In the Group Counseling and Group Work core area, CACREP emphasizes the counselor’s ability to design and facilitate preventive and psychoeducational group interventions, especially in school settings.

For elementary school students who witness bullying, the primary need is often:

Understanding what bullying is,

Learning appropriate bystander behaviors (how to report, how to support peers), and

Developing social-emotional skills and empathy.

Group psychoeducation is developmentally appropriate and efficient for:

Teaching many students at once about bullying,

Normalizing their experiences as witnesses,

Practicing skills (role-plays, discussions) in a safe, structured group environment.

Not B (Individual counseling): May be appropriate for specific students in distress, but it is not the best first-line method for a general group of witnesses.

Not C (Conduct an assessment): Assessment may be part of the process, but the question asks for the best method for working with these students, which focuses on intervention.

Not D (Determine the need for a referral): Referrals are indicated when specialized services are needed; they are not the primary method of working with a broad group of witnesses.

Thus, providing group psychoeducation (A) is the best method in this context.