SMALL GROUP CURRICULUM

Name of Group: Pobodys Nerfect

Focus of Group: The students at Walter Payton College Prep are high
achieving and have a large focus on academics. School administration has
very high expectations for their students. The school culture is competitive
and there are strong desires to be perfect and to be the best. Teachers and
administrators have noticed that students are less likely to take academic
risks or exhibit creativity because of the fear of failure. Data has been
shared with us that state that managing parental pressure is an issue for
sophomore students at Payton: 37% of students agree or strongly agree with
the statement I believe that my loved ones expect me to be perfect. In
addition, 88% of students often or sometimes worry that they will disappoint
their parents or guardians if they do poorly in school. Managing parental
pressure and expectations is clearly a struggle for sophomore students at
Payton. In sum, the data shows that sophomore students at Payton struggle
with perfectionist tendencies. These tendencies are problematic because it
puts students at higher risk for stress, eating disorders, depression and
performance anxiety. Students are also failing to see the bigger picture;
perfectionist teens tend to not grow from failures or demonstrate resilience,
which is essential life skills for success in college and beyond.
Goal: The goal of this small group is to address the worries and perfectionist
tendencies that sophomore students at Payton have. This group will teach
the members of the group different coping mechanisms to contest their
perfectionist tendencies.
Number of Students: The target number of students in the group is eight
to twelve. The school faculty and staff or their sophomore counselor can
refer students to the group.
Grade Level: This small group is open for sophomores only. This group has
been structured so that sophomore students have an opportunity to discuss
their anxiety and perfectionist tendencies. Sophomores at Payton are often
not given as much attention by the counseling department and the
department is working to create more programming and outreach for
sophomore students.
Adult Leader: A licensed professional school counselor who is familiar with
the challenges and stresses that the sophomore students experience.
Number of Sessions: There will be four sessions. The group will meet
every Wednesday from 12:00PM to 1:00PM during their lunch periods. The
first session will begin on January 20th and the last session will be February
10th.

ASCA National Standards for Students:

Personal/Social:
PS: A1.5 Identify and express feelings
PS: A2.6 Use effective communication skills
PS: B1.4 Develop effective coping skills for dealing with problems
PS: B1.5 Demonstrate when, where and how to seek help for solving
problems and making decisions
PS: C1.6 Identify resource people in the school and community, and know
how to seek their help
PS: C1.10 Learn techniques for managing stress and conflict
PS: C1.11 Learn coping skills for managing life events
ASCA School Counselor Competencies:
IV-B: Abilities and Skills
IV-B-1d. Develops materials and instructional strategies to meet student
needs and school goals.
IV-B-3a. Lists and describes interventions used in responsive services, such
as individual/small-group counseling and crisis response. IV
IV-B-3c. Demonstrates an ability to provide counseling for students during
times of transition, separation, heightened stress and critical change.
IV-B-4c. Develops a list of community agencies and service providers for
student referrals
IV-C-3. School counselors engage in developmental counseling and shortterm responsive counseling.
Materials:
Informed Consent
Group Agreement Form
Pens and Paper
Pretest
Posttest
Description of Group:
Session 1: Understanding perfectionism and how each student manifests
their perfectionism on an individual basis.
Pretest: Have students take pretest as a benchmark for their growth
and development throughout the small group.

What is Perfectionism? : Perfectionism in teenagers is accompanied by

an extreme fear of failure, and therefore, a diminished willingness to
think creatively. Perfectionists are less resilient and less able to
respond well to constructive criticism. Perfectionists consider
themselves unacceptable unless they meet impossibly high self-

imposed standards; their creativity and innovated spirit is stifled

because of this.

Activity: Students will make a pros and cons list on perfectionism in

their life. How has it helped you? How has it hurt you?

Discussion: If you only focus on what you get at the end, there will
inevitably a next achievement and therefore one never experiences
anything but a temporary sense of satisfaction, losing sight of the rich
experiences to be gained along the way, and exhausting oneself on the
hamster wheel of perfectionism. As a group, discuss achievements that
students are proud of. Take the time to acknowledge their
accomplishments. Next, talk about a time when students failed. How
did that feel? What sort of self-talk did they engage in? What did they
learn? (If there is only a focus on what you gain in the end, one will
never experience anything but temporary satisfaction and constantly
be seeking to continue to be perfect).

Relevant Data:
o 42% of the sophomore students surveyed agreed or strongly
agreed with the statement I hesitate to take academic risks or
be creative because I do not want to fail.
o 58% of students agree or strongly agree with the statement,
Being average is a terrible thought for me.

Session 2: Explore academic perfectionism.

Discussion 1: Have students explore how to manage the pressure from
their parents/guardians. What are ways that students can talk to their
parents/guardians about setting realistic expectations? Role-play this
for practice.

Discussion 2: Discuss how students define success academically;

explore how some students only focus on the grade.

Challenge: Students at Payton are notorious for comparing grades on

tests, which feeds into the notion of being the best and comparing
yourself to others. Challenge students to not compare grades for the
next week. Students should be prepared to talk about their experience
with this in the next enrichment.

Relevant Data:
o 91% of students often or sometimes feel stressed when they do
not do as well as they could have on an assignment or exam.
o 42% of the sophomore students surveyed agreed or strongly

agreed with the statement I hesitate to take academic risk or be

creative because I do not want to fail.
o 37% of students agree or strongly agree with the statement I
believe that my loved ones expect me to be perfect.
Session 3: Explore personal perfectionism.

Comparing themselves to others is one of the most damaging things

that teenagers can do to their self-esteem. Often times, we are our
own harshest critics. Perfectionism can cause depression and anxiety
as well as reduced feelings of self-worth and even eating disorders.

Discussion 1: Explore automatic thoughts and their influence on

feelings and behavior so members understand the power of self-talk.
Challenge students to talk back to those automatic thoughts, images
and assumptions. Encourage them to test the reasons and the purpose
of what they are saying to themselves. Brainstorm as a group ways
that members can break the chain of automatic thoughts.

Discussion 2: Gender Role Satisfaction: Compare thoughts on how male

and female students experience body image differently and the role
their gender plays in their self-image. Explore the role of gender
stereotyping.

Relevant Data:
o 56% of sophomores worry about what others think of them.
o 54% of sophomores often or sometimes compare their physical
appearance to others.

Session 4: Explore different strategies and coping mechanisms to contest

perfectionism.
Strategies: Dont take it personally, know when to quit, match the time
commitment to the value of assignments, set goals and focus on
improvement, studying the lives of eminent people and enjoying the
journey.

Discussion: How will you implement these strategies in your life? Which
strategies stand out to you as something that could work? What other
strategies do you use already in your life that could help with the
negative effects of perfectionism.

Students will take post-test to better understand if and/or how this

enrichment was successful for the students.

Plan for Evaluation:

Process Data: Eight to twelve sophomore students will meet once a week for
four weeks.
Perception Data: 100% of students will be able to list three coping
mechanisms to contest perfectionist tendencies and stress. There will be a
pretest and a posttest to determine if the criterion is met.
Outcome Data: The percentage of students who agree with the statement
the possibility of making a mistake makes me worried will lower from 78%
to 50%, which will be a 28% decrease.
Follow up: Two weeks after the group ends, the school counselor will follow
up with the school administration and teaching staff to review the outcome
of the small group curriculum. We will use the results to drive data for future
interventions.