GROUP PROTOCOL OUTLINE

OT 5630
Group Title: Centaurs Stick Together
Author: Brittany Neely, Mary Joyce, Kyle Bateman
Group Membership and size:
The client population intended for this group session includes youth aged 12-15 years. Clients
are typically engaged in full-time education and are often on the receiving side of bullying
behavior while involved with education. Other occupations these youth are involved in include
extra-curricular activities, family time and obligations, and unstructured recreational activities
with friends. An effective bullying group would include 3-10 members. Fewer and greater causes
additional strain on group leaders and group members.

Group Goals:
Group members will demonstrate increased comfort to grow and learn during each group
session by participating to a greater extent as the group session progresses.
Group members will work together and problem solve successfully during Pictionary by talking
with their partners for the duration of the activity.
Group members will become educated about cyberbullying and demonstrate their knowledge by
successfully navigating the social media scenarios during the second activity by giving correct
and legitimate answers to each scenario.
Group members will gain a sense of community throughout the session and demonstrate this
during the yarn activity when saying something positive about another group member.
Group members will leave the session with increased self-confidence, sense of control, and
resilience when dealing with bullies and demonstrate these new found characteristics by
effectively discussing what they will do in the future when they are bullied.
Method:
Introduction (10-15 minutes): Welcome group members and thank them for coming. Discuss
that the purpose of this group is to improve their communication skills, build up self-confidence,
give tips when dealing with bullies in person and online, and make friends and have fun.
Discuss the rule that if things get too noisy or out of hand, one of the group leaders will say, if
you hear me clap once, if you can hear me clap twice. This will cue the group to be quiet
throughout the session.
Warm Up Activity: Hand out three Sour Warheads to each group member. Explain that after
each group member says their name, they will need to say something they like to do with a
straight face while sucking on a few Sour Warheads. Let group members know they do not
have to put Sour Warheads in their mouth, they can just share something they like to do. All
group leaders will participate as well.
Group Rules: Group members will then pair up with the person next to them to come up with a
rule that needs to be followed during the session. These will be written out for everyone to refer
to during the session on the whiteboard. Group leaders come up with the first rule, that
everything discussed in the session will remain private and not shared outside of the group.

The Activities:
Activity #1- Pictionary (25 minutes):
Build on our positive self-concepts through use of positive language
Create social connectedness through an interactive social game
Practice positive social skills
Role of other group leaders: Walk around and check partners work, listen for negative
comments or emotions, ask questions about their unusual pictures.
Intro to game
For our first learning activity well be playing a game with a few of these great group
members we just met. The activity is called Progressive Pictionary (or The Wheel of
Pictioneopardy). It is a really fun game that will let us meet new people, solve problems, get
better at being positive, and make some new friends. it works like this . . . On the white board I
will draw something and you and a team mate will need to guess what it is. {Practice with them
using CAT}. Youll be in teams of two. [finish in game below]
Group members will pair off ( Joey & Billy, Margaret & Jessica, Sara & Matt ) for a game of
pictionary.
everyone will get a blank piece of paper (handed out by Brittany and Mary). The paper will be
folded into four sections. 3 sections will have labels (Partner, guess:, and a space to draw a
doodle. to be used later)
Leader will draw a picture line by line on the board. Each pair will have to talk to each other and
try to figure out what the picture could be. The steps will each take about 5-15 seconds
(basically wheel of fortune with pictures not words).
Pairs will work quietly (not yelling to the group) to figure out the pictures and write their guess on
paper.
After two pictures the each group member will doodle a little picture where the two guessed
items interact in some unexpected way (like an elephant taking a rose on a date) and will tell a
group leader about their picture ideas)
Pairs will thank their partner and trade Partner 1 after every two pictures
Repeat 2 times
???Does anyone have any questions???
Pictionary Step Drawing Ideas: Minion, Car, Elephant, Rose, Trogdor, piano
Sharing: After the activity members are invited to share their work or experience with the
group. Group leader will say Now lets talk about what happened. But before we do, one thing
to make very clear is who you are in this part. In this discussion you are the expert. You are the
experts. When you share all of us learn from you sharing. So please feel free to share. We are
all friends here.
Who would like to be first to share how the game went?
Were there any communication issues?
How did you feel during this activity?

