Every community needs help because no community is perfect.
This is a therapeutic psychoeducational group that will help reinvest students in their future/ schooling. Also, the group will provide the tools for youth of need to become successful in their schooling career. I am involving youth that may have; erratic or no attendance, low literacy, lack of interest in school and/or stated intention to leave, negative interactions with peers, behavioral issues including aggression, violence, or social withdrawal, significant change in behavior, attitude or performance in this group. Youth need to understand their individual goals and needs as they develop into adulthood. It is easy to forget how important your future is and how this time in life is crucial to give youth the proper options and tools to be successful in the community and academically. This group is geared towards keeping teens interested in school and their future.
The facilitation of this group is to ensure that group members may attain the capacity to realize they can succeed in school and outside of school. Group members will be able to explore and discuss possible causes and manifestations of dropping out, and reflect on its numerous effects on them as individuals, as well as on other aspects of their lives. Also, they will explore possible options to help prevent them from feeling the need to drop out of school. This group will provide a safe environment where members may choose to fully process their experiences leading up to and going through the dropout process, as well as create goals for moving past the feelings of wanting to leave school and developing preventative measures that increase their resilience from further incidences. We will also discuss healthy behavior and how to prevent the youth from taking the wrong path and making delinquent decisions. This will be a great place for youth to ask for help and guidance with school work as well.
In this group we will also include some activities to keep the members active and involved such as volunteering for local community organizations and mentoring upcoming high schoolers. I think it would be very beneficial for them to be able to feel needed in the group as well. The group will consist of unlimited members ranging in ages of 14-19 years, of both male and female and will consist of a multi-cultural group. The group will meet twice a week for a school length semester. Our meetings will be 60 minutes and this group will remain open. The high school has arranged for us, a classroom for after school.
The following topics will be introduced over the span of sessions. In this group we will discuss some very major needs for youth such as: Having an understanding of life after high school, Having meaningful participation in our community, Knowing how to achieve independence and responsibility for one’s self, Having the skills to properly communicate with peers and adults, Achieving self-definition, development of a personal vision, being creatively expressive , Competency and achievement, Understanding structure and clear limits, and A real-world activity where members choose their lifestyle of choice (living arrangements, car, job, etc.), find jobs that are available for what they want to do for a living (with education requirements for the jobs), and evaluate their future accordingly. At the end of all group sessions, the same assessment will be given. I will also evaluate progress of each member by attaining their attendance, grades, and overall behavior.
I think this program will be successful because a lot of youth need to stay busy and find their purpose. Also, at that age, it is crucial that they build strong relationships with their peers and adults. Getting at-risk youth involved with a therapeutic and psychoeducational will not only build their confidence and direct them in a positive way but it will also help them sort and understand their feelings and behaviors in a way they can relate to their peers and help each other to succeed with the guidance of a counselor. Youth need guidance and I think this group would help many stay on the right path to become successful and well-functioning young adults.
