Chill, Cope, & Collaborate

Group proposal

Emily Bassett and Timothy Shaw

Group Type
● Social-emotional group,
focused on emotional
regulation and coping
● Mandatory for female high
school students with repeated
disciplinary infractions for
aggressive behaviors on school
grounds
● Incentive: participants miss
last class of the day on a
weekly basis for Chill, Cope, & https://www.nytimes.com/2019/04/08/well/family/dealing-with-aggres
sion-in-children.html
Collaborate a.k.a. 3 C’s
Rationale
● Increased rates of detention and suspension relating to interpersonal
conflicts in our school
● Providing students opportunities to develop coping skills more beneficial
than punitive discipline
● Punitive discipline can lead to inappropriate and unhealthy behaviors
(Laxer, Quarter, Isnor, & Kennedy, 1967)
● Benefits of 3 C’s include:
○ Universality among students with similar issues
○ Building a toolbox to help students effectively handle future conflicts
○ Cultivating self-control, empowering students to overcome challenges, and fostering
environment conducive to establishing productive peer relationships (Perusse, Goodnough,
& Lee, 2009)
Goals and Objectives
● Goal 1: Students will be able to
identify, recognize, and address
their emotions by the end of the
eight-week session.
● Objectives: Learn the signs of anger
through activities like matching
facial expressions and emotions,
and drawing what anger looks like
to each member. Recognize when
one is feeling angry and common
triggers for anger, especially on a
personal level.
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Goals and Objectives (cont.)
● Goal 2: Be able to express the
target emotion using healthy
coping skills by the end of the
eight-week session.

● Objectives: Learn healthy coping

skills through hands-on and
collaborative activities. Identify
when to use coping skills.
Selection Process
● All female students with multiple disciplinary actions screened, deselect students
with incidents unrelated to interpersonal conflicts, such as:
○ Smoking on campus
○ Skipping class
○ Tardiness
○ Plagiarism
○ Cell phone use
● Also excluded in order to cultivate healthy group dynamic:
○ Students with extreme behavioral or emotional issues (e.g. developmental disabilities,
autism spectrum disorder, psychological disorders)
○ Students with known problems at home
● Collaboration among members is imperative for therapeutic success, with selection
focusing on logistics, intellect, psychology, and interpersonal relations
(Yalom, 2005)
Selection Process (cont.)
● Group size: 8-10 girls in grades 9-12
● Single gender group important to foster environment conducive to
growth
○ Boys tend to engage in direct aggression (e.g. physical violence, yelling, calling names)
○ Girls are often indirectly aggressive (spreading rumors, maliciously excluding peers from
a group or event)
● Group will meet once per week at end of day for approximately 45
minutes
● Depending on progress after 8 weeks, members will be provided option
to extend counseling group for rest of school year on voluntary basis
● Counselors will meet with parents to present and obtain informed
consent for student participation (Duffy & Nesdale, 2010)
Basic Group Rules
● To encourage cohesion, co-facilitators will collaborate with students to
establish group rules
○ Topics like respect, attendance/punctuality, confidentiality, relationships within group will
be added if not addressed by students

● By giving the students the power and freedom to set expectations for
group, a safe space can be created, along with intrinsic motivation for
students and a therapeutic alliance between co-facilitators/counselors
and students

(Yalom, 2005)
Possible Topics and Exercises
● Given that the group is therapeutic with some structure,topics and
exercises will vary dependent on what week it is.
● The exercises and topics will provide the structure while allowing for open
ended discussions as needed.
○ These discussions will provide an opportunity for students to learn how to manage and
address their anger in a safe yet still social environment.

● The exercises will keep our main goal in mind: being able to recognize,
identify, and address anger.
Example Exercise: Week 5
Students will be asked to write down their thoughts on a worksheet that asks
three questions/prompts:

1. When I get angry I usually…

2. Does this reaction work for me?
3. How can I improve the way I deal with my angry feelings?

This worksheet will provide the opportunity to have a discussion and

introduce the topic of healthy coping mechanisms.
Best Practices
● Provide informed consent and define the scope of
practice to the students and their parents or
guardians

● Provide professional disclosure statement in the

first session of the group and to parents or
guardians

● Collaborate and consult with each other and our

supervisor to promote professional growth.
● Self-reflect

● Not limit our sensitivity to all ethnic, gender,

religious, sexual, psychological maturity,
socioeconomic class, physical characteristics or (Rapin & Keel 1998)
limitations or geographic location factors (American Counseling Association, 2014)
Special Considerations

● Avoiding dual relationship with caseload students

● Scheduled individual students as needed
● Breaking confidentiality if legally or ethically necessary

(American School Counselor Association, 2010).

 References
American Counseling Association. (2005). ACA code of ethics and standards of practice. Alexandria, VA: American

Counseling Association.

American School Counselor Association. (2010). Ethical standards for school counselors.

Alexandria, VA: American School Counselor Association.

Duffy, A.L. & Nesdale, D. (2010). Group norms, intra-group position and children’s aggressive intentions. European

Journal of Developmental Psychology, 7(6), 696-716. doi: 10.1080/17405620903132504

Rapin, L., & Keel, L. (1998). Association for specialists in group work best practice guidelines. The Journal for Specialists in

Group Work,23(3), 237-244. doi:10.1080/01933929808411397

Yalom, I.D. & Leszcz, M. (2005). The theory and practice of group psychotherapy (5th ed.) New York, NY: Basic Books.