For my school counseling group, I am developing and leading a group on the topic of "Friendship" with six to eight sixth grade female students. These students were pre-selected for membership and mentioned concerns about friendship skills; how to create and maintain friendships and how to avoid gossip and “drama.” These students were selected for pre-screening based on the needs assessment completed by the internship site supervisor, which will be discussed in the next section. Based on my review of available and current literature on the topic of adolescent relationships, I will use Relational-Cultural Theory (RCT) as the conceptual framework for my school counseling group. The emphasis of this framework that has been used in groups with female adolescents for similar topics includes the importance of power and relationships with others. I will use this framework to understand the issues at play in the group and also to develop techniques to help resolve them within an eight week period. To assess student needs, my site supervisor had already introduced himself to each class of sixth graders to review what his role is with the students and discuss what types of services he can provide to them. She then asked each student to complete a survey with open-ended questions asking what individual services students might need help with (e.g., organization, friendship, etc.) or groups they might want to join (e.g., bullying, friendship, pain, etc.) and comments on other ways the school counselor could help them. Each student had a form made for themselves with their name at the top, and they were told they didn't have to write anything if they didn't want to, but she still kept each form for...half of the paper......teen concepts gifted. The Journal of Secondary Gifted Education, 17(2), 65-75. Shectman, Z. & Katz, E. (2007). The therapeutic bond in a group as an explanatory variable for the progress in social competence of students with learning difficulties. Group Dynamics: Theory, Research, and Practice, 11(2), 117-128. DOI:10.1037/1089-2699.11.2.117 Srsic, A., & Rice, E. H. (2012). Understanding the experiences of girls with EBD in a gender-sensitive support group. Child Education and Treatment, 35(4), 623-646. Tucker, C., Smith-Adcock, S., & Trepal, H. C. (2011). Relational-cultural theory for middle school counselors. Professional School Counseling, 14(5), 310-316. Wigfield, A., Lutz, S. L., & Wagner, A. L. (2005). Early adolescent development in the middle school years: Implications for school counselors. Professional school counseling, 9(2), 112-119.