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I am building this blog to chronicle the progress of my personal and professional growth as a practicioner of school psychology. 

As you share these experiences with me, please note that names have been changed or omitted to protect the privacy of my clients.

 Group Counseling Activities:

In my experience thus far on the high school level, I found the counseling environment to be somewhat unstructured.  The year started by going over the IEPs, talking about their goals and weekly “check ins”.  I wanted something more.  My supervisor had this book, Chicken Soup for the Teenage Soul,  that in the past she has read to the students.  I was flipping through the book and found an amazing story that suited these two boys in my group; one an underachieving tenth grader and the other a socially awkward, nervous ninth grader.  The story was about a boy who was flunking out of school, losing tournaments for his golf team, socially awkward, and just experienceing rejection from everywhere he turned.  He had a love for drawing.  Even when he submitted his drawings to the school paper, he was rejected.  He kept on sending out his drawings to different places.  Rejection.  Finally, he launched an autobiographical comic strip.  It was picked up by Disney and named “Peanuts”.  The boy was named Charlie Brown.  This “loser” turned to famous writer, was Charles Schultz. 

 I was a little nervous that reading a book to high school kids may not be the “coolest” thing in their eyes.  But, it turned out to be great! The boys in my group, who are total opposites talked about Charles Schultz and how he followed his dream no matter how many times he was let down.  This story also led to a rewarding discussion about each other’s strengths and weaknesses.  

I recommend this book, if you are working with adolescents.  It can spark excellent discussions! 

 

 

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