The children in this group all have problems in school and in social situations where they tend to not want to interact with other students, or they would just rather be by themselves. The group sessions will be based on self esteem. This is due to the fact that a lot of the articles related to alienated children point out that self- esteem must be fully developed in order for children to adjust and lead a healthier more integrated life. One of the main things pointed out was that it is not the job of counselors to change an introvert into an extrovert, because one is not better than the other. The job of the counselor is to help the introverts have more confidence in themselves and interact more aggressively.

Objectives:
To build rapport among group members, to produce minimal self disclosure among members and to develop goals and plans for the next sessions.

Materials:
Pens, index cards, blank paper, and list of guidelines.

General Procedures:
1. Start with having a name game where every student has to say their own name plus the names of all of the members sitting to their right.
2. Guidelines, procedures, and goals are read to the group members, with every member agreeing to adhere to them.
3. Pass out an index card to each student and have each student write something on the card about themselves. The group    members are told that they can write something about the way they feel in school or the things they like to do. Then the group facilitator reads out each card one by one and each group member attempts to guess which member said that statement. After the students have guessed the member that the information pertains to, that person tells the group it was them.

Processing:
Did you have any hesitation in revealing some things about yourself?
Do you think that other people feel as you do?
Were there any things that other people mentioned that surprised you?

Objectives:
To find a definition of alienation that suits each group member, to help show each member that other members feel the same way they do and to build trust and cohesion among group members.

Materials Needed:
Pen, paper, traffic cones, and a watch.

General Procedures:
1. Start session with a refresher on every group members name and one thing they mentioned about themselves.
2. Do an activity where every group member has to walk around the room by themselves and then you tell them they each have to go stand by one of the cones. Then you eliminate one cone with a member standing by it. Then you tell the members that they are not allowed to stop at a cone with one of the members they were with before. This continues until eventually most of the members can't stand with someone else by a cone. Then you keep on eliminating someone at each cone until only one cone and one person are left.
3. Next you process the experience and discuss possible implications to real world experiences of alienation (Beam).

Processing:
Did you want to join in with some of the other members?
What could you have done differently in the game to not feel so vulnerable?
Have there been any experiences in your life that make you feel vulnerable or alone like you did in this game?
Could you name some words that you feel would describe the way you feel when you are by yourself, whether alone by  your own choice or because you have to be?
 

Objectives:
To develop a higher level of self disclosure, to find out what each group member feels is the definition of a healthy person, to show that other group members also feel they lack those same elements and to have each group member receive emotional support while they reveal these things.

Materials Needed:
Piece of paper, marker, fake money, and a list of good qualities in people.

General Procedures:
1. Start out the group by bringing up any topics that need to be discussed that were brought up in the last session.
2. Have each member write down on a piece of paper what qualities they feel that other people that don't feel as alienated as themselves have.
3. Discuss why these qualities seem so important.
4. You start this activity by telling each member that they will be given 1,000 dollars. On a list in front of them are qualities that they could buy at an auction. They can only spend the money they have. They have to make sure that they buy the ones that they feel they need the most.

Processing:
Did you find that the qualities that you said were found in people that are not alienated were the same qualities that you tried  to buy?
How did it feel to try to buy these qualities?
Do you feel like you could obtain these qualities in other ways besides for paying for them?
Do you think that having these qualities will help you interact more with others?

Objectives:
To help the members see how it would feel to be who they wanted to be. Also, to help each member receive feedback from other group members on being this “better” person.

Materials Needed:
Articles that other people wrote about important things for being a healthy person, a list of the qualities that each student found were important qualities in the auction, paper, and a pen.

General Procedures:
1. Start out by reading each of the qualities that were mentioned in the auction as being important for each member to have and discuss any issues related to this.
2. Then read the articles that other people wrote on important qualities of healthy people (Schillinger, & Cavusoglu).
3. Then start an activity where each student has to role play for the rest of the session. The role playing should have the students pretend they have these qualities and they are the person they want to be.

Processing:
What did it feel like to be the person you want to be?
Did you feel like you wanted to interact more with others when you were this person you wanted to be?
How hard do you think it would be on a scale of 1 to 10, with 1 being real easy and 10 being real hard, to be this person on  a daily basis?
Do you think you can come up with any ideas for yourself or others on how you could be that person on a daily basis?
 

