Samantha Kriley Dr. Judy Hughey Consultation April 9, 2014 Consultation Field Experience A.

The consultee in this consultation was three fifth grade teachers at Wear Elementary. The clients in this consultation were six fifth grade students at Wear Elementary. This specific consultation was chosen from a needs assessment given to the fifth grade teachers. On this assessment the all of the teachers wrote in the comment box that they had some girls that might benefit from a group. During one of their focus meetings I went in and start the consultation processes. It was discussed how these girls seem to lack high self-esteem, goals, and mentors. I discussed the option of a girls group and they seem very excited about this. They gave me roughly eight girls names and I started screening them. B. The issue that was presented was that these girls seem to lack good friendship skills, high self-esteem, and goals for the future. From listening to the teachers it seemed that the specific girls are very good towards the teachers but these specific girls are not good towards other girls in the class. These girls were screened and everyone said they would be interested in a girls group. Between all the girls, they said they liked to talk to people but they do not have many friends. This correlated towards what the teachers were saying on not having good friendship making skills. There all seemed to struggle with their happy and sad feelings. As in they do not know what they do when they are happy or what to do to get out of being sad. This was something new brought to the table of forming a girls group. It gave a topic of really identifying their

strengths and possible weaknesses. The main goal of this group was to facilitate discussion to promote strengths, self-esteem, and friendship making skills. This group met during Lunch for six weeks. C. The impact of the problem addressed in consultation was that these girls are going great at Wear Elementary but the teachers were concerned for them when they head to middle school. Middle school starts in sixth grade in Geary County. The teachers were concerned that these girls would not be making positive choice when they start Middle school and that a girls group might empower them to start thinking ahead and give them possible skills that will help in the positive choice making that is done in middle school. D. I used the Solution-Focused Consultee Centered Consultation and Collaboration model. I chose this specific model because I felt most comfortable using these techniques. In this model we focus on relationship development, problem description and perspective change, goal formulation and scaling, and finding a solution. Then we move to ending the first session, and having follow-up sessions. I used all of these within my consultation process and it really gave me a great lens to figure out what the teachers are seeing and seem concerned about and what the clients are seeing and what concerns them. E. Solution Focused Consultee entered Consultation and Collaboration a. Relationship Development. The goal of this state in the consultation process was to develop a working relationship with the fifth grade teachers. In doing this I first attended their Student Improvement Team meetings to get a better understanding of what is going on with their struggling learners. The acting

school counselor at Wear Elementary gave each lead teacher a needs assessment. These were compiled and then giving back to the school counselor. From that information, it was discover the fifth grade had some issues with girls and thought that a girls group might be beneficial. Each teachers role was that they were very open to counseling and wanting to know how the whole process works. They were all very involved and open. b. Problem Description and Perspective Changing. The goal of this stage was to really discover what the fifth grade teachers were meaning by some girls might benefit from a girls group. I asked questions What problems are you seeing? What would it look like if that problem was gone? One a scale of one to ten how bad to do you see this problem? What would cause that to go up? These techniques were done and the teachers seemed too responded very positively. The role of each individual teacher was that they each discussed the questions I asked about their specific girls they had concern with. All of the teachers seemed on board to do something with these girls regarding counseling. c. Goal Formulation and Scaling. The goal of this stage was to decide what we could do to help both the teachers concern and the clients they were discussing about. It was stated how the each teachers had concerns with eight girls on their friendship making, self-esteem, and goal setting skill. With the scaling questions ask it was a goal to find out what we should do with these girls. Once again, the teachers were very involved with the discussion and what possible solution might be.