Processing:
Group leader prompts group to use remaining section of paper to answer these questions in
writing
Write 1 positive thing you saw each partner do.
What positive things did you say about yourself
What was easy/challenging about this exercise?
Group leader will ask members to share their written responses. Group leader will ask what
was easy or challenging about this game?
Generalizing:
Group leader will ask the following questions to prompt insight:
Tell me how someone sometimes be wrong and still be valuable to the group.
How could being positive about ourselves help when against others being negative?
Application:
Group leader will ask the following questions of the group to prompt insight:
Do you see how sometimes we make incorrect assumptions because we dont see the
big picture?
How can this relate to bullies?
We dont see all their problems, so try not to judge them
They dont see how good we are because they can only see part
Keep being positive even if people dont get the whole picture
We are better than people think we are
Be kind to people so they can better see more of our picture
Summary:
Group leader will summarize main lessons brought up by the group, (e.g. positive
communication can help us see the big picture of ourselves and bullies, etc.) Does anyone have
any questions?
Next well be learning about some other ways to handle bullies when they try attacking
us online or over the phone

Activity #2- Cyberbullying (25 minutes):

Outline:
Group leaders will facilitate discussion by asking group members to raise their hand if they have
a Facebook, Texting, Twitter, Instagram, or any other form of social media. Ask them to raise
their hand if they have ever been bullied on social media if they are comfortable sharing.
Discuss how social media is a common form of communication in people their age and that
cyberbullying happens all the time. Discuss that screen time is becoming common, while in
person social interaction is declining which greatly contributes to the risk of cyber bullying.
Group leaders will show this video on a laptop or TV.
https://www.commonsensemedia.org/videos/emmas-story-cyberbullied-by-a-best-friend
Group leaders hand out CyberBullying Handout and discuss ways to successfully deal with
cyberbullying as group members follow along on their own sheet. Leaders should touch each of
the ten responses briefly and remind the group members that they could keep this in their
backpack at school to look at if they are ever in a situation they dont know how to handle.

Explain that the cup has prompts in them that mirror bullying situations on different forms of
social media. The cup will be passed around the table. Each member will draw a prompt and
attempt to answer it by themselves, and then ask their peers for help if they need it. After they
respond, the group leaders will either tell them their answer is right or wrong and explain why.
Sharing: Ask group members to share something they learned from this activity. Ask group
members to share a time when they were bullied and how they handled it and how they would
handle it now. If someone was very quiet during the activity, ask them a question by name.
Acknowledge feelings of the members.
Processing: Leaders will ask group members if they have any questions about the activity.
Was there anything that happened during the activity they want to discuss? Did this activity
bring out any emotions?
Generalizing: Group leaders should again address the fact that communication through social
media is widespread in todays society and that cyberbullying is common. Remind them that the
handout gave them many different ways to handle bullying online and in person. Remind them
they all have social media accounts (if they all raised their hand), and that they should respect
others online as well. If multiple people raised their hand to being bullied over social media,
remind them of this. Point out similarities and differences between members.
Application: Group leaders should point out that the group members should look over the
CyberBullying Handout again and keep it somewhere safe so they can look at it if they need
advice on how to handle a situation. They should keep it in mind when difficult situations arise,
and can even give advice to their friends if they are ever bullied and dont know what to do.
Summary: Ask if anyone has questions.
Role of other group leaders: Hand out cyberbullying handout, walk around to be a
friendly presence in the room, help facilitate discussion on cyberbullying scenario
activity, chime in when necessary.

Activity #3-Yarn Closing Activity (10 minutes): (BRITTANY):

Group leaders will facilitate discussion about the negative emotional effects that bullying can
have. Ask group members to raise their hands if theyve ever felt extremely sad or lonely
because of what others have said to them. Ask anyone if they would like to share a story.
Leaders will explain to members that we never need to feel alone because there are others who
can relate and accept you. Remind group members that it is important to remember that bullies
are dealing with their own set of problems, and their behaviors and actions are a reflection of
that.
A group leader will hand a member a ball of yarn. Group leaders will explain activity directions:
While still holding onto a piece of the yarn, pass the yarn to somebody else in the circle by first
giving them a compliment.
The person who receives the compliment will then pass along the yarn, giving another member
a compliment, while still holding onto a piece of it.
Once every member has received a compliment and is holding onto the yarn, we can see that
everyone is connected.
Group leaders will pass around scissors so that everyone can cut off a section of the piece of
yarn they are holding.
Group members will then tie the yarn onto their wrist as a bracelet.

