09/01/2026

Using Counselor-Led Groups to Bridge SEL and Career Readiness in Middle School Settings

By Arthur J. Roman

In middle school settings, career-readiness efforts often emphasize interest and career exploration, self-awareness, course selection, and early postsecondary awareness (American School Counselor Association [ASCA], 2024). While these are important components of career readiness, social and emotional learning can also help students develop the communication, self-management, and collaboration skills needed as they prepare for postsecondary education and the workforce (Collaborative for Academic, Social, and Emotional Learning [CASEL], n.d.-a). For many adolescents, discussing future education and career decisions can contribute to anxiety and uncertainty, particularly concerning academic or occupational failure (Vignoli, 2015). Peer relationships are also relevant to career readiness, as perceived support from friends has been positively associated with adolescents’ career exploration (Turan et al., 2014). School counseling groups can address these interconnected needs by providing a supportive environment in which students recognize shared concerns, strengthen peer connections, manage future-related anxiety, and explore their interests, skills, values, barriers, and possible pathways. In this way, counseling groups can build the social-emotional foundation students need to participate confidently and effectively in career planning.

Connecting SEL and Career Readiness

Social and emotional learning (SEL) and career readiness are closely connected. CASEL identifies five core SEL competencies: self-awareness, self-management, social awareness, relationship skills, and responsible decision-making (CASEL, n.d.-b). When students recognize their strengths, manage emotions, ask for help, consider their options, and set goals, they are also developing skills that support career and future planning.

Research supports bringing SEL into schools. Durlak et al. (2022) found that school-based SEL programs positively affected students’ skills, attitudes, academic performance, behavior, and emotional well-being. Similarly, Green et al. (2021) found that a middle school SEL program strengthened resilience, communication, emotional regulation, decision-making, and problem-solving—skills students need as they begin exploring future pathways.

This connection is also reflected in the ASCA Student Standards, which identify the mindsets and behaviors students need for academic success, college and career readiness, and social-emotional development (ASCA, 2021). From a practitioner’s perspective, coping, decision-making, goal-setting, navigating transitions, and building confidence are not separate from career development; they help create its foundation.

Counseling Groups as a Bridge

Counseling groups can connect SEL and career development through collaborative activities. Through group sessions, students can see firsthand that uncertainty is common and realize that their peers may share similar doubts about their interests, skills, and future planning. Peer support may be especially relevant in this context, as perceived support from friends is associated with adolescents’ career exploration (Turan et al., 2014). Counseling groups offer structured opportunities for listening, discussion, reflection, and self-advocacy.

The use of counseling groups to support career readiness is consistent with social cognitive career theory, which highlights that career development is shaped not only by access to information but also by self-efficacy, outcome expectations, environmental supports, and goals (Lent & Brown, 1996).  Within counseling groups, these components can be reinforced through students' reflections on their own strengths, awareness of supports, consideration of potential barriers, and taking meaningful action steps toward their goals. For students who might feel hesitant to discuss plans individually, the group setting can make career exploration feel more accessible. When students are offered different ways to participate, groups can create a sense of safety while still encouraging students to reflect and grow.

Considerations for Group Facilitation

Effective career-focused groups should be led by school counselors who understand group process and possess the facilitation skills needed to establish safety, balance participation, and respond to group dynamics (Pyle & Hayden, 2015). Counselors should also anticipate ethical questions involving confidentiality, informed consent, developmental readiness, cultural responsiveness, and students’ sharing of personal information, using professional standards, consultation, and structured ethical decision-making when concerns arise (Makela & Perlus, 2017).

Career-focused counseling groups should be developmentally appropriate and flexible based on students’ ages, needs, and readiness. ASCA recommends providing developmentally and age-appropriate connections to careers and the world of work (ASCA, 2024). School counselors should consider the following strategies:

