Small Groups

In addition to seeing students individually and in classroom settings, school counselors are trained to teach skills and reinforce learning in small groups. Some of the benefits of small group are: students see their concerns are similar to those of others, students learn and practice new behaviors and skills, students gain self confidence in working with others and in making connections with others, students share solutions that have worked for them while also learning what has worked for others, students learn resiliency skills and students learn tolerance for others.

School Counselors get referrals from teachers for small groups but most of the time students inquire about being in a small group themselves. We emphasize that groups are for everyone, and participating does not indicate a problem. All students can benefit from learning how to accept responsibility, manage stress, communicate effectively, make decisions and solve problems. Students can learn from one another and enhance their self-concepts in a supportive group setting. Each group meets once a week during intervention time. Groups meet for 7-8 sessions.

Below is a description of the different topics discussed in group.

__Resiliency-Resiliency is defined as the ability to recover from difficulties or the ability to 'bounce' back from situations that are tough. Resiliency skills are one of the most helpful things you can learn as a person because we all (no matter how old) go through tough situations. We focus on how to learn, share and apply resiliency skills that you can take with you the rest of your life.

__Real Life Situations- Developing/promoting empathy, learning and practicing healthy conflict skills, explore the root of feelings, discussing situations faced and getting to know and understand ourselves better.

___Anger-Understanding, controlling and managing our anger. Remember, anger can be a good thing. It often motivates you to bring about change. Sometimes we just need help exploring/understanding our anger and finding better ways to express it.

____Stress, Anxious Thoughts, Worry- Learn what happens in our body when we experience stress/worry/anxious thoughts understanding the roots and exploring different ways to handle and manage these feelings.

____Friends/Social Skills- .Characteristics and traits that make a good friend, important things to look for when choosing friends, how to end a friendship and how to be a good friend.

____SWAG (success, willpower, attitudes and goals) Successful habits and how to be more successful--organization, homework, test taking, goal setting, your strengths and other important factors that help you succeed.

____Healing and Dealing- With this topic we will talk about ways to cope with grief and the loss of a loved
one. We will share experiences with others in the
group.

If you are interested in a small group, email your counselor:

Please include your name, homeroom teacher and the group topic(s)--listed above-- that interest you.