A Brief Group Counseling Model to Increase Resiliency of Students with Mild

Disabilities.
by John F. Arman
School counselors often provide counseling services for special education students. The
author presents a model for a brief counseling group that focuses on the development of
resiliency in middle school students with mild disabilities.
The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) of 1997 requires public schools in
the United States to provide the related services that are necessary to help students with
disabilities benefit from special education (American School Counselor Association
[ASCA], 1998). According to the provisions of this law, counseling is a related service.
School counselors are trained and qualified to provide these related services; however, many
school counselors do not have adequate time to provide counseling for students because
they are overburdened with too many other job responsibilities (Maag & Katsiyannis, 1996).
Because of time constraints and the many tasks and roles that school counselors perform,
the legal requirements to provide counseling services for special education students can
present complicated problems (Maag & Katsiyannis, 1996). In addition, there has been a
recent movement by parents and professionals to question the value of separating children
with disabilities from their same-age peers to receive special education services (Alper,
Schloss, & Schloss, 1996; Bradley, King-Sears, & Switlick, 1997; Idol & Baran, 1992; Villa
& Thousand, 1995). The inclusion of students with disabilities in general education
programs has merit (Eber, Nelson, & Miles, 1997; Oswald & Singh, 1996); however, for
inclusion to be successful, major changes in the roles and functions of school counselors are
required.
Proposals and recommendations for changing the roles and functions of school counselors
appeared in the professional literature soon after the implementation of Public Law 94-142
(e.g., Kameem, 1979; McKalip, 1979; Nelson, 1979). To address the constantly changing
job responsibilities of school counselors (Campbell & Dahir, 1997), ASCA has developed a
list of functions for the school counselor's role in accordance with Public Law 94-142.
According to this document, one of the major school counselor functions is to provide
guidance and counseling services for students with disabilities that are the same as the
services that are provided for students without disabilities (ASCA, 1998). The U.S.
Department of Education (1996) has reaffirmed that school counseling is one of the three
services that students with disabilities need most. Specifically, providing group counseling
for students with mild disabilities (e.g., learning disabilities, mild mental retardation, and
emotional or behavioral disorders), which includes leading discussions with small groups of
students who have similar needs or problems, is a key function of school counselors when
working with these students (Bowen & Glenn, 1998; Trotter, 1993).
A variety of group counseling approaches and techniques have been adapted for work with
students who have disabilities (Bowen & Glenn, 1998). For example, cooperative learning
experiences have proven successful for some students with disabilities (Hallahan &
Kauffman, 1996); behaviorally based group counseling has been shown to help manage
classroom behavior (Landy, 1990); and social skills training, along with play therapy, has
been shown to enhance global and social self-concepts of students with disabilities. Group
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work with students who have mild disabilities may also be a useful school counselor
intervention. Such groups may help students maintain academic and personal/ social
progress, help them resolve conflicts appropriately, and provide them with support and
encouragement from peers (Bowen & Glenn, 1998). Herring (1990) posited that students
with mild disabilities need to be secure and to experience a sense of belonging to feel that
their environment is safe and supportive. Small group counseling can help meet those needs
of safety and support for students with disabilities. Finally, groups provide students with the
opportunity to test social skills, to share feelings with others, to give and receive feedback,
and to help in the formulation of critical identity features (Corey, 1997).
The purpose of this article is to provide a template, or model, for school counselors to use in
providing brief and supportive group counseling for middle school students with mild
disabilities. This brief group model will assist students with mild disabilities to be
successful in inclusive as well as exclusive special education school environments. As
school counselors' roles and functions continue to change (Campbell & Dahir, 1997), this
model of group counseling can be adapted for a variety of students with disabilities.
Because there is relatively little research in the area of group counseling with mildly
disabled students, it is hoped that this model of brief counseling will help fill the void. My
work as a middle school counselor is largely the basis for this model of counseling for
groups.
Many special education students who have mild disabilities develop strained relationships
with teachers and peers in their school environment. These difficulties may stem from
various sources, including having a low academic self-concept, having emotional and
behavioral difficulties that hinder their success in school, being excluded from the regular
school environment, experiencing excessive conflicts at school, and having anxiety or stress
in school because of their disabilities. Moreover, inclusive practices can be stressful for
students with disabilities because they are expected to be successful in the regular school
curriculum. This brief group counseling assists students with the transition into inclusive
general education programs by providing them with skills and support during this difficult
time.
