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BreakOUT! – The description of this group is a group of students who have successfully come out to their friends and peers regarding their sexuality and identity. Students apart of the LGBTQ community are invited to join a group that makes them feel loved and inclusive. The age level I will be working with will be middle school students ages 11-13, grade levels 6-8. The purpose of this group comes from the major increase of fluidity we are seeing within our society today. There is a lot of positive images in the world and social media showing students that it is okay to love who you want to love and be who you are most comfortable being. The purpose of this group would be for students to feel safe in an environment where they can open and express their feelings and share their aspirations and passions without being judged.

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Students who attend the BreakOUT! Group will develop some mindset behaviors and growth! M1: Belief in development of whole self, including a healthy balance of mental, social/emotional, and physical well being. ol B-SS 2. Positive, respectful and supportive
relationships with students who are
similar to and different from them. B-SS 3. Positive relationships with adults to
support success.

All of these standards will be taught and learned through group sessions with our BreakOUT! Group!

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I would like to create a flier to post around to school to get out information. Inside this flier, I would put a QR code to where students can sign up and fill out their information and interests. Once that information has been calculated, I will pass out permission slips to parents to have them agree to student participation. Permission slips are needed by parents because we will be addressing sensitive conversations and topics.

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For pre-group interviewing/screening, I am going to read through the answers that were given during the survey that was posted on the flier throughout campus. We are looking for students who are actively experiencing a hard time with coming out of the closet and being vocal with there peers and parents on there comfortability. We are looking for students who are wanting a space to feel comfortable and have a safe space to open up and communicate about there feelings. If students are selected, they will be delivered an information letter in an sealed envelope with confetti! Students will be screened individually and assessed individually.

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Attached is a CIS Parental Consent/ Release of Information Form that our students use within our district. An form very similar to this would be used for our group setting. This form allows students to review it with there parents and will allow students to receive counseling and attend lunch groups, etc. while at school!

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I plan to use this template to help better guide me when setting up group expectations and ground rules. Within our first session, we will talk about expectations and guidelines and how we need to treat others while others are sharing. Within these rules, students need to feel like they have a safe space and can communicate and share freely. We will make an treatment agreement together and all be on the same page in regards to the fairness of the group.

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Stage 1: Building relationships is very crucial to allowing students to have a safe space and share willingly. I plan on building this relationships through restorative practices and treating the students how they want to be treated. Loved and Valued. Group norms will be established through an treatment agreement and students will participate in what they feel should be involved in our group norms. A big topic of this will be confidentiality. Confidentiality will be talked about in depth at the first meeting to let others aware and that they feel welcome to share with the group.

Stage 2: I would like for students to hold themselves accountable as well, just like I would. I expect that friendships will be made throughout this course of sessions and that they will feel comfortable talking to each other as well. I will check in with my group members through sessions but also through exit tickets. At the end of each session, I will give them an exit ticket to where they can fill it out and it will give me kind of an pulse check, to see how they're doing.

Stage 3: Group closure will be difficult because we never want good things to end. However, I believe that I would like to implement a kind of buddy system. Pair the students up to someone they have grown close with during the sessions so they have an accountability partner and someone to go to if I am not available.

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My leadership style is definitely tough love. Through being a coach for the last 4 years, and now a counselor, I have been able to grow a relationship with my students to where they know that I will tell them the truth, but that it comes from love. My students know that I will be there at any moment that they need me. With middle school students, they want to talk with someone who can relate to them and can help guide them on there level. Since I have spent 4 years of my education career now in middle school, I believe that I would do great at that.

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1. Universality: This is going to be huge because a lot of students who are struggling in the LGBTQ world, think that they are alone. They see themselves as outcast and that no one loves them or wants to be around them. When they meet others who feel that same way, I believe it is going to be an massive increase of self esteem for them personally.
2. Interpersonal learning: Gaining confidence through working with groups is going to be vital when the conclusion of the session hits. Students are going to end up relaying on others and gaining confidence from others to live life how they want to live it and love who they want to love!
3. Existential factors: losing the relationships of loved ones is very normal when navigating life as an LGBTQ person. Going through this growth and process, it will allow the students to relate to one another and become each others families instead. Blood does not make you family.

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2 Texas Education Code § 33

Subchapter A. School Counselors and Counseling Programs

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

Thomas, Valerie. Pender, Debra. (2007). Association for Specialists in Group Work:
Best Practice Guidelines 2007 Revisions. https://docs.wixstatic.com/ugd/513c96_93df348d51134a08b789df5374b6dfb7.pdf

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