This group counseling plan is an 8-week psychoeducational technique for first-generation first-year college learners across all institution departments. It is developed to help them understand multiple college dimensions, learn possible choices for involvement, and create socially and personally effective adjustments to the student culture. It helps them learn development opportunities, decrease isolation and incompetence until they receive their degrees. The plan will aim to increase the retention and attenuation rate of first-generation freshmen college learners. The curriculum will help understand how to cope with a campus life that will increase the learning experience. Group counseling will reduce frustrations, stress, incompetence, fear, transfer or dropout rates, culture shock, and isolation (Reetz et al., 2016). It will also aim to increase connection with effective institutional resources, learning, individual life balance, social and personal growth, awareness of available choices, positive interaction with other learners, confidence, and competence.
Literature Review
There are numerous studies about the significance of group counseling. Capuzzi and Stauffer (2016) argue that group counseling is a powerful approach that leads to an environment of mutual assistance. In this environment, participants learn to recognize and voice their requirements and understand members` similarities and differences. They develop a connection with others and learn new skills in an atmosphere full of respect and inclusivity. College life can be stressful for many students due to numerous issues such as indulgence in substance abuse, unhealthy relations, and bad eating habits. With effective college orientation, students will understand the need to develop healthy daily routines and maximize campus resources for their personal growth and excellent academic experience.
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Educational resources are significant materials at the campus. According to Prince (2015), there are numerous resources at the institution that are developed to increase learners' success. Getting all the resources can be difficult for the new learners, especially in their first semester. The counseling plan aims to increase accessibility to several services available on campus. It will be useful in offering excellent and essential information to enhance school-life competencies. The services will help reduce shock and loneliness cases that can make a learner drop out of campus or seek a transfer. The learners will practice social and communication techniques, create individual identities, objectives, strengths, and interests. These skills will help them develop healthy relations, become competent in academics, learn physical care, and increase their mental and psychosocial well-being (Prince, 2015). Group counseling in college helps learners understand how to access the relevant and required institutional resources to create a sense of purpose between school and individual realms.
Diversity Issues
The group counseling plan will take into consideration the diversity present at the campus. The plan will also introduce materials to understand the similarities and differences of how to effectively interact with learners and staff from diverse backgrounds and lifestyles.
Marketing Techniques
Promotional information about group counseling will be put at strategic points on the campus. It will also be advertised at the institution's mental health services site, Upwards Bounds office, and bulletin station at Learners Union. Also, the awareness will be offered at Resident Department for distribution of the material to freshmen.
The group will also be advertised as a closed group. It will be distributed in brochures with numerous detail , such as official disclosure statements, objectives, aims, strategies for entering and leaving the groups, the expectations for group counseling, duties, and roles of the participants and the leader. The brochure will also include strategies and methods to be utilized, training and credential for the group leader, timelines, a statement of what services they offer, the group counseling's potential outcomes, and comprehensive procedures to adhere to during the group participation.
Screening and Selection of the Participants
There will be a simple online application and at the residential halls’ front desks a month before the interview. The people can refer colleagues to attend the program, and the size will be a closed group of 8 to 15 members. Students who apply will be selected through random sampling. The screening interview will take place at the student center. The role leader will control the process and identify those that are serious about joining the group, those that seem to have behavioral problems, or students who may need one-on-one counseling. Students at the student center will be asked to explain why they need to join the counseling program. The facilitators will then select eligible candidates after a week of a thorough assessment. Learners who will not be accepted to the group will be directed to campus counseling services for more comprehensive therapy. An evaluation will be directed to assess learners’ attitudes about individual empowerment in the institution. Regarding the technical details of the group, the session will take 75 minutes. There will be two sessions of 30 minutes each with a 15-minute break of 15 every Tuesday from 4 pm to 5:15 pm at the Mental Health Counseling Center.
Pre-Group Meeting
Numerous studies have shown that it is essential to spend sufficient time orienting group participants to the process because it will increase the program's effectiveness (Monti et al., 2015). Additionally, group counseling's effectiveness can be enhanced by spending quality time with members and discussing the expectations that are shared among the group. Based on these findings, the pre-group meeting, which will be about 2 hours, will take place three days before the official beginning of the counseling sessions.
