PUBLICATIONS
My Talk with Teens Books
For well over a decade, my two Talk with Teens books (1993, 1995, Free Spirit Publishing) have been used across the country by middle and high schools, alternative schools, mental-health agencies, treatment centers, “Y” groups, 4-H clubs, churches. and even families. Both counselors and laypersons, including teachers and youth leaders, are using them for guidance about small-group processes and also as guidance curriculum. They are ideal in advisor-advisee programs in middle schools for enhancing communication skills and for helping young teens find commonalities with their peers. They can be used for groups geared to special concerns at many grade levels, and, in order to be useful with students as young as fourth- and fifth-graders, vocabulary can simply be adjusted. The focused-discussion format fits well with the current developmental, prevention-oriented emphasis in school counseling. Each book contains about 20 copy-ready activity sheets, and each also contains an extensive “how-to” introduction.
In 2006, the two books were restructured, revised, and made into one volume, geared to general-population middle-school students, although certainly useful for high school students as well. The extensive introduction serves as a rare short course in school-based or community-based prevention-oriented small group work.
Peterson, J. S. (2007). The essential guide to talking with teens: Ready-to-use discussions for school and youth groups. Minneapolis: Free Spirit.
A second book, using a similar format, but focused on working with gifted adolescents and providing considerable information about social and emotional development as related to giftedness, will be published in the fall. The toll-free ordering number is 1-800-735-7323.
Peterson, J. S. (2008). The essential guide to talking with gifted teens: Ready-to-use group discussions about identity, stress, relationships, and more. Minneapolis: Free Spirit.
For those of you who might be interested in how the groups began, and in some of my initial observations related to the social and emotional concerns of students with high ability, I recommend the following article:
Peterson, J. S. (1990). Noon-hour discussion groups: Dealing with the burdens of capability. Gifted Child Today, 13(4), 17-22.
For information about how I have applied the basic discussion-group concept in work with gifted students, I recommend the following:
Peterson, J. S., Betts, G., & Bradley, T. (2007). Small groups as a component of affective curriculum. In Olenchak, R. (Ed.) Social and emotional development of gifted children: What can we do? National Association for Gifted Children/Prufrock Press. Manuscript submitted.
Peterson, J. S. (2003). In- and out-of-school discussion groups to support emotional development. In M. Bergsgaard & K. W. McCluskey (Eds.), Celebrating diversity (pp. 45-53). Winnipeg, CN: University of Winnipeg Education Center.
Peterson, J. S. (2000). Preparing for college—Beyond the “getting in” part. Gifted Child Today Magazine, 23, 36-45.
Peterson, J. S. (1997). Bright, troubled, and resilient, and not in a gifted program. Journal of Secondary Gifted Education, 8, 121-136.
Peterson, J. S. (1996). The breakfast club: Poetry and pancakes. Gifted Child Today Magazine, 19(4), 16-19, 49.
Peterson, J. S. (1993). What we learned from Genna. Gifted Child Today, 16(1), 15-16.
Colangelo, N., & Peterson, J. S. (1992). Group counseling with gifted students. In L. Silverman (Ed.), Counseling the Gifted and Talented (pp. 111-129). Denver: Love.
The idea for the books came during my work with a program for gifted students in a fairly large high school. I decided to include an affective option in the multi-dimensional program I directed, and the “discussion groups” quickly developed into the most popular program component. Approximately 115 students per week attended the 10 noon-hour groups (two groups were scheduled per day). When I decided to put the well tested topics into print, the emphasis was on the general population, even though almost all topics remained appropriate for high-ability students as well. Developmentally oriented discussion is greatly needed for all developing teens.
Regularly meeting small discussion groups can help gifted-education teachers, either alone or co-facilitating with school counselors, proactively attend to social and emotional concerns of high-ability students. Small groups can be used for the prevention of social and emotional problems and for the support and encouragement of healthy child/adolescent development. Three articles which are related to prevention-oriented attention to affective concerns in high-ability students bridge the fields of gifted education and school counseling:
Peterson, J. S., & Wachter, C. A. (2007). Understanding and responding to concerns related to giftedness: A study of CACREP-accredited programs. Manuscript submitted for publication.
