ABSTRACT GROUP LEADERSHIP OF EXPERIENCED MIDDLE SCHOOL COUNSLEORS by Robert E. Rice Middle school students experience biological, cognitive, and social changes as they struggle with identity formation, self-concept, self-esteem, and academic success. Psycho-educational groups are an effective and efficient method for confronting social/emotional or academic problems that prohibit middle school students from performing well in schools. An essential component in the successful counseling of middle school groups is the skill and experience of the group leader. Research on school-based groups has focused on all areas with the exception of group leadership. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to explore how experienced middle school group leaders approach and conduct psycho-educational groups. This qualitative study uses a grounded theory methodology to investigate the practices, experiences, and perceptions of fourteen middle school counselors. The theory that emerged is grounded in the data from the participants and represents how they were able to conduct small groups in schools despite barriers many other school counselors experienced. Through educational leadership, relationship building, and an understanding of the systems at work in schools, these participants were able to establish a group program in their schools. The participants in this study also reveal the experiences they used to develop their skills as group leaders. The results of this study may have important implications to middle school counselors, researchers, and counselor educators in understanding the group and educational leadership skills needed to conduct effective groups in a middle school setting.

Made available in DSpace on 2016-06-02T19:46:04Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 2397.pdf: 698224 bytes, checksum: 7ce1123d029ba03759695333be6642bb (MD5) Previous issue date: 2009-03-16 / Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais / Dementia involves the loss of cognitive functions, interfering with the execution of even the most basic tasks of everyday life. Family eldercare providers are central figures in guaranteeing the wellbeing of their elderly relatives who develop dementia. However, when such a person becomes dependent on other family members, in addition to an increase in the caregiver s domestic chores, the behavior problems that arise can have a negative impact when caregivers are not well prepared for this situation, making the caregivers more susceptible to depression and contributing to the deterioration of their own physical and psychological wellbeing, making the caregiving context even more difficult. The objective of this study was to analyze the effects of psycho-educational support groups (PEG) for people caring for a relative with Alzheimer s disease (AD), associated with individual, home visits that were either training-oriented (Experimental Group EG) or listening-oriented (Control Group CG) in nature, with respect to the participants perceptions of burden, depressive symptoms and quality of life. The nine participants were randomly assigned to either the EG and CG. The EG participants received encouragement and assistance in operationalizing the concepts learned in the PEG, which addressed strategies for managing stress and depression and provided training in some of the social skills that are useful in establishing new routines (praise, constructive criticism, and asking for help). The CG received visits of the same duration, bus focused only on listening. The participants were interviewed about their situation, but did not receive individual assistance in operationalizing the strategies presented in the PEG. At the end of the first phase of the intervention, each group received the other type of home-based intervention. The data were analyzed using nonparametric tests (Mann-Whitney and Wilcoxon). The psycho-educational groups were effective in transmitting information, but did not reduce the caregivers perceptions of burden, reporting of depressive symptoms or change their quality of life ratings. After the caregivers received the training-oriented home visits (TV), their perceptions of burden significantly decreased and their quality of life ratings increased. The listeningbased visits had no significant effects on the caregivers. Six months later, an analysis of the follow-up measures indicate that improvements in perceptions of burden, frequency of depressive symptoms and quality of life scores were maintained by those who experienced the PEG coupled with TV. In conclusion, it is clear that professionals who offer orientation programs for family members caring for elderly relatives who have AD should further invest in evaluating the influence of home visits that focus on assisting these caregivers in adjusting their managerial and coping strategies, so as to increase our knowledge of how to blend group-based and individual psycho-educational supports in order to maximize the effects of such interventions. / A demência se caracteriza pela perda de funções cognitivas, comprometendo a execução normal das mais simples tarefas da vida diária. Os cuidadores familiares são pessoas chaves para garantir o bem-estar do seu familiar idoso com demência. Mas, além do aumento da carga de tarefas domésticas que ocorre quando um idoso se torna dependente, os distúrbios de comportamento do idoso dementado provocam um impacto negativo na vida dos cuidadores quando estes não são bem orientados. Isso os tornam mais vulneráveis ao desenvolvimento de quadros depressivos o que contribui para a deterioração de suas próprias condições físicas e psicológicas, complicando ainda mais a tarefa de cuidar. O presente trabalho teve como objetivo analisar os efeitos de um grupo psico-educacional (GPE) para cuidadores de idosos com doença de Alzheimer (DA), associado com um atendimento domiciliar individualizado que tinha como característica uma intervenção terapêutica com o cuidador (Grupo Experimental GE) ou a simples escuta deste (Grupo Controle GC). Os efeitos investigados incluíram as percepções dos participantes de burden, sintomas de depressão e qualidade de vida. Os nove participantes foram alocados aleatoriamente no GE e GC. No GE, os participantes receberam incentivo e suporte na operacionalização de conceitos aprendidos no GPE, os quais envolveram o manejo do estresse e da depressão e o treino de algumas habilidades sociais que são úteis no estabelecimento de rotinas novas (elogios, críticas construtivas e pedir ajuda). O grupo controle recebeu visitas com a mesma duração, mas focando apenas a escuta. Os participantes responderam a um roteiro de entrevista sobre sua situação, sem receber apoio individual na operacionalização das estratégias tratadas no GPE. Após a conclusão da primeira fase da intervenção, cada grupo recebeu o outro tipo de visita domiciliar. Análises feitas com os testes não-paramétricos Mann-Whitney e Wilcoxon mostraram que os grupos terapêuticos psico-educacionais foram eficazes para passar informação aos cuidadores, mas não aliviaram a sobrecarga ou afetaram a pontuação destes cuidadores nas medidas de sintomas depressivos ou qualidade de vida. Porém, quando os cuidadores obtiveram acompanhamento terapêutico individualizado, houve uma diminuição significativa do burden e um aumento da qualidade de vida. As visitas focando a escuta não levaram a nenhuma alteração por parte dos cuidadores. Os sintomas depressivos não foram afetados imediatamente por nenhum tipo de intervenção. Seis meses após o término das intervenções, foi feita outra avaliação (follow-up) a qual mostrou que a associação entre GPE a VTD foi efetiva na manutenção das melhorias nos escores de burden, depressão e qualidade de vida. Conclui-se que os profissionais que oferecem programas de orientação a cuidadores de idosos com demência deveriam investir mais na avaliação dos efeitos de visitas domiciliaras para ajudar cuidadores no aperfeiçoamento de suas estratégias de gerenciamento e enfrentamento do estresse e da sobrecarga. Assim, poder-se-ia conhecer melhor estes efeitos da combinação de grupos psico-educativos e de visitas domiciliares individualizadas, o que por fim, poderia ajudar a maximizar o potencial de impacto das intervenções com cuidadores de idosos com DA.