1. From Barriers to Building Blocks:
Using Group Therapy Techniques to Empower Disadvantaged Adolescents
Tyler B. Collie, M.A., NCC

2. Who am I? From Parkersburg, WV
M.A. - Clinical Mental Health Counseling
WVU Upward Bound Student Success Counselor
High School/College Transition
Who am I?

3. What are we talking about today?
Barriers to Student Success
Psychology of Development
Using Group Therapy Techniques with Students
What are we talking about today?

4. Discussion: What barriers to success have you observed in working with adolescents/young adults?

5. What are my observations?
Communication
Wellness
Substance use
Trauma
Boundaries
Family systems
What are my observations?

6. What did we do? Theories Resources Structure Growth Groups
WVU Upward Bound
Summer Program 2018
Growth Groups

7. Theories

8. Erik Erikson’s Stages of Psychosocial Development
Conflict
Infancy (0-1)
Trust Vs. Mistrust
Early Childhood (1-3)
Autonomy Vs. Shame/Doubt
Preschool (3-6)
Initiative Vs. Guilt
School Age (6-12)
Industry Vs. Inferiority
Adolescence (12-18)
Identity Vs. Role Confusion
Young Adulthood (18-25)
Intimacy Vs. Isolation
Middle Adulthood (25-64)
Generativity Vs. Stagnation
Late Adulthood (65+)
Ego Integrity Vs. Despair
Developmental Psychology

9. Cognitive Psychology Mediated Focusing Seeing details/ grey thinking
Mediated Scheduling
Planning for future
Mediation of Positive Anticipation
Controlling the present/ happy in the moment
Mediation of Inhibition and Control
Controlling impulsiveness
Mediated Representation of the Future
Ability to imagine future scenarios based in facts
Mediation of Verbal Stimulation
Use of precise language
Mediated Precision
Ability to precisely define people, situations, things, and use it for problem solving
Cognitive Psychology
From A Framework for Understanding Poverty by Dr. Ruby Payne (2013)
Dr. Ruby Payne - Cognitive Psychologist
Studies the effects of poverty on cognition
Found “Missing Links” in cognitive processing.
These skills are usually taught by parental figures, which contributes to the cyclical nature of generational poverty.
Specifically in Mediation - “identification of the stimulus, assignment of meaning, and identification strategy,”(p. 121).

10. Social Psychology
“When we interact, we are impacting each other’s internal biological state and influencing the long-term construction of each other’s brains. This, in essence, is how love becomes flesh.” (Cozolino, 2014)

11. Resources

12. Resources 6 week Summer Program Me! My training Classroom space
Round tables with chairs
Small budget for materials
Ability to break students into groups
Time built into our summer schedules
Students fit for group

13. Structure

14. UB Summer Growth Group Unit Plan 2018
Session 1
Introductions, MBTI, Love Languages
Session 2
Wellness Wheels & Self Care
Session 3
Family & Genograms
Session 4
Self Love & Compassion
Session 5
Mind Traps (Unhealthy Thinking)
Session 6
Roadblocks to Healthy Thinking
Session 7
Personal Values
Session 8
Emotions & Empathy
Session 9
Emotional Regulation & Distress Tolerance
Growth Groups Structure
Creating groups with developmental levels in mind
Ideal size was 6, but had groups with 3-7 students.
Having a core “unit” of group/lesson plans that are intentionally planned
1.25 hours 3x per week
Some students stayed 2, 4, or 6 weeks
No mixing groups
Everything is kept confidential

15. What were my objectives?
Safe disclosure & interacting with boundaries & peers
Increase “grey thinking” and frustration tolerance
Empathy development through practice of self acceptance
Development of listening skills
Learning about holistic wellness & self care
Learning about emotions & emotional expression
What were my objectives?

16. Using Group Techniques

17. Wellness Wheels (easy)
Used to teach about & reflect on areas a of wellness
Engages students visually, kinesthetically, auditorily
Is a foundational tool for talking about wellness throughout the year
Encourages discussion of and improvements to self-care practices

18. Genograms A way to get a whole picture of a family system.
Creates distance from situations that may be tense or difficult.
Interest in seeing how everyone is different.
Pushes students out of their comfort zone.
Students get to choose what they share, and how they do it.

20. Final Thoughts You can do the most important work for free
Rooting your activities in theory gives them depth
Be intentional about planning activities
Use your resources
Do something different
Create safe spaces
Final Thoughts

21. Questions?