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Action and Awareness for Mental Health Group

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Action and Awareness for Mental Health Group

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This group is designed to bring mental health awareness to the school population and focus on topics such as stress, depression, anxiety, and self- care for teens.

The purpose of this group is to support students who are struggling with mental health issues and work through coping techniques. Students will then create awareness posters and activities for the student population.

During a weekly homeroom activity, students from different grade levels completed a short survey identifying common mental health stressors for teens. Stress, anxiety, and depression were identified as the most concerning issues for teens in high school.

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Students in this group will:
M1-  Belief in development of whole self, including a healthy balance of mental, social/emotional and physical well-being. Students will learn to practice self- care and listen to their emotions (American School Counselor Association, 2021).

M2-  Sense of acceptance, respect, support and inclusion for self and others in the school environment.
Students will gain a better understanding of mental health issues and bring support and awareness to the school population (American School Counselor Association, 2021).

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Our school will have a few ways to raise awareness about the group and what the purpose of our group will be. We will first arrange to have an announcement made every morning for a week before the first meeting.
We will also collaborate with our digital art and animation teacher to create a flyer to hang in various areas of the school. The flyer will direct students to the 2nd floor counseling office and Mrs. Fitzgerald will give them information on the meeting time and requirements for the group.
The third way to advertise our group will be through the weekly homeroom class. These classes discuss relevant student issues and provide lessons for students.

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Any student who has shown interest in this group, will be given a pre-group survey to assess interest in the group. Students will then meet individually with the counselor to go over survey and assess student's needs. If the counselor feels like the student would benefit from the group, the counselor will reach out to teachers to get referrals and feedback on students.
Once chosen, the student will be called into the counselor's office and given a pass for the group meeting.
The pre-group screening will assess student's mental health needs and self- care habits. Students will also scale the importance of mental health awareness for teens.
The counselor will explain the parameters of the group and topics that will be discussed within the group setting.

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The chosen group students will be given an Informed Consent page to take home and return with parent signature(s). Cypress-Fairbanks has provided school counselors with an informed consent page for parents to read and go over with students. These consent forms will have an attached flyer and description of group topics for parents to go over with their student.

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Legal and Ethical Guidelines: Informed Consent(A.2)

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Legal and Ethical Guidelines: Informed Consent(A.2)

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Informed consent is a large part of counseling and the same stipulations will apply to the group counseling environment. Group members have the right to choose whether to join the counseling relationship and counselors are to provide accurate and timely information about the counseling process (American Counseling Association, 2014). By giving students and parents the informed consent form and group description, group members are well-informed of their rights and counselor responsibilities. The group is going to be ongoing and informed consent will require counselors to keep accurate notes and information pertaining to the counseling process.

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In order for this group be successful, students will have to adhere to certain ground rules and norms.
Ground rules determined by the counselor :
1. Maintain Confidentiality
2. Group Topics and lessons to complete during group sessions (Cherry, 2021).
3. Group members will maintain respect for one another and counselor at all times (Cherry, 2021).
4. Every group member will have a chance to speak and comment on topics throughout the session (Cherry, 2021).
5. Selection of group members
6. Group members will speak one at a time to avoid confusion (Cherry, 2021).

Rules determined by group members:
1. Meeting days and times- these may vary due to extracurricular activities and tutorial schedules
2. Group members will help decide on group norms and greetings for each session
3. Group member participation and reporting times for group sessions

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In order for this group to be and remain successful, I believe you need to have a mixture of Transformational leadership and Participative leadership. Students in this group may need motivation and understanding in order to accomplish personal goals and motivate member to their full potential (article). Transformational leaders are aware of diverse populations and passionate about personal goals (article).
Participative leadership offers guidance to group members, but also includes the opinions and thoughts of group members (article). Group members are encouraged to be creative and collaborate with one another for a common goal (article).
The purpose of this group is to collaborate and increase group members to create and accomplish personal goals. These two types of leadership styles allow group members to brainstorm, create, collaborate, and implement goals in order to become more successful and overcoming personal roadblocks.

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Group members will benefit from Interpersonal learning. Students will experience new ways of learning and also receiving feedback on feelings and topics (yalom).
Students will also gain direct feedback and advice on mental health topics and coping techniques (yalom). The group members will also be able to experience a feeling of altruism (yalom). Once students will be able to learn more about themselves and personal coping techniques, they will be able to share this new information in order to assist other students.

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Legal and Ethical Guidelines: Screening (A.9)

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Legal and Ethical Guidelines: Screening (A.9)

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Screening is a very important part of the counseling process. This group will cover specific topics and may share common goals for the group. When a counselor uses the screening process, they will select group members based on goals and needs compatible with the group (American Counseling Association, 2014). The group will need to focus on the same topics and avoid individualizing students who may require outside services. The counselor does not want to jeopardize any students who do not share the same goals and those who will not benefit from the group (American Counseling Association, 2014). The screening process is very important because it will protect potential group members and individuals from exposure to sensitive topics and unnecessary counseling topics. Individuals who do not fit with the group standards, they may be placed in another group or counseling session.

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The dynamics of this small group are going to vary because we may have a variety of ages, cultures, and genders. It is important to build a foundation of trust before diving into sensitive topics in our group sessions.
Stage 1: The first few meetings will be about building trust and learning to trust one another. Most likely, the students will not know each other and will need to establish healthy boundaries with their peers and counselor. The counselor will stress the importance of trust and how this can affect the overall group and how the group should work. Students will participate in team building activities and also discuss important rules they believe should be placed in the group norms. This will help validate the student's feelings and begin to build trust and confidentiality for one another.
Stage 2: Every week students will share small wins and losses for the week. This will help them them in group sharing and also continue to build them up as a team. Students are going to become accountable for one another and share their personal goals and how they can help each other with those goals. As a counselor, I will continue to monitor and engage in team building activities with students to assess progress.
Stage 3: Students will go through a period of group debriefing. This will be the closing of our group and re-establishment of personal goals. Students will reminded of their teamwork and the trust they have built for one another. The final group sessions will be saved to address the feelings of loss for the group and how develop a plan to follow-up on one another throughout the school year. Students will also have access to resources in case a student may need further help or evaluation.

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American Counseling Association. (2014). 2014 ACA code of ethics. https://www.counseling.org/knowledge-center

American School Counselor Association. (2021). ASCA mindsets and behaviors for student success: K-12 College-, career-, and life-readiness standards for every student. https://www.schoolcounselor.org/getmedia/7428a787-a452-4abb-afec-d78ec77870cd/Mindsets-Behaviors.pdf

Cherry, K. (2021, August 11). Leadership Styles and Frameworks You Should Know. Retrieved from Verywellmind: 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. http://www.missouricareereducation.org/doc/smallgroup/SmallGroupCounseling.pdf

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