This guideline for brief group counseling is an adaptation of a series of groups that I
regularly facilitated while working as a middle school counselor. The group is designed to
help school counselors respond better to the difficulties that students with mild disabilities
often experience in the schools. For the students, it is designed to help alleviate some of the
stress associated with their disabilities by providing them with a nonthreatening, nurturing
environment in which they can develop resilient characteristics on which they can draw for
support with academics and personal/social relationships.
The group helps foster resiliency and focuses on helping students with mild disabilities to
reduce their potential risk factors. Henderson and Milstein (1996) defined resilience "as the
capacity to spring back, rebound, successfully adapt in the face of adversity, and develop
social, academic, and vocational competence despite exposure to severe stress or simply to
the stress inherent in today's world" (p. 7). Resiliency has come to be associated with
several protective factors that help young people to be successful despite having multiple
risk factors in their lives. These protective factors include (a) having one caring and
supportive adult role model in their lives, (b) having opportunities for meaningful
participation in school and community activities, and (c) experiencing high expectations
from meaningful adult role models (Benard, 1991, 1996). Resilient young people seem to
2

develop stable, healthy personalities and are able to deal with life's stresses and problems
more effectively than do their peers.
Reed and McCoy (1989)noted that all children face "risk factors" at some time in their lives.
It is assumed that students with mild disabilities have as many, if not more, of these risk
factors as a result of their disability when compared with their regular education
counterparts. By encouraging students with disabilities to be more resilient, school
counselors will help students who are underachieving or having adjustment problems at
school to be more successful (Liontos, 1991). One of the best ways for school counselors to
promote resiliency in students is through the creation and implementation of
developmentally appropriate counseling groups (Rak & Patterson, 1996).
The groups should be made up of all boys or all girls because young people at the middle
school level experience different developmental milestones and because it gives them a
same-gender forum to address delicate personal issues. Facilitating this group counseling
requires relatively little time commitment and provides needed services for a large group of
students. By facilitating this group, school counselors can help students with mild
disabilities to feel supported, to be more resilient, and ultimately to be successful in their
academic and personal/social lives.
IMPLEMENTING THE GROUP
Recruitment and Screening of Students
It is good practice to survey the special education teachers in the middle school to identify
students they believe would benefit from a support group program. In addition, school
administrators and ancillary therapy staff (e.g., speech and language therapy, occupational
therapy, special education paraprofessionals) are also valuable resources for identifying
students who might be helped through this type of group counseling. Educating
administrators and support staff about students with mild disabilities and about resiliency is
a key component to proper recruitment and screening. Diversity among the students in the
group (e.g., ethnicity, socioeconomic status, and popularity in school) increases the group's
ability to develop a foundation of genuine caring, peer support, and appreciation for
individual differences. A diversity of students parallels real-life social situations that
students are likely to encounter. During the recruitment and screening period, the school
counselor needs to remain open to including all students who are referred for services and
not just to including students who are commonly viewed as "successful" or "positive
leaders" in the school.
This model of group counseling is designed for working with six to eight students at a time.
The students need to be motivated to succeed in their respective special education programs.
This group does not need to be limited to students from inclusion-based special education
programs because most students with mild disabilities struggle with achievement and
success in school. It is designed for all students with mild disabilities. Students should have
strong parental support to be in the group because some group homework activities require
parental involvement. Students must be willing to verbalize their feelings, be respectful,
listen to others, follow the group-originated norms, maintain required grades for attendance,
and maintain confidentiality.
Starting the Group
First, a class period must be identified that works for the students, teachers, and counselors.
For example, the group can be facilitated during the Life Skills class, which most students in
special education programs take. Students who are not currently in the group maintain their
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regular class schedules until it is their turn to be in the group. This group fits within the
special curriculum under a personal/social development category and would be considered a
guidance-related activity. Middle school counselors operate within tightly constrained
schedules, as do special education teachers and students, so careful planning is essential.