d. Finding a Solution. The goal of this stage was to find a solution. I suggested that we could do a Lunch Bunch group. This is a group that would meet during the fifth grade lunch hour and focus on friendships, self-esteem, and setting goals. Each teacher was very excited about this possible solution. They were very happy about not having their students miss class and thought the students would really enjoy getting to eat lunch in a different room than every other fifth grade student. e. The Starting of the Lunch Bunch Group i. Are You More Like ii. House That Built Me iii. What Makes me Feel Good About Myself iv. Strengths v. Goals vi. Putting it All Together F. The two assessments used were a Needs Assessment and Screening Assessment a. Needs Assessment i. This assessment was given at the beginning of my internship to really figure out what each class within Wear Elementary needed assistance with. The result found that a girls group is something the teachers thought might be helpful. It is what brought me to the thought of consultation to better find out what is going on with these fifth grade girls and what the teachers are seeing as concern. b. Screening Assessment

i. This assessment was given to the eight fifth grade girls that the teachers expressed concern with. The screen really asked if they would be interested in the group, it gave me a better understanding of what their perception of their life is at school, home, and with themselves. It helped with the themes I would later use in the group. G. Results a. Consultation Preference Scale i. I really like the consultation preference scale. I think this inventory would be great to use with all consultee because it gives a great break down of how this specific person works. In my case it is difficult to use this because my consultee were three fifth grade teachers and working with all of them is great but each person brings a different perception to the table. What I noticed from the teacher I did give this to was that she was really on board with the collaboration of us both identifying the problem and then both implementing but keeping both parties in the loop. I plan on using this type of inventory in the future especially if I am just working with one consultee. This is a great test for just one person because it gives such a glimpse of how that person will react to a counselor and it helps a counselor know what language to use when working with these individuals. b. Consultation Evaluation Form i. This form is great for figuring out how a counselor did with this specific consultee. I only had issues with a couple questions because

they were not applicable for my specific situation. The questions were 4, 6, 8, and 10. These questions are great but in my specific situation because these teachers did not have a specific viewpoints besides wanting to try and increase these girls self-esteem and friendship skills. Therefore, I did not need to change their viewpoint because it was more of a concern than a viewpoint. The specific things that I was working with in these groups were skills that are really developed within counseling. These are social skills verse academic skills. It could be included into the classroom activities but with this being my first consultation I failed to implement something like that. I did not really help with recourses because like I said above I did not think to give these teachers resources towards this specific situation. I will in the future think of a way to correlate my consultation with giving resources, and incorporate it for classroom work. c. Student Evaluation i. I gave the girls a verbal and paper evaluation. The paper evaluation just asked simple questions like has this group helped you identify your personal strengths or has this group helped you develop measurable and observable goals. All of the remarks on the group were positive except for one girl. One girl has decided not to attend group after the third session. She stated that she just does not like the group. She is however, going to start to see the other school counselor for individual counseling. I also asked the girls during the fourth session

how they have liked this group. They said that they have loved this group and do not want to see it end. I can personally tell from their non-verbals they are very happy and excited to come to group every Thursday. d. Teacher Evaluation i. I talked verbally with the teachers to just briefly ask how they thought group was going. They all agreed that the girls are really enjoying the group and they look forward to it every Thursday. They however, have not really asked how group is going and do not know if they are understanding the skills we are discussing. They said they will start asking now. H. Reflection a. My overall performance skills were good. I think the more consultation I do the better I will be. In regards to my relationship skills I think I did a fabulous job. I feel like my relationship skill are probably my best quality. I am very easy to get along with and to use my good counseling skill to make people feel comfortable talking to me and in this case trusting their student with me for a group activity. My communication skill in the consultation process can always get better and will with more experience. I love the solution focused language in asking scaling question and asking the miracle question. The more I use this language the easier my communication skill will get in this area of consultation. My professional behavior skill were great. I think they will also get better with time. When I am acting as school counselor I try to be a

professional role model for students. A professional role model for me is a person of good character, is an ethical decision maker, and person of solid values and beliefs. My skills in working with organizations can always be improved. I think I like to watch how different people interact with each other before I jump right in there and consult. The more and more experience I have the better I will be able to jump in there and know the correct things to say and how to say them. Just like my skills in working with an organization my problem solving skills will get better with experience. I love problem solving and putting the responsibility on the client. I think that is one of the best things a person can do because it promote the person as an individual and gives them skill they can use for the rest of their lives. My future accommodations and modification will be a better evaluation sheet. I think we need to make these evaluation sheets developmentally appropriate. As in there needs to be a different one for each developmental level. I think that evaluation is key to becoming a successful and confident consultant. That is why it is so important to have good solid reliable and valid evaluation forms for each level of consultation groups, elementary, middle, high school, parents, and teachers.