During the pre-group meeting, participants will get a chance to meet others and explore what the sessions have to offer. With this in place, there will be an increased sense of empowerment for learners, increased group effectiveness, and enhanced collaboration among all learners (Monti et al., 2015). At this meeting, learners will also take either Strengths quest evaluation or Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI), and the outcomes will be assessed at the Career Development Center.
Week 1: Warming Up
This week's primary purpose is to introduce the participants by breaking the ice, establishing ground rules, discussing members' rights and responsibilities, and bonding as a group. The main activities include setting up an environment that value acceptance, enhance personal respect, and excellent humor. The leader will explain to members the need for confidentiality and disclaimer of the group.
Week 1 will be orientation, where the role leader will discuss the aims of the group counseling. The leader will teach the members the importance of a collective group instead of dealing with individual issues. There will also be a simulation lab for life. The leader will share the group's aim, such as increasing the quality of life on campus, identifying and exploring members` concerns about the campus. The aims will also include sharing the truth and psychoeducational nature theory, which argues that you are not the only one going through this. The role leader will break the awkwardness of the first meeting, address attendance policies, design the role actions of leaders, share the inspiration of what is expected in the group, administer the simple attitude inventory, and fill the Likert-scale measurement to understand the motivation of members.
Week 2: Exploring First Outside Perceptions
The main aim of week 2 to further increase bonding among members, explore the initial impressions and effects, and brainstorm on how members can positively express themselves. The role leader will increase confidence among members and find the similarities and differences between participants. One will also connect members by addressing the similarities observed during their opening statement. The role leader will evaluate the first impression activities and assess what can be altered to enhance the first impression. There will be the utilization of personally-promoting techniques, which entails the 30-second commercials for all members to introduce themselves based on what they like while on campus. After that, there will be an evaluation of the worksheet the members fill to ask other members what they would like to know more. Lastly, the role leader will conclude the house-keeping activities.
Week 3: Reducing Culture Shock
The main aim of week 3 is to evaluate college customs, become aware of stressors while on campus, and discuss the nature of several experiences to minimize culture shock. At this point, the members will write down concerns about campus life. The role leader will share new information about campus adjustment and college student life like the media's exposure, common preconception, eradication of misinformation. The co-leader at the session will share the views and experiences. The leader will teach members how to balance personal and academic life, the significance of time management, and making priorities. Additionally, the role leader will highlight the importance of textbook utilization at school and the significance of classroom discussions. The role leader will introduce the topic of diversity. One will teach members how to connect with staff and learners from different backgrounds and provide resources and materials for members to learn how to communicate and develop relations with different people. Another topic will be based on family problems. The role leader will inspire learners to tackle homesickness, the attention required by family members, and changing roles in the family. Lastly, the members will have time to ask questions as the role leader concludes housekeeping activities.
Week 4: Practical Orientation
This session's primary purpose is to share and link with members, create an open discussion, and answer college life questions with transparency and disseminating useful information. The role leader will remind members about the confidentiality of the discussion and other ground rules. There will be an in-session form where the members will write statements that others may be surprised or things that they have not done entirely in their lives. Members will also write 8 questions they want to know about campus on the provided notecards. After that, the group discussion will commence, where the role leader will answer the questions and present orientation materials. The co-leader will demonstrate to members how to seek help or materials they could need from the residence department, academic units, health care center, computer laboratories, and co-curriculum department. They will also be taught how to utilize postal services, accessibility of the internet from the laboratory, library, and dormitories. The role leader will identify the main concerns of members that will be discussed in the next session.
