The authors evaluated a small-group counseling intervention, Student Success Skills, provided to 53 inner-city, 4th- and 5th-grade African American students. Compared with the control group, students who received the treatment reported significant changes in metacognitive skill and feelings of connectedness to school. Furthermore, treatment-group…

The purpose of this study was to examine animal assisted therapy (AAT) in the school setting. This study reviewed the potential social, emotional, and educational benefits that children and adolescents may gain from utilizing an animal assisted therapy dog. This study utilized The Relationship Inventory and The AAT (Animal Assisted Therapy)…

Group counseling has been highlighted as one effective intervention for at-risk students, yet debate remains as to the comparable efficacy of traditional interventions versus thematic interventions. This study compared two psychosocial educational programs, the PEGS and ARK Programs, designed to help elementary school students with social skills…

A systemic approach was used to modify school climate in a study involving a boy with stereotypically feminine behaviors. School psychology students held a series of group counseling sessions on alternate weeks with a class of four 11-year-old fifth grade boys to promote the acceptance of diversity. At the beginning of the school year, a great…

This article describes a group counseling intervention promoting academic achievement and ethnic identity development for twenty fifth grade African American elementary students. The Multigroup Ethnic Identity Measure (MEIM) scores of students participating in the treatment group improved significantly over those in the control group. Implications…

Concepts of process and content as they apply to psychoeducational group work in schools are explored in this study. Eight scholars in the field of group work defined and identified instances of process and content in psychoeducational groups. Content analysis and descriptive statistics were used to analyze these data. The culmination of this…

The early years of school provide opportunities for active learning, including developing habits of resiliency and perceptions of self-worth. Girls in particular may be at risk for developing negative self-perceptions. This article presents a pilot group (psychoeducational and counseling) designed to educate members about pre-adolescent…

The effectiveness of group sandtray therapy, a model of play therapy, was evaluated using a pretest-posttest control group design with 56 preadolescents exhibiting behavioral difficulties. The experimental group (n = 28) received sandtray therapy in small groups for 10 weeks while the wait-list control group (n = 28) received no treatment. Results…

This study involved the replication of previously reported research examining a school counselor-led intervention using a structured group counseling approach aimed at improving the academic and social competence of elementary and middle school students. The goal of this replication was to strengthen support for the intervention while contributing…

School counselors can use groups as an effective and efficient means of helping students. Psychoeducational groups provide information and build skills to help prepare students for developmental tasks. As students complete elementary school, these preadolescents face the challenging tasks of moving to middle school and beginning puberty. School…

This article describes a study evaluating the impact of school-counselor-led interventions on student academic achievement and school success behavior. A group counseling and classroom guidance model called student success skills (SSS) was the primary intervention. The focus of the SSS model was on three sets of skills identified in several…