Providing a Social Emotional Learning Opportunity to Virtual Students Struggling with Social Anxiety: Group Counseling as an Intervention

The purpose of this mixed methods action research dissertation was to offer a social/emotional learning opportunity for virtual students struggling with social anxiety. A six-week group counseling experience was offered to on-campus high school students focused on social anxiety in order to determine is group counseling would be a beneficial intervention strategy for virtual students also dealing with social anxiety. An observer protocol was used to make note of participants responses and physical characteristics related to social anxiety and make reflective notes after each counseling session. Group participants also completed quick-check exit tickets to help the researcher determine the student’s main take aways from the counseling sessions. An optional virtual survey was shared with high school students enrolled in their school district’s virtual program to gather information about their experiences as a virtual student, why they chose to join the virtual program, what kinds of strategies they would be willing to participate in to one day be able to return to the traditional school setting, and their thoughts on returning to in-person school currently. Both qualitative and quantitative data was analyzed which supported the use of group counseling as an appropriate intervention strategy for high school students struggling with social anxiety.