Peterson, J. S. (2006). Addressing Counseling Needs of Gifted Students. Professional School Counseling, 10, 1, 43-51.
Peterson, J. S. (2003). An argument for proactive attention to affective concerns of gifted adolescents. Journal for Secondary Gifted Education, 14, 62-71.
My research has been largely practitioner-oriented and related to work in the schools. I continue to research and write about high-ability populations who are not often studied, often not identified for gifted programs, and generally nonstereotypical. My focus is usually on the social and emotional development of gifted children and adolescents. I often bridge the fields of gifted education and school counseling in both research-based and conceptual articles.
Peterson, J. S. (2002). Underachievers: Students who don’t perform. In J. Smutny (Ed.), Underrepresented groups in gifted education (pp. 307-332). Cresskill, NJ: Hampton Press.
Peterson, J. S. (2001). Successful adults who were once adolescent underachievers. Gifted Child Quarterly, 45, 236-249.
Peterson, J. S. (2000). A follow-up study of one group of achievers and underachievers four years after high school graduation. Roeper Review, 22, 217-224.
Nonmainstream Children with High Ability
Peterson, J. S. (1999). Gifted—through whose cultural lens? An Application of the Postpositivistic Mode of Inquiry. Journal for the Education of the Gifted, 22, 354-383.
Peterson, J. S., & Margolin, L. (1997). Naming gifted children: An example of unintended “reproduction.” Journal for the Education of the Gifted, 21, 82-100.
Peterson, J. S. (2007). A 10-year longitudinal study of negative life events, stress, and academic performance of gifted youth. Manuscript submitted for publication.
Peterson, J. S., & Ray, K. E. (2006). Bullying and the gifted: Victims, perpetrators, prevalence, and effects. Gifted Child Quarterly, 50, 148-168.
Peterson, J. S., & Ray, K. E. (2006). Bullying among the gifted: The subjective experience. Gifted Child Quarterly.
Peterson, J. S. (2001). Gifted and at risk: Four longitudinal case studies. Roeper Review, 24, 31-39.
Parenting Gifted Children and Adolescents:
Peterson, J. S. (2005, June). Parents as models: Respecting and embracing differences. Parenting for High Potential, 12-15, 30.
Peterson, J. S. (2002, December). A counselor’s perspective on parenting high potential. Parenting for High Potential, 18-28, 30.
Counseling Gifted Individuals:
Peterson, J. S. (in press). Strategies for counseling gifted children and adolescents and their families. In C. Callahan & J. Plucker (Eds.), What research says about . . .: An encyclopedia on research in gifted education, Washington, DC: National Association for Gifted Children.
Peterson, J. S. (2006). A module for training school counselors. Ohio Department of Education. (In connection with a national Javits grant for training school personnel to work with gifted students)
Peterson, J. S. (in press). Focusing on where they are, not where we think they should be. In Olenchak, R. (Ed.) Social and emotional development of gifted children: What can we do? National Association for Gifted Children/Prufrock Press.
Peterson, J. S., Betts, G., & Bradley, T. (in press). Small groups as a component of affective curriculum. In Olenchak, R. (Ed.) Social and emotional development of gifted children: What can we do? National Association for Gifted Children/Prufrock Press.
Peterson, J. S. (in press). Strategies for counseling gifted children and adolescents and their families. In C. Callahan & J. Plucker (Eds.), What research says about . . .: An encyclopedia on research in gifted education, Washington, DC: National Association for Gifted Children.
Peterson, J. S. (in press). Consultation related to giftedness: A school counseling perspective. Journal of Educational and Psychological Consultation.
Peterson, J. S. (2007). A developmental perspective. In S. Mendaglio & J. S. Peterson (Eds.), Models of counseling gifted students. Waco, TX: Prufrock.
