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In this middle school counseling group, the participants will engage in activities that provide opportunities to identify and analyze current habits that may be holding them back from experiencing academic and personal success. Furthermore, the participants will learn and practice new strategies to overcome failure and set new goals.

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         ASCA              Mindsets and Behaviors

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         ASCA              Mindsets and Behaviors

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The students will master the following ASCA Mindsets and Behaviors after completion of the "Overcoming Failure" small group.
"M 2. Self-confidence in ability to succeed" (American School Counselor Association (2014). Mindsets and Behaviors for Student Success, p.2).
"B B-SMS 5. Demonstrate perseverance to achieve long- and short-term goals" (American School Counselor Association,2014 Mindsets and Behaviors for Student Success: p.2)
"B-SMS 7.  Demonstrate effective coping skills when faced with a problem" (p.2)

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The counselors will obtain approval from the principal to give a presentation of the small counseling group at a faculty meeting.
During the faculty meeting presentation, the counselors will give a description of the group, the student learning outcomes, and a preview of lesson topics. Additionally, the counselors will invite faculty members to fill out the student recommendation form provided with names of students that will benefit the most from this small counseling group.
Finally, the counselors will send invitation letters to prospect students and  parents during the screening process. The letter will include a brief description of the group, the student learning outcomes, and a preview of lesson topics.

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The school counselor will pre-select students based on teacher recommendations and student data collected from the campus needs assessment. The counselor will create an homogeneous group in terms of grade level and heterogeneous in terms of personal characteristics (Missouri Professional School Counselors and Counselor Educators, 2015).

The school counselor will conduct individual student interviews/screenings to assess interest and readiness to participate in the counseling group (Missouri Professional School Counselors and Counselor Educators, 2015).

After the individual interviews, the school counselor will conduct a group interview to assess potential group member compatibility and willingness to work as a team including keeping group confidentiality, and following group rules(Missouri Professional School Counselors and Counselor Educators, 2015).

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The school counselor will send home a hardcopy of the informed consent for participating students and parents to sign and return prior to the start of the counseling group. The informed consent will include a brief description of the counseling group, group rules, logistics, as well as confidentiality information and limitations. Additionally, the counselor will review the informed consent with students at the beginning of the first session emphasizing the importance of confidentiality among group members.

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The following group ground rules will be established by the counselors.
1-Respect
2-Confidentiality
3-Active Participation
4-Open Mindedness
Students will be encouraged to add a few more rules as a group. After all the rules have been determined, the counselor will guide the group into a discussion of how these rules "look like" and "sound like" using the participant Guidelines and Ground Rules document attached. This step will provide students with an opportunity to share examples of the expected behavior.

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Applying a Participative Leadership style to the "Overcoming Failure" group will allow students to engage in the learning process, feel valued, and gain confidence that will propel them toward success (Verywell Mind, 2020).

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ASCA Ethical Standards for School Counselors (2016), state that counselors,
"A.7.a. Facilitate short-term groups to address students’ academic, career and/or social/emotional issues."(p.4).
This ethical requirement supports school counselors by specifying that groups should be short term and that they must address academic and personal student issues. It is important that school counselors remember that if/when a student needs long term counseling they must refer the student to outside sources(American School Counseling Association. Ethical Standards for School Counselors, 2016).

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Stage 1: The counselor will lead activities that create connections, and cultivate trust to promote a safe environment(Missouri Professional School Counselors and Counselor Educators, 2015).
The counselor will review the group rules and the importance of confidentiality including limitations and the negative effect that violating confidentiality may have on group members.

Stage 2: The counselor will ensure that all students have an opportunity to share and be heard by encouraging group members to acknowledge and value everyone's ideas and contributions to the group. Consequently, as students feel valued, they will have a higher chance to work as a cohesive and productive group(Missouri Professional School Counselors and Counselor Educators, 2015).  This practice will be modeled and reinforced consistently throughout the entire duration of the group. The counselor will gauge progress through student reflections, and activities, and will provide one on one guidance when needed.

Stage 3: The students will identify a personal accomplishment while in the group and share for group celebration. In addition, students will explore ways in which they can continue to apply the learned skills and strategies beyond the group setting (Missouri Professional School Counselors and Counselor Educators, 2015). The counselor will lead a fun team building activity that allows students to share how they feel as the group ends, and how they will maintain confidentiality. After the last group session the counselor will periodically check in with students to make sure they are doing well.

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The members of the "Overcoming Failure" group could find instillation of hope by believing that they can learn strategies to help them overcome obstacles and challenges that have held them back in the past(Yalom, 1995). Additionally, the group members could find universality by realizing that they are not the only ones that feel disappointed and stuck when faced with failure(Yalom, 1995). Furthermore, the group members could experience interpersonal learning by receiving and giving feedback from and to others(Yalom, 1995).

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According to ACA Code of Ethics (2014),
A.9.a. Screening 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).
This ethical requirement supports counselors by providing guidance in the group screening process by explaining that the counselor should select participants whose goals align with the group goals.

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American Counselor Association (2014). ACA Code of Ethics. Alexandria, VA: Author. Retrieved April, 18, 2020, from https://www.counseling.org/resources/aca-code-of-ethics.pdf

American School Counseling Association (2016). Ethical standards for school counselors. Alexandria, VA: Author. Retrieved April 10,

2020, from https://www.schoolcounselor.org/asca/media/asca/Ethics/EthicalStandards2016.pdf

American School Counselor Association (2014). Mindsets and Behaviors for Student Success: K-12 College- and Career-Readiness Standards for Every Student. Alexandria, VA: Author. Retrieved April 17, 2020, from https://www.schoolcounselor.org/asca/media/asca/home/MindsetsBehaviors.pdf

Missouri Professional School Counselors and Counselor Educators (2015). PROFESSIONAL SCHOOL COUNSELOR SMALL GROUP COUNSELING GUIDE. Missouri Department of Elementary & Secondary Education and the Missouri Center for Career Education.

Retrieved April 12, 2020, from https://dese.mo.gov/sites/default/files/guid-respon-serv-small-group-counseling-guide-2015.pdf

Verywell mind. (2020, January 16). Leadership Styles and Frameworks You Should Know. Retrieved April 19, 2020, from
https://www.verywellmind.com/leadership-styles-2795312

Yalom, I.D. (1995). The Theory and Practice of Group Psychotherapy. Amsterdam, Netherlands: Adfo Books.Retrieved April 18, 2020, from https://blackboard.angelo.edu/bbcswebdav/pid-2399673-dt-content-rid-22892042_2/courses/22772.202020/22772.202020_ImportedContent_20200224082829/yalomscurativefactorsofgrouptherapy.pdf