As a school counselor, we work with students who struggle with negative self-talk, feel overwhelmed when things go wrong, or feel out of control in their daily lives. They want things to go differently, but figuring out what to do in a difficult moment can be hard.
How do we help them navigate those moments while still moving forward?
Time with students is limited, and I want each session to feel useful. I want students to feel heard and leave with something they can try. For middle schoolers especially, that next step needs to feel manageable.
That is where WOOP can fit into individual school counseling. It helps students connect something they want with a plan for what might get in the way.
What is WOOP Goal-Setting?
WOOP is a research-based goal-setting approach that stands for Wish, Outcome, Obstacle, and Plan. It guides students through choosing a meaningful goal, imagining a positive outcome, identifying an internal obstacle, and deciding how to respond.
The process includes time to think and imagine—not just fill in four boxes.
- Wish: What do I want to accomplish? Choose something meaningful, challenging, and possible.
- Outcome: What would be the best result? Take a moment to imagine what that would look or feel like.
- Obstacle: What thought, feeling, or habit within me might get in the way? Imagine when it might show up.
- Plan: What could I do when that obstacle appears? Create an “If ___, then I will ___” response.
The plan connects an obstacle the student recognizes with a response they can use. That connection is an essential part of WOOP.
In a study of 77 fifth graders, Duckworth and colleagues (2013) found that students taught to connect desired outcomes with obstacles and if–then plans improved their grades, attendance, and conduct compared with a positive-thinking group. Students received approximately three hours of training, so the findings support teaching and practicing the strategy, not expecting one worksheet to produce those results.
WOOP in Individual Counseling: A Student Example
One student I meet with regularly struggles with low self-esteem and becomes overwhelmed frequently. This was an ongoing concern we were working through together, so we had opportunities to connect our conversations to situations that mattered to her and were causing her to be dysregulated in class.
One of those situations was the school play. She had a lead role and wanted to do well, but thinking about all the lines she needed to memorize felt overwhelming.
We used WOOP to work through it:
- Wish: She wanted to “nail her lines.”
- Outcome: She would feel proud to be a lead in the play and represent the drama club well.
- Obstacle: Thinking about how much she had to memorize all at once left her feeling overwhelmed.
- Plan: If she became overwhelmed by the amount she had to do, she would divide the lines into sections and focus on them on specific days.
She planned to focus on Act II on Monday and Tuesday and an ending section on Thursday and Friday. Breaking the memorization into scheduled sections has been helpful for her. It gives her a smaller part to focus on instead of approaching all the lines at once.
A useful refinement would be to have that schedule ready before she feels overwhelmed. Her response could then be: “If I feel overwhelmed thinking about all my lines, then I will look at my schedule and practice the section planned for today.”
That also gives us something specific to revisit during our regular meetings. Does the section feel manageable? Does it need to be smaller? What happens when she tries to use the plan?
This example does not tell me that WOOP has resolved her low self-esteem or frequent overwhelm. It shows how the approach has been helpful with a particular challenge while we continue our work together.
Helping Students Use Goal-Setting Plans Between Sessions
The play example highlights something important about using WOOP: the response needs to fit the student’s actual situation.
A WOOP goal-setting worksheet can organize the conversation and give students a plan to return to. Start with one meaningful goal, help the student identify an obstacle, and choose a response they can realistically use. Before ending the session, ask them to explain their if–then plan in their own words.
When you meet again, ask:
- Did the obstacle come up?
- What did you try?
- What helped, and what needs to change?
If the student did not use the plan, explore what made it difficult. They may not have noticed the obstacle in time, remembered the response, or had the support they needed. That information helps you decide what to practice or adjust together.
Small wins give you something specific to recognize. A student might notice the overwhelming thought sooner, try one planned section, or ask for help getting started.
It is also important to distinguish an internal obstacle from a barrier that requires adult action. If work is inaccessible or support is unavailable, a student’s plan cannot replace our responsibility to help address that need.
Tracking Student Progress and Connecting WOOP to ASCA Standards
Following up on the plan also creates an opportunity to check what the student is learning and using.
WOOP connects naturally with ASCA Student Standard B-SMS 6: Ability to identify and overcome barriers. Students practice recognizing an obstacle and choosing a response that fits.
For the student preparing for the play, I could check whether she can explain her plan, whether she uses it when overwhelm shows up, and whether the practice sections need adjusting.
A simple check-in could record:
- Whether the obstacle occurred.
- Whether she used her planned response.
- Whether she started the section she intended to practice.
These would be possible next steps for gathering information, rather than results I have already collected. Over time, recording the same few details could help us see patterns and make decisions together.
A completed worksheet shows that a student created a plan. Follow-up information helps us understand whether that plan works in daily life. Connecting an identified need, a targeted skill, and assessment reflects the ASCA National Model’s emphasis on purposeful service delivery and evaluating effectiveness.
Helping Students Turn Goals Into Manageable Steps
Students will still encounter difficult tasks, discouraging thoughts, and unexpected setbacks. WOOP gives them a structure for thinking ahead about those moments.
For the student preparing for the play, that meant breaking a meaningful goal into practice sections she could approach. For another student, the response may look different.
My purpose is to help students leave counseling with a next step they understand and can try. When we meet again, we can use what happened to decide where to go from there.
If you’d like to try goal setting with your students, our free goal-setting worksheet is a simple place to start. Our Tier 1 goal-setting bundle offers additional activities to bring goal-setting practice into your classroom lessons.
-Melissa
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