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This group was created to support 9th-12th grade students who are suffering from anxiety. The purpose of the group is to understand the causes, effects, and personal triggers of anxiety and learn effective coping strategies.
It was determined through  our needs assessment (GAD-7 survey*) in the Spring of 2020 that more than half of our students experience some level of anxiety throughout the day. This group was established to help students understand and manage their anxiety.

* General Anxiety Disorder-7

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Students participating in this group will strive for the following Mindset standards:

M 1. Belief in development of whole self, including a healthy balance of mental, social/emotional and physical well-being
M 2. Sense of acceptance, respect, support and inclusion for self and others in the school environment

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Initial publicity for this group will be shown via video announcements shared by 2nd period teachers. Student council will create flyers to place in all English classrooms, the cafeteria, the gym, and outside the counseling office. These flyers will contain QR codes to scan for information and sign-up forms for pre-group screening interviews. The information and sign-up form will also be on available on the school counseling website, and will be added to the parent newsletter.

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Once students have filled out the form from the QR code, the counseling office will schedule pre-group screening interviews.  These interviews will be conducted in a one-on-one setting with the school counselor.  By signing up after viewing the advertisements and accessing the information through the QR code, students are demonstrating an initial level of interest.  In the screening, the school counselor will evaluate further interest and readiness, and select students that will benefit and participate in the group.  This will be done by following the "TAP-in" procedure created by Rosemarie Smead (Missouri Professional School Counselors and Counselor Educators, 2015).  Through this, the school counselor will Tell students more about the group such as topics and goals.  Students will also be asked about their interest, commitment, expectations, and personal goals.  Finally, the school counselor will pick students for the group that both fit the criteria and would benefit from the process.

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Once six to ten students have been selected for the group, a consent form will be sent home to parents along with the advertisement and group information.  As our participants will most likely be minors, it is important to get parental consent.  Student consent will be gained during the first session through this form as well.  It is important to gain informed consent so that all parties are aware of what is taking place and that everyone is in agreement on the provided conditions.  The attached form will be used to gain informed consent for this group (Missouri Professional School Counselors and Counselor Educators, 2015).

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The following rules will be established BEFORE our first session:

1. Respect Agreement
2. Confidentiality Expectations
3. Group Norms

During our first session, rules and guidelines will be discussed in detail. Any additional rules or modifications must be agreed upon by all group members prior to signing the Informed Consent form.

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This group focuses on anxiety in students of grades 9-12.  With this population in mind, it is important to build a strong, healthy, inclusive group dynamic.  This will be accomplished in the following stages.
Stage 1: From the first session, it will be important to spend time establishing the ground rules, and giving the rationale behind those rules.  This will allow students to feel safe and secure in the group sessions, particularly in regards to confidentiality.  Time will also be dedicated to introducing and getting to know one another to build a working relationship.
Stage 2: By using activities that involve collaboration and discussion throughout the program, this will allow students to build bonds and work cohesively.  These activities and discussions will also allow the counselor to assess progress, informally and formally, toward the learning outcomes for the individuals and the group as a whole.
Stage 3: In closing the group, it is important to have a plan so that the students feel supported even when the group ends.  By having students share their successes and strategies for handling their anxiety, they will be able to recognize their growth and learn from each other.  It will also be important to reinforce that while the group is ending, the support of one another continues, even if not in a formal setting.  Checking in with students after the group has ended, as well as stakeholders such as teachers, will give the counselor information on how the students are doing with their anxiety after the group and can take action as needed from there.

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The leadership style that will be used when conducting small group sessions will be participative leadership. This will be an effective form of leadership because it provides the group members with opportunities to participate and engage but still utilizes the leader to ensure learning objectives are meant (Cherry, 2021). Anxiety can be a tough topic to discuss for 9th-12th graders and having a participative leadership creates a level of support to encourage group members to contribute while still feeling at ease.

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Some therapeutic factors that could potentially be seen during group sessions include universailty, altruism, develpoment of socializing techniques, and interpersonal learning (Yalom, 1995). Universality may occur because the participants all deal with anxiety and may not feel as alone in their experiences. Altruism could arise because participants will be at different levels of coping with their anxiety. They may be able to help each other based off of what has happened to themselves. Socialization techniques and interpersonal learning could occur because there will be a lot of communicating between participants. There will be a lot of socialization because it is a small group where the focus is on helping each other and relating to others through connections about anxiety.

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In the ACA Code of Ethics (2014, p. 6), the section titled Group Work states, "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." This code supports me in the schooling counseling role because it ensures that the members of the group are supposed to be there. Students who do not have anxiety should not be participating in the group sessions and will take away from critical time with students who are dealing with anxiety.

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In the ACA Code of Ethics (2014, p. 6), the section titled Group Work states, "in a group setting, counselors take reasonable precautions to protect clients from physical, emotional, or psychological trauma." This is important in supporting the school counselor because trust is vital between counselors and students, especially in a vulnerable situation like group sessions. Protecting the participants should be a priority at all times and should not be taken lightly because the consequences could be detrimental to the student and counselor.

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American Counseling Association. (2014). 2014 ACA code of ethics. Retrieved from https://www.counseling.org/resources/aca-code-of-ethics.pdf

American School Counselors Association (2021). ASCA student standards: mindsets and behaviors for student success. Retrieved from https://www.schoolcounselor.org/getmedia/7428a787-a452-4abb-afec-d78ec77870cd/Mindsets-Behaviors.pdf

Cherry, K. (2021). Leadership styles and frameworks you should know. Verywell Mind. Retrieved from https://www.verywellmind.com/leadership-styles-2795312

Juan Seguin High School (2020). Classroom respect agreement. Retrieved from https://docs.google.com/document/d/13rrZD1LUNaPxAkXZ5pmp6THgKaXhzVM2qWQLNtyDcmY/edit?usp=sharing

Missouri Professional School Counselors and Counselor Educators. (2015, May). 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.