Girl Talk by

Girl Talk Group Counseling

mvaladez6_ — 2024-09-15 23:35:51 UTC

My group name is Girl Talk. The purpose of this group is to address lack of self-esteem amongst freshmen girls, especially those with already present social or emotional issues. The age group of my participants is freshmen, which is girls between ages 14 and 15, that struggle with self-esteem and self-image.

ASCA Mindsets and Behaviors

mvaladez6_ — 2024-09-15 23:36:46 UTC

The following are the American School Counselor Association Mindsets and Behaviors the participants will master upon completing this group.

Mindsets:

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.

M 4. Self-confidence in ability to succeed.

Behaviors:

B-SS 2. Positive, respectful and supportive relationships with students who are similar to and different from them.

B-SS 6. Effective collaboration and cooperation skills.

B-SS 8. Advocacy skills for self and others and ability to assert self, when necessary

(American School Counselor Association Mindset, 2021).

Publicity

mvaladez6_ — 2024-09-15 23:36:59 UTC

To best advertise this group, considering some participants may have social issues, I will send out a google form to all freshmen girls via their school email. This google form will ask whether or not they are interested in attending these small groups and will be sent back to the counselor once completed. To ensure everyone is aware of the email, a few flyers will be posted around the school with the group name, short description, and reminder to check their email if they are interested.

Pre-Group Interview/Screening

mvaladez6_ — 2024-09-15 23:37:25 UTC

Students who responded yes to the Google form will have shown readiness to participate. With them list of students wishing to participate, the school counselor will call in this list of students by groups and have them complete the Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale (RSE) to assess their current self-esteem needs. After everyone has completed this assessment, the school counselor will form multiple groups of no more than 10 girls.

Informed Consent

mvaladez6_ — 2024-09-15 23:37:39 UTC

My campus has an informed consent form for both parents and students geared towards external research projects. While this form is not geared towards small group counseling, there are a few components that would fit the needs of informed consent for group counseling, as it requires information about what the student will do, how much time they will be involved, what data will be collected, how their information will be protected, and if there are any risks involved. Professional School Counselor Small Group Counseling Guide also provides an informed consent form which I would edit and utilize to send to the guardians of the participants.

Ground Rules for the Group

mvaladez6_ — 2024-09-15 23:37:52 UTC

Participant guidelines and ground rules will be established in the very first meeting. As a group, we would take pieces from the above resource and develop our own social contract, a positive management method utilized by our district, to make the guidelines more personal. Three non-negotiables would be established by the counselor:

All participants understand and respect confidentiality.
All participants treat each other and the counselor with respect.
Everyone has an opportunity to share.

As a group, we can add other words or phrases we all agree should be part of the guidelines. After this, every participant will sign the contract, meaning they have agreed to follow these guidelines/rules.

Group Dynamics

mvaladez6_ — 2024-09-15 23:38:05 UTC

Stage 1: Our first session together will include reviewing the purpose of the group and creating our social contract together and setting the norms of our sessions. This will include going over confidentiality with the group members, explaining what it is and how we can respect it, as this is a non-negotiable guideline from our contract. At this time, the school counselor should address the limits of confidentiality and be transparent about what may happen if someone decides to break that trust; being removed from the group. The social contract will be reviewed in the beginning of each meeting to ensure everyone is aware of the guidelines at all times.

Stage 2: To work together to accomplish our group goal of developing a better sense of self-esteem, the group will need to place value upon themselves and each other. To do this, everyone must feel welcomed and heard, which goes back to our social contract being reviewed briefly every session to ensure everyone has a time to share, everyone shows each other respect, and processing what was learned together. Small games will also be played to hopefully allow genuine friendships to harbor amongst the group members as they share their interests, vulnerability, and time together.

Stage 3: The group sessions will conclude with a celebration where participates will reflect on what they have learned through the sessions and their changes in self esteem or goals completed. The counselor should be open about their experiences in the group and affirm them for their participation, as parting ways may be sad for all participants. Confidentiality will be reviewed once more and a post-group follow up session will be planned 4 to 6 weeks later to allow opportunity for success and place accountability for goals (Missouri Professional School Counselors, 2015).

Leadership Style

mvaladez6_ — 2024-09-15 23:38:20 UTC

The school counselor should use participative leadership, or democratic leadership, when working with this group. This leader offers guidance to group members while actively participating in the group to encourage all members to participate. This method is the best approach for this group, as this approach tends to make followers feel like they are an important part of the group which may make them feel more trusting and committed with the group (Cherry, 2023). This is important considering the topic of the group is self-esteem, which may be difficult for the participants to talk about.

Yalom's Therapeutic Factors

mvaladez6_ — 2024-09-15 23:38:41 UTC

Installation of Hope: The participants would have faith their lack of self-esteem can and will be improved by participating in these sessions and learning different techniques to help them manage it.

Universality: A goal of these sessions is to help these girls understand they are not alone in their lack of self-esteem, as the other participants also share this struggle with them.

Altruism: The girls will hopefully form strong friendships amongst each other, which may lead to some of them rising above themselves to help their peers with similar issues after learning the techniques themselves (Yalom, 1995).

Legal & Ethical Requirements #1

mvaladez6_ — 2024-09-15 23:39:09 UTC

Attached are the ethical standards for school counselors. One of the many ethical standards that pertains to group counseling is confidentiality. The ethical standards state the school counselor must, "Inform students of the purposes, goals, techniques, rules and procedures under which they may receive counseling. Disclosure includes informed consent and clarification of the limits of confidentiality. " This is something the school counselor must do to ensure the confidentiality of all participants in the group, therefore it must be done in all three stages of the group dynamics and must be thoroughly explained in the very first session to ensure all participants have informed consent and are aware of the limits of confidentiality (American School Counselor Association, 2022).

Legal & Ethical Requirements #2

mvaladez6_ — 2024-09-15 23:39:37 UTC

Under Standard II of Learner-Centered Skills, it states school counselors must, "(3) counsel individuals and small groups using appropriate counseling theories and techniques in response to students' needs." Group counseling is the means of meeting this Texas Administrative Code, as it is a response to the campus needs assessment which directly assesses the needs of the campus and students, in this case, the need for self-esteem amongst freshmen girls.

References

mvaladez6_ — 2024-09-15 23:39:47 UTC

ASCA ethical standards for school counselors. American School Counselor Association (ASCA). (2022). https://www.schoolcounselor.org/About-School-Counseling/Ethical-Responsibilities/ASCA-Ethical-Standards-for-School-Counselors

American School Counselor Association (2021). ASCA Student Standards; Mindsets and Behaviors for Student Success. Alexandria, VA: Author.

Cherry, K. (2023, June 27). 6 leadership styles and Frameworks. Verywell Mind. https://www.verywellmind.com/leadership-styles-2795312#toc-participative-leadership-democratic

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

19 Tex. Admin. Code §239.15

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

mvaladez6_ — 2024-09-15 23:40:25 UTC