Volume_4_Issue_5_Digest

TPC D igest 87 Patricia Van Velsor, NCC, is an associate professor at San Francisco State University. Ulash Thakore- Dunlap is a licensed marriage and family therapist at Richmond Area Multi-Services, San Francisco. Correspondence can be addressed to Patricia Van Velsor, Department of Counseling, BH 524, 1600 Holloway Avenue, San Francisco, CA 94132, pvanvels@sfsu.edu . A ccording to data published in 2012 by the Asian American Federation and South Asian Americans Leading Together, the South Asian American population was the fastest growing major ethnic group in the United States from 2000–2010. As the South Asian population grows, counselors must meet the needs of the South Asian students in their schools. One way to deliver services to South Asian youth is through group counseling. Group work can provide a place for students to develop connections to other students in their schools who share similar experiences. Additionally, within group counseling, South Asian youth can explore their identities as they negotiate their home cultures and the mainstream American school culture. When one counselor, this article’s first author, noticed a lack of services for the South Asian immigrant youth in her school, she decided to form a group for these students. She created a group structure for topics related to being a South Asian girl in a U.S. school, navigating dissimilar home and school cultures, and shaping identity through media messages. In this article, the counselor shares perceptions from her experience facilitating the girls’ exploration of these topics. She describes what surprised her; for example, because her background was similar to the girls’, she did not expect to encounter difficulties in recruiting for the group. Additionally, she highlights what she expected; for instance, she anticipated that the group members would want to have in-depth discussions about the difficulties of straddling two cultures. The counselor’s perceptions are interlaced with information about South Asian culture to enhance the reader’s understanding. The first author offers recommendations for working with South Asian youth in groups based on her own reflections as well as information from the literature. Before conducting a group Group Counseling with South Asian Immigrant High School Girls: Reflections and Commentary of a Group Facilitator – DIGEST Ulash Thakore-Dunlap Patricia Van Velsor