Week 5: Individual Care
This week aims to discuss staying healthy and happy and making positive roles that embrace personal development. The role leader will remind members about the confidentiality of the group. After that, the co-leader will inspire members to practice personal care, such as how to increase spirituality, write journals and blogs, connect with families and old friends, volunteer during free days, and participate in a meditation session to rest, reflect, and recharge. Members will share their suggestions as the whole group discusses concerns that were raised in the last session. Other additional content will be based on managing stress, eating habits, physical activities, and forming a healthy friendship that will enable one not to engage in harmful activities such as smoking, drinking alcohol, and many more. Members will be advised to develop daily routines, organize living space, and constantly monitor mental health. The members will be given the form to fill in areas of individual identity and what has improved since the first session and allow members to discuss them. The role leader will give out further directions to the group and end house-keeping tasks.
Week 6: Growth and Discovery
The week's fundamental purpose is to explore individual traits and strengths, discuss potential taboos, and witnessed behaviors. Before that, the leader will remind members of the rules and regulations. The leader will offer a general overview of individual growth and development of self-objectives. He will also emphasize the need for team building and how to identify personal strengths. There will be discussions about the results from MBTI and Strenghtquest outcomes (Biasi et al., 2016). Once the discussions have been completed, the leader will demonstrate how to apply personal growth to connect with others. The members will be taught how to develop hobbies and sex education while on campus and the overall college cultures. They will later fill the form on several topics regarding individual growth.
Week 7: Social Health
The week's main goal is to create excellent interpersonal behaviors, explore colleagues' networks, practice excellent communication strategies and social connection. The leader will highlight the witnessed similarities and differences among members and fill the worksheet with built-in-group evaluation. The co-leader will address how to build social connections by developing healthy relations, creating a network of friends, managing disputes, and assertiveness. The role leader will discuss the positive and negative impact of social media, present campus issues, and the significance of communal living. Other areas include asking members to narrate what they have been practicing to achieve balance. The leader will also expect feedback from members and remind them that the next week will be the final session. He will also encourage them to ask questions that have not been handled. He will finally end the session by instilling hope in the group.
Week 8: Preparation and Planning
This last session's main objective is to explore useful materials and bring the group counseling to an end alongside the final assessment and future connection plans. The leader will discuss comprehensive knowledge on how to increase the use of college services and materials. These resources include opportunities to study abroad, availability of financial grants, resume creation and career materials, ways to join student unions, mental health counseling services, online services, and community services. The group will share plans for the semester, encourage members to reunite as a group, and get questions. The leader will end by directing competencies in campus attitude and retention attitude tools.
Evaluation of the Group Counselling Plan
After the group counseling, evaluation is an essential aspect of a reflective, professional and ethical approach. All group leaders will spend one hour following the meetings` debriefs and assessing the group's effectiveness. There will be weekly feedback from each meeting. The facilitators will fill in evaluation forms that will be used to recognize how members feel about the session and adjust necessary issues in the upcoming session to deal with emerging issues.
References
Abdulmalik et al., (2016). Developing mental health peer counselling services for undergraduate students of a nigerian university: a pilot study. IFE PsychologIA: An International Journal , 24 (2), 246-258. https://journals.co.za/doi/pdf/10.10520/EJC-59e9901fc
Biasi, V., Patrizi, N., Mosca, M., & De Vincenzo, C. (2016). The effectiveness of university counselling for improving academic outcomes and well-being. British Journal of Guidance & Counselling , 45 (3), 248-257. https://doi.org/10.1080/03069885.2016.1263826
Capuzzi, D., & Stauffer, M. D. (2016). Counseling and psychotherapy: Theories and interventions . John Wiley & Sons.
Monti, F., Tonetti, L., & Ricci Bitti, P. E. (2015). Short-term effectiveness of psychotherapy treatments delivered at a university counselling service. British Journal of Guidance & Counselling , 44 (4), 414-422. https://doi.org/10.1080/03069885.2015.1119233
Prince, J. P. (2015). University student counseling and mental health in the United States: Trends and challenges. Mental Health & Prevention , 3 (1-2), 5-10. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.mhp.2015.03.001
Reetz, D. R., Krylowicz, B., & Mistler, B. (2016). The association for university and college counseling center directors annual survey. Association for University and College Counseling Center Directors: https://www. aucccd. org/director-surveys-public .
