How to Support Young People to Embrace Self-Awareness in a Group Setting

By Olivia Stirling (Research Assistant)

Do you work with young people, or maybe you’re a parent/caregiver of an adolescent? Have you ever wondered how self-awareness, typically seen as a personal introspective process, can actually be developed within a group setting? It might seem counterintuitive, but our experience shows that group-based formats can be incredibly effective for fostering self-awareness.

This blog post explores the general principles of supporting self-awareness in groups, drawing on lessons learned from implementing our new school-based group intervention, ReSET, to give you some key takeaways that can be used by anyone hoping to support young people to embrace self-awareness!

Key takeaway 1: Consider, explore and embrace the potential ‘barriers’ faced by young people trying to engage with the group…

We can probably all relate to how daunting it must be for these young people to be placed in a room with 9 other 12–14-year-olds, some of whom you barely know, along with an adult facilitating the session – who might not even be from your school. On top of that, you’re asked to talk about topics that might be completely new or feel quite personal, all while navigating this group of people you’re still figuring out!

“At the beginning it was a bit like.. everyone was shy and awkward. Then as the group kept on going, everyone used to get more comfortable with everyone there.”

To effectively support young people in developing their self-awareness within a group setting, it’s crucial to explore and embrace the potential barriers to engagement they might face. While we anticipated some of these challenges in the creation of the ReSET programme, further exploration and embracing them during the group sessions has been essential. Here are some of the challenges young people commonly have faced when engaging with ReSET, and how the group is structured to address them:

Social anxiety or nerves around being vulnerable about quite personal difficulties or being in a group setting.

1-to-1 sessions before the first group meeting to familiarise the young person with one of the facilitators.

“Because you’ve got a 1-to-1 with one of the people there, so then you can kind of warm up to them and feel more comfortable in the group.”

In the first session, the group members together establish the group rules which aim to create a safe and supportive environment. These rules emphasise respect, confidentiality and non-judgement and typically help alleviate those initial anxieties the young people may arrive with.

“You don’t need to be as nervous as you think you’re going to be, because it’s not scary, at first it might be, but then you get comfortable in the group”

Overall, we have observed that young people, perhaps unsurprisingly, are very adaptable. Through setting group rules and quickly understanding, through discussions, that other young people have had similar experiences or face similar challenges, they usually become comfortable opening up in the group within the first few sessions.

Emotional literacy or having the right words to explain themselves.

Young people often struggle to articulate their feelings, something which might have in part caused the difficulties they faced prior to joining the group.
This difficulty, coupled with concerns about being vulnerable with their peers, can prevent young people from sharing their own examples or difficulties with the group, or from expressing when they don’t understand the session content.

“So like before the group I never really liked speaking, I feel like through the group as you have to answer like loads of questions, it made me more confident to speak up and stuff like that.”

Some facilitators have also found using tools like emotion wheels helpful in the group to support young people to express themselves effectively.

“It was probably just all the strategies, really, … it was like quite easy to sort of pick up.”

Reflecting on their own behaviour or difficult interactions.

To know when it would be helpful to use different strategies, reflection is key – however this in itself is a skill that the young people oftentimes need support to build during the ReSET sessions.
Young people can struggle to explain the nuances of how they felt before a situation, what led them to feel negatively after the exchange, and how they felt and dealt with those emotions afterwards. Understanding these nuances is crucial for developing better coping strategies and overall self-awareness.

“It showed that like I wasn’t the only one. Being not the only one, it showed that you can reach out for help and something.”

Key takeaway 2: Create the right environment…

The almost ‘over-arching’ basis of ReSET is that it’s less about teaching and more about ‘shared learning’ and ‘guided peer-to-peer sharing’. This approach really helps young people take collective ownership of the group and influences how successful each session will be.

In order to build a space where the young people feel able to engage in decisions, bring their own difficult interactions and overall play a role in group dynamics, certain elements we have used in the ReSET intervention have been key.

Shared learning: key concepts and new strategies are typically introduced by activities and understanding is cemented through group discussions and roleplays.

“…it was good, cos I got closer to them now, we’re friends. If something would happen we would like help each other. And that we got more confidence in that, just like, got more confidence to talk out loud and tell more people your stories.”

Peer-to-peer sharing: once they are comfortable to, the young people are encouraged to bring their own experiences to the group, reflect on their personal situations with the groups’ support, and give advice to one another. This is found to better cement the young people’s understanding of the content and fosters meaningful support of one another.

