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The group will include students who are four to five years of age and having trouble with social skills and self-regulation. The topics covered will be social-emotional skills. The specific skills that will be discussed and taught include self-awareness, self-regulation, and interpersonal skills using conscious discipline.

While collaborating and consulting with teachers and administration it was determined there is a need for a small group such as this one that will help students who have never been in a school setting self-regulate and learn other important skills. The parents of the students in the group were notified by the teacher and agreed to their students participation.

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Social Butterfly Breathers Group action plan

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Stage 1: My plan to build relationships in the group will be to play a game called "Who's Feeling What" similar to an icebreaker to get to know each other while casually talking to get to know each other.

Stage 2: I plan to keep my group members engaged by implementing hands on activities. Using activities and games that are fun and keep my students attention. We will take short brain breaks and I will implement our conscious discipline breathing strategies. I will use informal/formative evaluations to gauge progress. For example, give me a thumbs up or thumbs down or put the sticky note on the correct choice, etc.

Stage 3: The plan I will use for closing the group will include both monitoring and exploring. I will continue to check in with my participants after the group ends. I will explain that we will not meet anymore as a group but we will still see each other here at school. I will remind students that what we talk about in our club is just for our club and that it is important not to share it with others because we want to respect everyone in our group. Additionally, I will remind the participants they will use the skills learned in their classrooms and will aid their teachers in teaching them to others in our school family. For example, if a new student starts in their classroom.

(Missouri Professional School Counselors and Counselor Educators, 2015)

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(Missouri Professional School Counselors and Counselor Educators, 2015)

The students who are recommended by their teacher will take home a flyer with an explanation of the counseling group, and the steps that I will take to select my four to six group members. The flyer will also explain that students will only be screened if the consent form is returned (giving permission) and that they may or may not be picked for the final group. Parents will be asked to fill out the consent form if they agree to allow their child to go through the screening process to select the final group members.

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Student expectations will be set from the beginning which will include the classroom commitments (found in conscious discipline) and used in all classrooms. I will use visuals to explain all group rules to the participants.
(Missouri Professional School Counselors and Counselor Educators, 2015).

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To advertise for this group I will send an email to teachers letting them know I will be looking for students who show certain characteristics for a new group.
Sample of the email/flyer asking for characteristics that will be sent to teachers/parents:

Do you have students who fit the characteristics below?

1. Eager to learn

2. Willing to participate and share

3. A good listener

4. Helpful

If so, please let me know. I will provide you with information about the creation of a new counseling group. There will also be flyers with information about the group placed in your mailboxes.

I will ask teachers to provide me with the names of students who fit the characteristics.

I will let teachers know that I will be providing more details about the group later. Additionally,

I will let them know there will be a process to inform parents.

The parent will receive the flyer if their student is picked by the teacher and will have the opportunity to opt in or opt out of their student's participation before the final selection of group members.

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The ASCA Mindsets and Behaviors the group members will master upon completing this group are:

M 1. Belief of development of whole self, including  a healthy balance of mental, social/emotional and physical well-being (ASCA, 2021).

B-SMS 2. Self-discipline and self-control (ASCA, 2021).

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1. There will be a short screening process to choose four to six students. Depending on how many potential participants there are.
2. I will meet with each student one-on-one to talk to them and get an idea about who they are, and their personality and ask them a few questions.
3. This will be after their parents have agreed to allow them to participate.
(Missouri Professional School Counselors and Counselor Educators, 2015)

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The leadership style will start out as a mix of authoritarian/participative in the beginning because they are four to five years old. I will lay the ground rules/foundation and then slowly allow the group to develop into a participative leadership style where students will share the role of helping to lead the group and start/end the group. I will allow the group to develop into a participative leadership style because I believe it is important to allow my students to have jobs and be of service so they will know they belong, using this style also allows them to develop some of the skills being taught in the social emotional curriculum (Cherry, 2023).

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American Counseling Association. (2014). 2014 ACA code of ethics. https://www.counseling.org/docs/default-source/defaultdocument-library/2014-code-of-ethics-finaladdress.pdf

Cherry, K. (2023). How to lead: 6 leadership styles and frameworks. Verywellmind. Retrieved on September 16, 2023, from: 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. Retrieved from https://dese.mo.gov/sites/default/files/guid-respon-serv-small-group-counseling-guide-2015.pdf

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

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Another important ethical requirement of a counselor who is leading a group is to protect their client(s).
A.9.b. Protecting clients:  In a group setting, counselors take reasonable precautions to protect clients from physical, emotional, or psychological trauma (American Counseling Association, 2014).

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One of Yalom's Therapeutic Factors that I can potentially see for this group would be the Development of Socializing Techniques which includes social learning and the development of interpersonal skills. Social-emotional learning and social-emotional skills are the foundation of what will be taught in this group (Yalom, 1995).

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There are ethical requirements that must be met while group counseling according to the American Counseling Association (ACA) code of ethics.
A.9.a. Screening:  A counselor screens prospective group counseling participants to find participants whose needs and goals are the same as the goals of the group. It is also important for the counselor to find participants who will not hinder the group process and will not jeopardize the group experience (American Counseling Association, 2014)