together anymore. The counselor will discuss with students that the confidentiality of the group will continue past their time together and that what individuals shared in the group will stay with the group, aside from the limits discussed at each session.

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Many of Yalom's curative factors of group treatment would be applicable to this group.
*Installation of hope: The counselor in this group will keep students focusing on the positive changes that the students make and how their emotional regulation skills have improved throughout the group.
*Universality: The students who struggle with being emotionally dysregulated often feel like they are alone or being singled out. When there are multiple students all focused on improving the same behavioral qualities, they will have a feeling of not being alone in learning new skills.
*Development of socializing techniques: The students in this group will be learning strategies to use that will help them with interpersonal relationships with peers as well as with adults. This will help them learn to be around others in a social setting without them becoming dysregulated.
*Direct advice: The counselor will give strategies for students to use and practice scenarios to work on controlling their emotions. This will help them learn how to handle their problems and have healthy coping strategies.
*Interpersonal learning: Through practice of scenarios together, and discussing new ways of handling them that are healthy, students will learn new ways of relating with others.

(Yalom, 1995)

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American School Counselor Association Ethical Standards

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American School Counselor Association Ethical Standards

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A.7.e: School counselors facilitate short-term groups to address students' academic achievement, postsecondary and career exploration, and social/emotional well-being.

This ethical requirement states that counselors will facilitate short-term groups to address students' social and emotional well-being. This specific group of students will be learning social and emotional skills to help them regulate their emotions and handle difficult situations in healthy ways. This directly correlates to helping students with their social/emotional well-being.

(American School Counselor Association, 2022)

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American School Counselor Association Ethical Standards

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American School Counselor Association Ethical Standards

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A.7.h: School counselors communicate the aspiration of confidentiality as a group norm, while recognizing and working from the protective posture that confidentiality for students in small groups cannot be guaranteed.

This ethical requirement states that counselors will discuss confidentiality with the small group. This group has confidentiality as part of the group rules/norms that they discuss at each session. Students will also be made aware that if they say something in the small group, the others in the group will then know the information that was shared. Students will also be made aware of the limits of confidentiality that are in place for the safety of themselves and others.

(American School Counselor Association, 2022)

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My leadership style is transformational leadership. I enjoy being part of the process of motivating others to make positive changes in their lives. I am passionate and committed to helping my students grow in all aspects of their lives. This group will benefit from this leadership style because I will teach them strategies that they can use inside and outside of the school environment that will benefit them in all of the relationships in their lives.

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American School Counselor Association. (2022). ASCA ethical standards for school counselors. https://www.schoolcounselor.org/getmedia/f041cbd0-7004-47a5-ba01-3a5d657c6743/Ethical-Standards.pdf

American School Counselor Association. (2021). ASCA student standards; mindsets and behaviors for student success. Alexandria, VA: Author. https://www.schoolcounselor.org/getmedia/7428a787-a452-4abb-afec-d78ec77870cd/Mindsets-Behaviors.pdf

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. http://www.missouricareereducation.org/doc/smallgroup/SmallGroupCounseling.pdf

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