The counselor should arrange for a room that is quiet and comfortable, where the group can
meet regularly once per week for 6 weeks. The group is designed to last 6 weeks for a
variety of reasons. One reason is to provide time for two to three groups to be facilitated per
semester. Another reason is to maintain the often short attention span of students with mild
disabilities. Last, the groups are 6-weeks long because the intent is to provide skills and
support in a short amount of time within the school setting. Initially, the purpose of the
group should be explained to the students in a way that they will understand, regardless of
their disabilities, the concept of "Why am I here?" For students with language processing
disorders, reading disorders, or attention problems, the group's goals and purposes should be
explained through a variety of teaching mediums. It should be explained that students who
are unable to maintain satisfactory grades or behavior at school will be put on "temporary
leave" from the group until their grades improve or their behavior is under control. Ideally,
members of the group will have high expectations of both themselves and the other
members of the group, and students will perceive the group as an opportunity for growth
and support rather than as a punitive experience. Facilitators can help alleviate the
perception that the group is punitive by making the experience fun and by demonstrating
genuine caring for the students in the group.
Under the supervision of the facilitators, members of the group should develop specific and
structured rules. These rules should be very clear and consistently enforced. The group will
require a variety of ground rules, depending on the diversity of the students' disabilities. For
example, a group consisting of students with mild behavioral disorders will require more
structured ground rules than will a group of students with mild reading disabilities. Initially,
all groups should maintain a high level of structure to decrease students' anxiety and to
promote trust and cohesion (Corey, 1997). However, as appropriate levels of trust and
cohesion are established, the structure can be decreased, and the supportive focus of the
group will begin to develop. The group should maintain its focus on the importance of the
group participants' developing resilient "protective factors."
WORKING IN THE GROUP
This group model serves a variety of purposes for students. It provides a sense of
connectedness and support for them as they maneuver through the maze of middle school
life. The group helps to provide students with a safe place to explore issues that are
important to their academic and personal/social development. It provides all of the students
with high expectations for success allows them opportunities to develop and practice
resiliency skills important for success in the future. Students are expected to take personal
responsibility for their good and bad choices. The group ultimately provides students with
mild disabilities with a time and place during the school day when they can share the
frustrations, triumphs, and stresses related to being a special education student during their
middle school years.
In the following sections, I present an outline for the group. This outline details objectives
and procedures for each session of the group process.
Session 1
Objectives. To complete introductions and set group norms.
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Procedures. The counselor explains the norms and the rationale for these norms to the
group. The expected group norms include (a) maintaining confidentiality, which is crucial
for trust to develop; (b) taking turns talking and listening to one another, which is important
to develop respect; (c) not allowing "put downs" of self or others, which is also important in
developing group trust and cohesion; and (d) having fun, which is a rule that helps make the
group enjoyable for students to attend. All students should be asked to contribute any rules
that they think are important. It is important for the group members to be active participants
in setting the initial norms because it increases their investment and ownership of the group
process. The counselor or students can add norms at any time, as needed.
After the norms have been set, the counselor explains that the group is a brief support group
for students with mild disabilities and that the group will help them to be more resilient.
Resiliency should be defined in terms that special education students with mild disabilities
can easily understand. For example, an appropriate way to define resiliency is "the ability to
bounce back from your problems like a rubber ball when you bounce it on the floor." It is a
good idea to answer any questions that students have about resiliency at this time. Also,
meeting times and dates are set at this first session, and the group ends with each student
sharing one thing about himself or herself that no one else in the group knows. Resiliency
journals (i.e., notebooks for the students to use) are distributed at this time, and for the next
meeting, students are asked to respond to the question, "What do I like most about me?"
Students are expected to write, to the best of their ability, or to draw their responses and to
be prepared to discuss them at the next group meeting.
Session 2
Objectives. To educate the students about resiliency and facilitate student sharing about their
journal assignment.
Procedures. The counselor begins the group's meeting with a short presentation that simply
explains resiliency and the protective factors. After this short presentation, each student is
asked to discuss his or her journal entry. The counselor facilitates sharing students'
responses in a manner that maintains a focus on their personal strengths. For the next
meeting, students are asked to identify in their journal one adult person in their lives whom
they can trust and on whom they depend.
Session 3
Objectives. For students to identify the dependable and trustworthy person in their life and
to share why that person is so special to them.