Group leaders will explain that the bracelet can help them remember the compliment they
received. Tell them that next time they are feeling sad or lonely they can look down at the
bracelet and be reminded that they arent alone.
Sharing: Ask group members if they like the bracelets/activity. Ask members if anybody can
think of instances they might look at their bracelets to give them some comfort.
Processing: Ask group members if they think the bracelets will be helpful to them. Ask them
how it felt to receive the compliment or how it felt to give a compliment.
Generalizing: Group leaders will explain that while we may not be able to control the way
others treat us, we can try and control our emotional response. Tell the group that reaching out
and communicating with each other may be a positive way to cope.
Application: Explain that the bracelets can also be a reminder to not let others feel alone. If you
see someone being bullied or seems to be having a bad day, giving them a compliment or being
nice to them can improve their self-esteem. Making others feel good can help us feel good as
well, and can lead to positive relationships and friendships.
Role of other group leaders: help facilitate discussion, help control negative comments.
Closing Summary- 5-10 minutes:
Thank you everyone for participating in this Centaurs Stick Together communication group
today. Remember, our goals were to establish connections with each other, work together to
problem solve, promote useful social skills and self confidence in future social interactions, learn
defenses against cyberbullying, and to gain a sense of community. We hope you all will leave
the session with increased self confidence, self-control, and resilience when dealing with bullies.
To do this we learned about each other with warheads, practiced working together in
progressive pictionary, learned about cyber bullying defenses, and talked about the positive
things we see in each other. Today we learned that we can help each other face challenges by
speaking positively of ourselves and others. When we are cyber bullied we can tell a trusted
adult, print it off, and respond in a lot of positive ways (like on our cheat sheet). If we are ever
feeling alone, we can look down at our bracelets and know that we have friends that no one can
take away.

Thank you for being with us today during

this group and we hope that everyone can
make it next week to tell us about all the
great things from this week!
Time and Space Requirements: This group session will take 75-90 minutes depending on how
talkative and willing to participate group members are. A medium sized room with a table and
enough chairs for group leaders and group members is required. A large writing surface such
as a fixed dry erase board would work perfectly to write rules on and for pictionary.

Supplies and Costs:

Supplies: Three Sour Warheads per group member, large writing surface like a dry erase board,
markers, a source to watch cyberbully video, jar/cup, bullying activity prompts cut into slips
(included in appendix), cyberbullying handout for each group member and one for the group
leaders to reference, (included in appendix), pens for each group member, a ball of yarn, a few
pairs of scissors.
Costs: Sour Warheads ($7.00), markers ($5.00), printing costs ($0.75), ball of yarn ($5.00),
scissors ($12.00), pens ($3.00). This adds up to $32.75, but most of the supplies are items that
most individuals already possess. Therefore, the cost could be as low as $10.00.
Adaptations: If this group were to be geared towards a younger population, the cyberbullying
prompts would need to be adjusted to a more appropriate level. The Pictionary game activity
would also need to be simplified and more direct for a younger population. Group leaders would
also need to change from a more collaborative approach to be more instructive approach. Older
populations may find the yarn activity to be child-like and would need to be changed to fit their
age group.

References

Chibarro, J. (2007). School Counselors and the Cyberbully: Interventions and

Implications. Professional School Counseling, 11(1), p65-67
Common Sense Media. (2015). Retrieved November 16, 2015, from
https://www.commonsensemedia.org/
Hicks, J. G. F., Skoog, S., & Crews, C. Empowering Cyberbullied Youth: A SolutionFocused Adlerian Counseling Model.

Sameer, H., & Justin, P. (2012). Responding to Cyberbullying: Top Ten Tips for Teens.
Retrieved November 16, 2015, from http://cyberbullying.org/Top-Ten-Tips-TeensResponse

Appendix:
Cyberbullying Prompts:
1. Instagram: A post of you doing something you shouldnt be doing like flipping of the camera.
How do you communicate to them to take it off successfully?
2. Text message: You are ugly.
Text message: You have no friends.

Text message: Why do you even come to school?

Text message: Did you know no one likes you?
Text message: Are you going to come to school tomorrow?
Text message: No one will sit with you at lunch.
Text message: I cant believe you show your ugly face at school.
Text message: I hope you never come back to school.
What do you do?
3. Twitter: @yourtwitterhandle is an ugly pimple face. They might as well get a head transplant or
never come out in the light of day again.
What do you do?
4. Text message: Tomorrow at school I am going to stuff your head in the toilet. If you dont come
to school I will tell everyone you still pick your nose and wear pull ups.
What do you do?
5. Facebook: someone posts a picture of you that is photoshopped that makes it look like you are
picking your nose.
How do you get them to take it down successfully?
6. Facebook: Someone posts a picture making fun of your friend or a family member.
How do you get them to take it down successfully?

Cyberbullying Handout: