Ebook: Helping at-risk students: a group counseling approach for grades 6-9

Guidelines for Setting Up and Leading Groups -- Goals of the SPARK Program -- Getting Started -- Selecting Group Members -- Structure of the Groups -- Group Leaders -- Presenting the Groups to Prospective Members -- Pregroup Individual Interviews and/or Questionnaires -- Group Counseling Techniques -- Developing Trust and Understanding Confidentiality -- Building Group Cohesion -- Group Process -- Developmental Considerations -- Maintaining Order and Leader Sanity -- Uses and Parameters of Check-In and Check-Out -- Issues in Ending the Groups -- Dilemmas for Group Leaders -- Handling Issues of Child Abuse and Suicidality -- Balancing the Needs of Individual Group Members with the Requirements of the Psychoeducational Curriculum -- Dealing with Members Who Do Not Participate -- Dealing with Chronically Disruptive Members -- Parameters of the Group Leader Role -- Adapting the Curriculum for Full Classroom Use -- The SPARK Curriculum -- Overview of Module Content -- Recruitment Criteria -- Trust-Building and Communication Skills -- Anger Management and Emotion Regulation Skills -- Ethnic Identity and Anti-Prejudice -- Educational Aspirations -- Peer Pressure Bullying and Gangs -- Male-Female Relationships -- Exposure to Violence and Posttraumatic Stress Reactions -- Family Relationships -- Termination Session: The Party -- Effectiveness of SPARK Groups -- Characteristics of Participating Group Members -- Family Structure and Distress -- Exposure to Community Violence -- Outcomes of the SPARK Groups -- Time 1 and Time 2 Differences for Those in the Treatment Group -- Time 1 and Time 2 Differences for Those in the Control Group -- Comparisons between the Treatment and Control Groups -- Pilot Evaluations of New and Revised Modules in This Edition -- Information Regarding Data Analyses -- Sample Materials for Beginning SPARK Groups -- Curriculum Materials and Handouts -- Sample Materials in Spanish for Beginning SPARK Groups -- Curriculum Materials and Handouts in Spanish.;And Conclusions P.116