Peterson, J. S. (2006). Preparing administrators and counselors to respond to secondary-level gifted students. In F. Dixon & S. M. Moon (Eds.), The handbook of secondary gifted education. Waco, TX: Prufrock Press (pp. 649-671).
Peterson, J. S. (2006). Addressing counseling needs of gifted students. Professional School Counseling, 10, 1, 43-51.
Sal Mendaglio and I co-edited a book which includes several international clinicians' perspectives and techniques related to counseling gifted youth:
Mendaglio, S., & Peterson, J. S. (2007). Models of counseling gifted children, adolescents, and young adults. Austin, TX: Prufrock.
Teaching and Consultation in Counselor Education:
Peterson, J. (2007). Hearing their voices: Graduate students and research subjects on the platform. In J. van Swet, P. Ponte & B. Smit (Eds.), Postgraduate Programmes as Platform: A Research-led Approach. Rotterdam: Sense Publishers.
Peterson, J. S., & Deuschle, C. (2006). A model for supervising school counseling students without teaching experience. Counselor Education and Supervision, 45, 267-281.
Mendaglio, S., & Peterson, J. S. (2005). What counselors bring to qualitative research. Manuscript submitted for publication.
Peterson, J. S., Goodman, R., Keller, T., & McCauley, A. (2004). Teachers and non-teachers as school counselors: Perceptions of the internship experience. Professional School Counseling, 7, 246-255.
Peterson, J. S., & Littrell, J. M. (2002). Creating partnerships: A key counselor capability. Dimensions in Counseling: Research, Theory and Practice, 39, 22-26.
Littrell, J. M., & Peterson, J. S. (2002). Establishing a group work program in an elementary school: An in-depth case study. Journal for Specialists in Group Work, 27, 161-172.
Peterson, J. S. (2000). Constructing the course of human development. In McAuliffe, G., C. Lovell, & Erikson, K. (Eds.), Constructing Counselor Education (pp. 170-194). Alexandria, VA: Association for Counselor Education & Supervision with Donning Publishers.
Littrell, J. M., & Peterson, J. S. (2001). Facilitating systemic change using the MRI problem-solving approach: One school's experience. Professional School Counseling, 5, 27-33.
Littrell, J. M., & Peterson, J. S. (2001). Transforming the school culture: A model based on an exemplary school counselor. Professional School Counseling, 4, 310-319.
Peterson, J. S., & Littrell, J. M. (2000). A school counselor creates a problem-solving culture. International Journal of Educational Reform, 9, 311-320.
John Littrel and I co-authored a book on our ethnographic study of Claudia Vangstad, a remarkable Oregon school counselor who transformed the culture of her school. The Peterson and Littrell articles above are based on that study.
Littrell, J. M., & Peterson, J. S. (2005). Portrait and model of a school counselor. Boston: Houghton Mifflin/Lahaska Press.
Last, in addition to the above, are the following works, which relate to counseling techniques for working with children and adolescents.
Peterson, J. S., & Servaty-Seib, H. (in press). Focused, but Flexible: A developmental approach to small-group work in schools. In H. L. K. Coleman & C. Yeh (Eds.), Handbook of School Counseling.
Peterson, J. S. (2006). Immobile, moving slowly, moving forward: Youth in transition. Asian Journal of Counseling, 13, 163-194.
Peterson, J. S. (2004). Individual counseling practice. In A. Vernon (Ed.), Counseling Children and Adolescents (3rd ed.) (pp. 31-64). Denver: Love.
Servaty, H. L., & Peterson, J. (2003). Notifying individual students about the death of someone close: A study of common practices in schools. Death Studies, 27, 167-186.
Peterson, J. S., & Servaty-Seib, H. (2003, January/February). The school counselor's role in death notification. ASCA School Counselor, 22-23
Peterson, J. S. (2003). Group Resistance: "OK. You can lead the group next week." In L. E. Tyson & J. Whitledge (Eds.), Critical incidents in group work. Alexandria, VA: American Counseling Association.