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Tired of hearing that the right planner will solve all your problems? Frustrated that the adults in your life just don’t understand your difficulty with executive function? Join our group where we are learning to function with executive dysfunction, destigmatizing the effect of ADHD and autism on students’ abilities to perform well in school.  We will discuss strategies for overcoming task initiation freeze, low motivation,  and pathological demand avoidance, while promoting active self advocacy. Under close supervision, group members will help each other find solutions to the everyday challenges faced by students with autism and ADHD. Appropriate for high school and college aged students.

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Students will help each other normalize multiple mindsets and behaviors associated with ADHD and autism, including but not limited to:

Executive Dysfunction

Pathological Demand Avoidance

Rejection Sensitive Dysphoria

Mental and Emotional Disregulation

Overstimulation and Shutdown

Task Initiation Freeze

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This group will be referral based. I will give flyers and brochures to school counselors at local high schools and student advisors at the local colleges and universities. They will refer students in need to my group, and then we will screen for admission.

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The group facilitator will meet individually with students referred to the group by school counselors and advisors. They will give an overview of the group's goals and initiatives and ask prospective participants guiding questions to gauge their interest.

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This group will likely be made up of minor children, so I will utilize a standard consent form to gain parental consent prior to the first meeting. I will then give a brief explanation of consent/assent to the students in our first group session.

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Basic rules:

1. Confidentiality

2. Respect

3. One person speaks at a time during whole group activities

These are non-negotiable. The group can decide additional guidelines in session one.

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Stage 1:

Group members will build rapport with one another by establishing common ground through talking about their interests. Group norms will be established by taking all group members opinions into account and giving some choice and autonomy to the group. Confidentiality will be established and the limitations of confidentiality will be clearly explained in the first session.

Stage 2:

Each session will address a different aspect of the neurodivergent experience. We will discuss how we each experience this aspect and share how we may have overcome it or discuss the systems that we can put in place to help us work around that challenge that our brains put on us. There will likely be some form of exit ticket with questions geared to assess group members' progress.

Stage 3:

Group closure will focus on reinforcing all the things addressed in previous sessions and focusing on the need for self-advocacy so that students' needs are being met in the educational setting. Confidentiality will be reinforced, and an invitation to individual counseling sessions will be extended on an as-needed basis to prevent students feeling a sense of abandonment.

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I believe that a participative leadership style would be most beneficial to this type of group. Participating in group discussions and detailing an adult's lived experience with the issues faced by this group would help in destigmatizing ADHD and autism.

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This group would meet the criteria of a number of Yalom's Therapeutic Factors. Students might experience Instillation of Hope when they realize that there are ways to work around living with a neurodivergent brain in a neurotypical world and systems that they can implement to help them function. They could experience Universality in finding others who struggle in similar ways. Imparting of Information could be achieved when students realize that there is a name for the thing that their brain does that makes them uncomfortable or unable to function and there are people working on ways to help them combat that. There are more factors, but this is a quick overview.

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Section B.1.c. of the American Counseling Association Code of Ethics addresses the need for counselors to protect the confidentiality of prospective and current clients. It is imperative that clients can trust their counselors to safeguard their secret and innermost thoughts and desires. This is the foundation of the counselor/client relationship. This will need to be addressed and frequently reinforced with all members of the group.

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Section B.2.a. of the American Counseling Association Code of Ethics addresses exceptions to the confidentiality clause. It will be imperative that group members understand what constitutes an exception to confidentiality. Especially considering the risk factors associated with neurodivergence: anxiety and depression. Suicidality in the neurodivergent population is a major risk and must be addressed.

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The Theory and Practice of Group Psychotherapy, 4th Edition, Basic Books, 1995.

American Counseling Association. (n.d.). ACA 2014 code of ethics - american counseling association. https://www.counseling.org/docs/default-source/default-document-library/ethics/2014-aca-code-of-ethics.pdf?sfvrsn=55ab73d0_1