Self-Control School Counseling Group: Develop Self-Control Accountability Habits

This thorough self-control counseling small group helps students identify triggers, coping skills, and systems to put in place to feel empowered to make good choices and maintain self-control at home and school. This SEL small group group goes beyond impulse control. Students will develop habits and thought patterns to take accountability for their choices.

Calming the Storm is a low-prep 8 week upper elementary and middle school self-control group set to ASCA Standards and Objectives. Group members will practice self-reflection, communication, goal setting and more with each week's self-control building activities.

Looking for a group for younger students? Check out this K-2 Self-Control Counseling Group - Wiggle Worms.

Group Outline

Week 1: Introduction to Self-Control - What's the Weather?

Week 2: Identifying Triggers- Predict the Weather

Week 3: Cool Down Strategies- Stopping The Storm

Week 4: Catastrophic Thinking- Thought Spiral Tornado

Week 5: Making Good Choices- Heating Up

Week 6: Setting Successful Habits- Lighting Up the Sky

Week 7: Identifying a Support System- Staying Warm and Dry

Week 8: Preparing for the Future- Disaster Preparedness

WHAT’S INCLUDED Each Week:

↠ Group Rules: Suggested and DIY Group Rules poster so students can take ownership of the creation of the group rules and norms.

↠ Feelings Check: Feelings Check Poster to serve as a visual aid for students to self-reflect on their emotional state at the start of each session.

↠ Self-Assessments: Pre and post group self-assessments to track student growth and make data collection easy!

↠ Outlines: Weekly, easy to follow, outlines with objectives to meet ASCA Standards and Objectives.

↠ Games & Activities: A wide variety of games and activities each week including scoot game, interactive notebook, scavenger hunt, card games, and beach ball toss.

↠ Journals: Weekly journal prompts for self-reflection

Activities Include:

• Scoot Game
• Social Stories
• Matching Game
• Sentence Scramble
• Scavenger Hunt
• "I Have, Who Has?" Game
• Beach Ball Toss
• Task Cards

This group includes an interactive notebook component with each session. Students will build their notebook each week with foldable activities and they can add their journal reflections here as well!

BENEFITING STUDENTS

Each week students will learn self-control skills they can use at home and school to help them take responsibility for their actions. In addition, they will improve their communication skills and learn critical thinking and self-reflection skills.

At a minimum, being in the counseling group allows students to identify and share their feelings, develop self-esteem through participation, and practice empathy while hearing others’ experiences.

SAVING TIME

With easy to implement outlines and activities, this group curriculum is very low-prep. Simply print out each session before students arrive and keep them in a file folder. For tips on how to organize your small groups, check out this blog post I wrote. The self-assessments are a great way to get students to self-reflect on their progress and you can then share this information with teachers, parents, or in your program report.

Who is this Group Designed For?

Calming the Storm is designed for students grades 3-7.