• Establish norms for psychological safety. Set clear expectations for respectful listening and responding supportively to others’ goals. Structured turn-taking and multiple ways to participate can prevent more vocal students from dominating the discussion, help quieter students engage comfortably, and reduce the likelihood that a student’s goals or uncertainty will be dismissed or judged.
• Begin with self-awareness. Before introducing career information, help students identify their interests, strengths, and values. For example, a “Connecting My Strengths” activity can help students connect a personal strength to a current activity and then to a possible career cluster, major, or job.
• Match the content to students’ readiness. Middle school students may benefit from exploring their interests, strengths, values, and possible pathways. Older middle school students may also be ready to discuss high school course selection, career clusters, and early postsecondary possibilities (ASCA, 2024).
• Normalize uncertainty and changing interests. Peer discussion can help students recognize that doubts about the future are common. Perceived support from friends is also associated with adolescents’ career exploration (Turan et al., 2014).
• Address barriers and supports. Students can be encouraged through small actions; have them identify one future goal, one possible barrier, one person who could provide support, and one action step. This reflects social cognitive career theory’s emphasis on self-efficacy, environmental supports, barriers, and goals (Lent & Brown, 1996).
• Offer different ways to participate. Discussion, partner activities, mind maps, and private reflection can make groups accessible to students with different communication styles.
• Use inclusive examples and assess outcomes. Activities should consider culture, family expectations, disability, access, and differences in opportunity. Brief pre- and post-surveys can help counselors measure changes in students’ attitudes, knowledge, or skills.

From Groups to Growth

Career readiness is more than helping students choose one path. It involves building self-awareness, decision-making, goal-setting, emotional regulation, self-advocacy, and confidence. Counselor-led groups can provide a practical bridge between these SEL skills and future planning. Through peer connection, reflection, and structured activities, students can recognize that uncertainty is common while exploring their interests, strengths, values, supports, barriers, and possible pathways.

Effective groups should also reflect students’ developmental needs, experiences, and readiness. By offering different ways to participate and using inclusive, practical activities, school counselors can make career exploration more accessible and meaningful. The goal is not for every student to leave with one permanent answer. Instead, students can leave with stronger skills, greater confidence, and a clearer understanding of how to take the next step toward a future aligned with their values.

References

American School Counselor Association. (2021). ASCA student standards: Mindsets & behaviors for student success: K–12 college-, career- and life-readiness standards for every student. https://schoolcounselor.org/getmedia/7428a787-a452-4abb-afec-d78ec77870cd/Mindsets-Behaviors.pdf 

American School Counselor Association. (2024). The school counselor and career development [Position statement]. https://www.schoolcounselor.org/Standards-Positions/Position-Statements/ASCA-Position-Statements/The-School-Counselor-and-Career-Development 

Collaborative for Academic, Social, and Emotional Learning. (n.d.-a). SEL and workforce preparation. https://casel.org/fundamentals-of-sel/how-does-sel-support-your-priorities/sel-and-workforce-preparation/ 

Collaborative for Academic, Social, and Emotional Learning. (n.d.-b). What is the CASEL framework? https://casel.org/fundamentals-of-sel/what-is-the-casel-framework/ 

Durlak, J. A., Mahoney, J. L., & Boyle, A. E. (2022). What we know, and what we need to find out about universal, school-based social and emotional learning programs for children and adolescents: A review of meta-analyses and directions for future research. Psychological Bulletin, 148(11–12), 765–782. https://doi.org/10.1037/bul0000383 

Green, A. L., Ferrante, S., Boaz, T. L., Kutash, K., & Wheeldon-Reece, B. (2021). Social and emotional learning during early adolescence: Effectiveness of a classroom-based SEL program for middle school students. Psychology in the Schools, 58(6), 1056–1069. https://doi.org/10.1002/pits.22487 

Lent, R. W., & Brown, S. D. (1996). Social cognitive approach to career development: An overview. The Career Development Quarterly, 44(4), 310–321. https://doi.org/10.1002/j.2161-0045.1996.tb00448.x 

Makela, J. P., & Perlus, J. G. (2017). A case study approach to ethics in career development (2nd ed.). National Career Development Association.

Pyle, K. R., & Hayden, S. C. W. (2015). Group career counseling: Practices and principles (2nd ed.). National Career Development Association.

Turan, E., Çelik, E., & Turan, M. E. (2014). Perceived social support as predictors of adolescents’ career exploration. Australian Journal of Career Development, 23(3), 119–124. https://doi.org/10.1177/1038416214535109 

Vignoli, E. (2015). Career indecision and career exploration among older French adolescents: The specific role of general trait anxiety and future school and career anxiety. Journal of Vocational Behavior, 89, 182–191. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jvb.2015.06.005 

Arthur J. Roman, LAC, MA, MHA, is a school counselor and psychotherapist in New Jersey. His professional and research interests include school-based mental health, social-emotional learning, career development, and counselor-led Tier 2 interventions that promote adolescents’ academic, emotional, and developmental growth. His work focuses on connecting counseling practice, student development, and coordinated systems of support. Email: artroman15@gmail.com.