Counseling Groups

During my internship at Drummond Elementary, I facilitated several small counseling groups to support students’ social-emotional development and coping skills. These groups provided students with a space to practice skills such as emotional regulation, problem-solving, and building positive peer relationships.

The groups I facilitated included:

  • 3 SS GRIN groups

  • 2 Rainbows groups

  • 1 Coping Cat group

  • 1 Act and Adapt group

To help parents, students, and teachers better understand the purpose and structure of these groups, I created a small group programming information sheet outlining the different groups offered and their goals. Please see the information sheet I created below.

Internship Small Group Experience

I am also trained to facilitate several evidence-based small group programs, including Coping Cat, SS GRIN (Early Childhood and K–5), and Rainbows. These trainings prepared me to support students in developing skills related to anxiety management, social skills, emotional regulation, and coping with life changes.

Closing the Gap: “Test Taking with Confidence” Small Group

During my internship at Drummond Montessori Magnet School, I facilitated a four-session small group focused on building students’ test-taking confidence and strategies ahead of the Illinois Assessment of Readiness (IAR). The group was designed to help close an achievement gap for students whose previous IAR scores did not reflect their in-school academic performance. Using the ASCA National Model small-group planning template, students learned to recognize signs of test anxiety, practice calming strategies, apply effective test-taking techniques, and develop a personal test success plan. Pre- and post-assessment data were collected to measure student growth in self-management and learning strategies.

Group Counseling Proposal

For my Group Counseling course at Loyola University, I developed a proposal for a psychoeducational support group for middle school female-identifying students. I also had the opportunity to implement parts of this group during my internship, which allowed me to apply what I learned in a real school setting.