Objectives:
To show each member that they have their own special qualities, to help each member get positive feedback from other members and to help each member see that maybe some of these good qualities that they desire are already present.

Materials Needed:
Pen, paper, and a marker.

General Procedures:
1. Discuss last sessions role play and ask if they have given it any further thought.
2. Have an activity where each member is focused on in turn and all of the other members have to tell this member some of  the qualities or things that they noticed this member has
3. Discuss any issues that come up and find out how each member feels about the activity.

Processing:
Where you surprised at some of the qualities other people mentioned that you have?
Were there any other qualities that you feel were missed or forgotten about yourself?
How does it feel to have other people compliment you like that?
 

Objectives:
To get productive feedback from others, to improve on communication skills, to value their own  personal uniqueness and to desire interaction with others.

Materials Needed:
Paper and pen.

General Procedures:
1. Discuss last session and find out if they thought of themselves any differently after the activity.
2. Discuss how each person is unique in their own way and can contribute something in some way to any group.
3. The activity will require that the group facilitator choose a task that the group has to complete together (the task can be to build something together or to role play a family or work environment). Each group member has to contribute something to the group. Each group member can choose from a list of tasks that have to be performed, or they can choose their own task that they feel will contribute to the group goal.
4. Discuss with the group about how each member contributed and how they worked together.

Processing:
Do you feel that you were able to contribute to the group in a valuable way?
Do you feel like you have some useful qualities now more than you did before?
Do you think that if there was a group activity in school that you would be able to contribute in the same way?
Are there any suggestions for one of the group members about how their own qualities could be used in groups at school?

Objectives:
To see how it would feel to interact more productively, to experience the role-play first in a friendly atmosphere before having to experience the real world, and to receive feedback on your success.

Materials Needed:
Chair, scripts of situations encountered, paper, and pen.

General Procedures:
1. Do an activity where you have each student role play a situation that they might encounter in the future that has to do with the sessions on alienation that just took place.
2. Have each student role play their own feelings and thoughts, and talk about what they would do in this situation.
3. Have the same student move to another chair. While in the other chair, the student role plays what he thinks the feelings and thoughts would be of the other person involved in this situation.
4. Have the student discuss how he might apply this situation and the way he will deal with it in his future encounters and in similiar situations.

Processing:
How did it feel to play both yourself and the other person?
Did you find that it was really hard to think like the other person and try to understand what they were feeling?
Do you have any suggestions for the group members on how to handle that situation differently?
Do you think that when you interact with others from now on that you will try to understand what they are thinking more than you would have before?
 

Objectives:
To have each member think of a plan or schedule of a number of interactions that they will try to initiate, give feedback to each member on the positive things they discussed, and to leave the group with positive feelings.

Materials Needed:
Paper and pen.

General procedures:
1. Discuss how each member feels they might be able to use what they learned from this group in their life (Nelson).
2. Have each member write down and discuss several interactions that they plan on initiating when they leave group.
3. Take turns having each member receive feedback from the group members.
4. Have each member make one final statement about what they learned and how they feel.

Processing:
How do you feel your future interactions will go?
Are there any final comments that you would like to make to one of the group members?
What do you think is the most valuable thing you learned?

Bearn, C. & Wang, K. (2001). Coping With The Uglies. Family Life, 3, 37-38.

Cavusoglu, H. (2001).Self-Esteem In Adolescence. Pediatric Nursing, 27,355-362.

Nelson, T.L. (2001). Tracking, Parental Education, and Child Literacy Development.Georgetown Journal on Poverty Law
& Policy, 8, 363-376.

Schillinger, D. (2002). Boost Your Students Self-Esteem. American Fitness, 20, 40-44.

Sharma, V.& Mavi, J. (2001). Journal of Social Psychology, 141, 723-730.
 
 

Larry Cohen, LICSW: http://www.socialanxietyhelp.com/myapp.htm

Romantic Relationship Workshop: http:// www.utexas.edu/student/cmhc/clearinghouse/TI078.html

Self Esteem In the Information Age: http://www.vix.com/objectivism/Writing/Na…randen/SelfEsteemInTheInformationAge.html

The Building Self-Esteem Program: http://www.ravens.net/grs/index.html

The Self-Esteem:  Institute: http://www.theselfesteeminstitute.com/AboutSelfEsteem.html