TPC-Journal-V5-Issue4

The Professional Counselor /Volume 5, Issue 4 492 Psychoeducation Program The first author, a school counselor, and two graduate students enrolled in a master’s in counseling program collaborated to develop the STAC intervention. The primary purpose of the intervention is to train peer advocates to recognize bullying and possess the knowledge and confidence to intervene appropriately. The leadership role of the school counselor and the collaborative implementation of the STAC intervention are integral components of school-wide changes and are supported by the themes of the ASCA National Model, which includes leadership, advocacy, collaboration and teaming, as well as systemic changes (ASCA, 2012). The intervention is intended to increase student knowledge, provide skill-building opportunities, and increase confidence, all of which support the ASCA developmental domains of personal/social, academic and career growth (ASCA, 2012) for all students overtime. The STAC intervention is an adaption of the Bully-Proofing CARES strategies (Garrity et al., 2004b). The CARES strategies were modified and the acronym was renamed STAC to accommodate the modifications and provide a simple mnemonic device for students. The first modification provided a strategy that focuses directly on utilizing humor as an intervention. This is important because humor is associated with popularity and social likeability in adolescence (Closson, 2009; Quatman, Sokolik, & Smith, 2000), thus providing students with a positive strategy for establishing themselves within their social hierarchy. Therefore, the CARES strategy “creative problem solving” was modified to “stealing the show” to focus directly on using humor to intervene. The CARES strategies “adult help” and “stand up and speak out” were kept, but renamed “turning it over” and “coaching compassion,” respectively. These strategies were renamed so that a new acronym that included “stealing the show” could be created that would be easy for students to recall. Finally, the CARES strategies “relate and join” and “empathy” were kept, but combined because the researchers did not want to separate empathy from the action of befriending or consoling the target, renaming them “accompany others.” The CARES training also was adapted for school counselors to become leaders in implementation, without relying on teachers instructing the curriculum. Instead, counseling graduate students provided the training, which included a didactic and experiential component. Two counselor education students conducted the didactic component of the training, and six graduate student trainers were available to facilitate the experiential component. The same two students conducted the audiovisual presentation at each school, while a different group of graduate students facilitated the experiential role-play component. However, the number of graduate students present to conduct the program was the same at both schools. There were a total of eight graduate students per training; two to conduct the audiovisual presentation and six to facilitate the role-plays. The two students who conducted the didactic component of the training are the third and fourth authors and helped develop the STAC strategies. The researchers trained the graduate student trainers. More specifically, the two graduate students who conducted the didactic component practiced the audiovisual presentation on their own. Then they presented to the first author and received feedback. The two presenters practiced for a total of 4 hours, one of which was with the first author. The first, third and fourth authors also trained two additional graduate students per grade level who volunteered to facilitate the experiential component. The focus of their preparation was to become proficient with the STAC strategies. Furthermore, the researchers also discussed behavioral management strategies to utilize during the training with the middle school students if necessary. The researchers provided the graduate student volunteers with the STAC strategies and role-plays ahead of time. Then, the researchers met with the additional trainers for 3 hours during two separate meetings. During those meetings, the researchers presented an overview of the STAC training, discussed the STAC strategies and role-plays, and discussed behavioral management strategies for engaging