Falmouth High School:

Social Emotional Group

By: Emily Bassett
Falmouth High School

● Falmouth High School is a high achieving public school.

○ 90% of students who graduate are college bound.

● A strong emphasis in the counseling department on college and career.

● Often the social and emotional aspects are compartmentalized and are often
handled by the school adjustment counselors.

● Falmouth has a strong counseling department in part due to what programs and
services are included in the department and how it operates.
 Tier 1 and 2 Social Emotional Curriculum Needed

● FHS has a lot of groups focused on college and career.

● The social skills and support groups that are at the
high school are run by the school adjustment
counselor and are mostly targeted for tier 3 students.
● Social and Emotional curriculum is often given in the
Bridge and Connect program specifically.
● FHS is lacking social emotional curriculum that could
be given in groups and general education classrooms
(tier 1 and 2).
Quick Stats
What would it look like at FHS?

Ideally this curriculum could be implemented widespread but as a start...

● School Counselors and School Adjustment Counselors would help identify
9th and 10th grade students.
● Targeted for students who may not have access to the Bridge or Connect
program and may often seem like they “fly under the radar”.
● Six 45 minute sessions that can take place during Clipper Time.
● Students would be given their own physical folder, as well as a google drive
folder that will hold all of the activities and information given in the six
sessions. They will also be given a notebook to use for homework/reflection.
Group Curriculum

Consists of 6 lessons/sessions:

1. What is Anxiety & Stress?

2. Cognitive Distortions
3. Challenging Negative Thoughts
4. Coping Skills
5. Protective Factors
6. Positive & Strength Building
 Session 1: Stress & Anxiety 101
● Pre-test
● What is anxiety? What is stress?
○ What does it look like? What does it feel like?
How does it affect you?
● Normalize stress and anxiety while also
acknowledging its impact on a students well being
● Leave the session with the understanding that
although we can get stressed or have anxiety, there
are tools we can learn to help cope and manage it.
● HW: Try and notice when you are stressed or
anxious, what does it look/feel like? Just try to take
note of it.
 Session 2: Cognitive Distortions
● What are cognitive distortions?

● How do they impact your anxiety and stress?

● Short Video: Examples using clips from

Seinfeld
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EkPSSet
Oh04

● HW: Have there been times you have had

cognitive distortions? IF not, what about
times you’ve seen it? A friend? A movie? A
character from a book? Reflect in your
journal!
 Session 3: Challenging Negative Thoughts
● Think of a negative thought you might get
or something that causes stress or
anxiety.
● Use the worksheet to break down
negative thoughts that arise during stress
or anxiety.
● Discussion about the activity.
● HW: Take note of negative thoughts that
might enter your brain, what are they?
Use the activity template questions to
work through this thought. Reflect in your
journal!
 Session 4: Coping Skills

● What are coping skills?

○ Give examples and have them
help brainstorm
● Have them fill out this template so
that they have strategies and coping
skills that work for them that they
can refer to in times of high stress
or anxiety.
● HW: Try to incorporate at least one
of these skills, did it work?
 Session 4 (Covid-19 Response): Coping Skills

During this unprecedented time, a closer

look at coping skills related to quarantine
and the pandemic is needed now and when
students eventually return to the school.

● This session could easily be reframed in

the context of the pandemic.
 Session 5: Protective Factors

● What are protective factors? How do

they work? How can they help?
● Use this visual, have them try and
draw their own version of a balance
with stressors on one side and
protective factors on the other side.
● HW: Make a list of strengths they feel
they have to prepare for the next
session.
 Session 6: Positives & Strengths Building

● Have a discussion about our strengths to give

students a sense of confidence in facing moments
of stress or anxiety.
● Open discussion to reflect on the past 6 sessions.
● Remind students of all the tools they have
learned and now have.
● They will leave with their folder and google drive
folder filled with information and activity
templates.
● Give post-test
Pre/Post Test: Google Forms:
Data collected:
● Quantitative: Attendance,
grades, # visits to counseling
office.
● Qualitative: Reports from
teachers, staff, parents if
given.
https://forms.gle/KxCwBzuf1ctpq7cs9
Questions:
1. Do you know how stress and anxiety can affect
you? List 3 examples.
2. What is a cognitive distortion?
3. Can you list at least 3 different healthy coping
skills for anxiety and stress?
4. “When I get anxious or stressed, I feel
confident about what healthy tools I can use to
help me feel better.” (Likert scale 1-7)
5. Post-test only: What did you like/dislike about
this group? (open ended question)
References

American Psychology Association. (2019, November). Stress in america. Retrieved from

https://www.apa.org/news/press/releases/stress/

LearnPsychology. (2019, July 1). Student Stress & Anxiety Guide. Retrieved from

https://www.learnpsychology.org/student-stress-anxiety-guide/

National Alliance on Mental Illness. (n.d.). Mental Health By the Numbers. Retrieved from https://www.nami.org/mhstats