Procedures. The group begins with each student taking turns identifying his or her
dependable and trustworthy person. The counselor facilitates a discussion about why this
person is so dependable and trustworthy. The counselor links this discussion to other people
in the students' lives who possess similar characteristics. For the next session, students are
asked to write a one-page journal entry about where they expect to be and what they expect
to be doing in 1 year.
Session 4
Objectives. To help students to look forward with hope in their lives and to appreciate the
need for having high expectations.
Procedures. The students are asked to take turns sharing their journal entries. The entry can
be a picture if writing proves too difficult. Students are asked to identity someone in their
lives who has high expectations of them and to share how that feels. Counselors should
work to make the link between students having high expectations for themselves and other
5

people having high expectations of them. For the next meeting, students are asked to
identify in their journals three school-based extracurricular activities in which they would
like to participate.
Session 5
Objectives. To support sharing and facilitate students' involvement in meaningful
community or school-related activities.
Procedures. The group begins with each student sharing his or her list of three meaningful
extracurricular activities. Students then discuss these choices and make plans to initiate their
membership in one of the groups or activities. The counselor acts as a resource by helping
students find appropriate activities. Consultation with students may continue after the group
counseling has ended. For the next meeting, students are asked to write in their journals
what they gained from the group.
Session 6
Objectives. To share what students learned from the group and wrap up any "unfinished
business."
Procedures. In this final group, students are asked to share what they learned from being in
the group and how they can implement that learning in their lives. The counselor asks if
students have any fears or anxieties about leaving the group and works to alleviate those
feelings by reassuring them that these are natural reactions to the group's ending. The
counselor and students share treats and say good-bye to one another to close the group. The
students are encouraged to return to the counselor at any time to "check in." They are also
encouraged to continue writing in their journals as a means of expressing difficult emotions.
The counselor assures the students that he or she will see them again in class when doing
classroom guidance activities.
CONCLUSION
The IDEA of 1997 requires public schools in the United States to provide the services
necessary to help students with disabilities benefit from special education. The U.S.
Department of Education (1996) reaffirmed that school counseling is one of the services
most needed by exceptional children and youth. The IDEA of 1997 considers group
counseling to be a necessary service, and school counselors are professionally qualified to
provide these services (Maag & Katsiyannis, 1996). Moreover, small groups that are
designed to have high peer-interaction levels, offer constructive feedback, and provide
opportunities to identify and practice skills have strong potential to be helpful for students
with mild disabilities (Bowen & Glenn, 1998). Therefore, it is essential that all school
counselors be proactive in developing group counseling interventions with special education
students. This group model is one way of addressing the needs of middle school students
with mild disabilities.
In this article, I provide direction and structure for recruiting and screening, implementing,
and working in a support group with these students. It is important to note that this is merely
a guideline for school counselors. Much of the work they do with the students in the group
will depend on the diversity of the group and the predominant issues presented. Maintaining
a focus on resiliency and student support helps students to identify and develop protective
factors that decrease their vulnerability to at-risk circumstances such as poverty, substance
abuse, having a mild learning disability, and so on (Henderson & Milstein, 1996). This focus
is crucial for the group's success and for the success of the young people involved in the
group. It is hoped that this group model ultimately provides school counselors with a time6

sensitive and supportive group intervention to help middle school students with mild
disabilities become resilient and successful in their academic, career, and personal/social
lives.
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John F. Arman, Department of Counseling Psychology and Counselor Education, University
of Colorado at Denver. John F. Arman is now in the Graduate Studies Department, School
Counseling Program, Heidelberg College. Correspondence concerning this article should be
addressed to John F. Arman, Heidelberg College, 310 E. Market St., Tiffin, OH 44883 (email: jarman@heidelberg.edu).
-1Questia, a part of Gale, Cengage Learning. www.questia.com
Publication Information: Article Title: A Brief Group Counseling Model to
Increase Resiliency of Students with Mild Disabilities. Contributors: John F.
Arman - author. Journal Title: Journal of Humanistic Counseling, Education
and Development. Volume: 41. Issue: 2. Publication Year: 2002. Page
Number: 120+. COPYRIGHT 2002 American Counseling Association;
COPYRIGHT 2004 Gale Group