“I think at first it was kind of scary, but once you, like, get to know the people, it’s kind of like, ‘OK, it’s just kind of talking to some of my mates’.”

Relatable support: having a group of peers highlights the common difficulties faced by all group members, encouraging the young people to be more open with their own difficulties. This format promotes the young people supporting one another to be more aware of others and themselves.

“It just it gave me quite a bit more confidence in like myself. And like it made me feel like- like I wasn’t alone, there was other people, like, sort of going through the same thing.”

Key takeaway 3: Use ‘accessible’ and ‘digestible’ resources that are well-integrated into the content…

While there is psychoeducation involved in ReSET, it focuses on teaching the ‘Me and We Strategies’ using common phrases and very little ‘novel’ language. The strategies are ‘taught’ by introducing them within contexts of how they might be helpful to improving potentially difficult interactions (for example, asking a parent if you can spend more time on your game console). This approach makes learning feel less formal and more like shared discovery.

“Yeah, there was like this pizza breathing method. Like it really helped. I know it helped a lot in the group as well. It was just so simple to remember and stuff.”

Additionally, group members are each provided with their own ‘Young Person Toolkit’ as well as ‘Strategy Cards’ which they can keep after the group concludes to help them continue to apply what they’ve learned. Both resources are designed to be portable and easy to use, the ‘Strategy Cards’ in particular were designed to fit into blazer pockets and were laminated and put onto a keyring to be more accessible and durable. The ‘Young Person Toolkit’ includes all key concepts and strategies taught during ReSET as well as the 1 or 2 goals that were set by the young person before the group sessions began for them to refer back to.

By integrating these accessible and digestible resources into the content, young people can more easily embrace self-awareness and apply the strategies in their daily lives.

“The thing is I just put them [the strategy cards] in my blazer.”

Key takeaway 4: Revisit content & skills again but from different angles…

In ReSET, the final four sessions of the programme focus on ‘bringing it all together’, allowing flexibility around the session content, depending on the needs of the group members. This approach ensures that young people can revisit content and reinforce their new skills from various perspectives.

Roleplays: Initially, roleplays are based on fictional scenarios to build confidence. As sessions progress, young people bring their own examples of interpersonal difficulties. They script and roleplay these scenarios, first without strategies to see potential pitfalls, then with strategies to practise successful interactions.

“I like the techniques and how they explained it and how we did like the [role]plays and that.”

Parental involvement: Mid-group sessions with parents or guardians provide another opportunity for young people to explain strategies and practise them in a supportive environment.

“I think it was very beneficial because my mum got to hear about how well I was doing in the groups, and … how much I was learning about all the things we’re learning, like all the wellbeing scale, the strategies, the breathing exercise, everything. My mum was very happy to hear everything that happened, and I was very proud. I got to tell my mum that I’m doing so well.”

Subtle check-in methods: Tools like the Group Session Rating Scale (GSRS) allow facilitators to subtly check young people’s understanding of the content session-by-session.

“I do use a lot of them things we learnt about…like when something bad happens, I just think about it from the other persons point of view. Or before I say something, I think about what they’re actually like, feeling or thinking, right now, too.”

Flexible final sessions: Without a strict manual, the final sessions are adaptable to the needs of the group members. This flexibility ensures that the content remains relevant and impactful.

By revisiting content from different angles, ReSET ensures that young people can fully grasp and apply the skills they learn, leading to more meaningful and lasting self-awareness.

In conclusion, prioritising self-awareness and awareness of others can have a profound impact on a young person’s overall wellbeing. While the concept of self-awareness in a group may not sound intuitive, this blog post described how group based interventions can be used to support young people to reflect on their interactions and how they affect those around them. By addressing potential barriers to successful engagement, creating the right environment, providing accessible resources, and revisiting content, we can support young people in developing these crucial skills.

The theme of this year’s Place2Be Children’s Mental Health Week (3^rd-9^th February 2025) is: Know Yourself, Grow Yourself. The UK Charity hopes to encourage young people to further develop their self-awareness and learn how better understanding ourselves, better prepares us to tackle life’s ups and downs.

If you haven’t already, go read the two other blogs we’ve posted this week for Children’s Mental Health Week:

You can also check out the content we have been creating for our social media channels this week by following us any of the following platforms:

Twitter (now X): @ReSET_Project_

BlueSky: @resetproject.bsky.social

LinkedIn: ReSET Project