Each edition of our newsletter features a free therapy resource.
Some our our recently featured resources are provided below.
SCHOOL DAYS - UPS & DOWNS
Click on image to view and print board
Target population: Elementary to middle school students.
Rationale: School can be a source of stress for many children. They may not be able to easily articulate the perceptions and beliefs that give rise to feelings of anxiety, anger, and/or discouragement about school-related situations. This activity provides an engaging, non-threatening format for the therapist or counselor to begin to explore the child’s perceptions and beliefs. It can also be used to introduce the concept of cognitive re-framing: that the way one thinks about a situation can influence one’s subsequent emotions and behavior.
Goal:
1) explore experiences, perceptions, beliefs, and feelings regarding school-related issues
2) teach basic cognitive re-framing skills
Pre-requisite knowledge for counselor/therapist:
Some knowledge of cognitive-behavioral therapy for the Think It Over cards.
View and print instructions and cards
View and print game board
Be a Mastermind: A CBT activity to promote calm thinking, cognitive flexibility and mastery of emotions.
Be a Mastermind: A CBT activity to promote calm thinking
Rationale:
An important component of CBT is learning
1) to distinguish between facts and perceptions (beliefs, opinions, guesses, etc.)
2) to then evaluate those beliefs, opinions and guesses: which are helpful and which are not so helpful?
This activity sets the groundwork for developing cognitive flexibility: the ability to "master your mind" and choose the best, most helpful ways of thinking.
Application:: This resource is intended for psychotherapists who already practice cognitive behavioral therapy with children. Its purpose is to provide visual tools to make the concepts of CBT more accessible for children. It contains an in-session activity as well as a take-home component.
Goals: With this activity, the child:
* identifies a stressful or challenging situation
* identifies the emotions experienced
* describes the facts of what happened
* identifies subsequent thoughts/perceptions (opinions, beliefs, guesses, etc.)
* evaluates the thoughts: are they helpful or not?
View and print Be a Mastermind: A CBT activity
An important component of CBT is learning
1) to distinguish between facts and perceptions (beliefs, opinions, guesses, etc.)
2) to then evaluate those beliefs, opinions and guesses: which are helpful and which are not so helpful?
This activity sets the groundwork for developing cognitive flexibility: the ability to "master your mind" and choose the best, most helpful ways of thinking.
Application:: This resource is intended for psychotherapists who already practice cognitive behavioral therapy with children. Its purpose is to provide visual tools to make the concepts of CBT more accessible for children. It contains an in-session activity as well as a take-home component.
Goals: With this activity, the child:
* identifies a stressful or challenging situation
* identifies the emotions experienced
* describes the facts of what happened
* identifies subsequent thoughts/perceptions (opinions, beliefs, guesses, etc.)
* evaluates the thoughts: are they helpful or not?
View and print Be a Mastermind: A CBT activity
Speak from the Heart
This activity helps clients to recognize--and express appreciation for--the goodness in themselves and others.
Rationale: The children that we see in therapy sometimes have difficulty recognizing their own goodness and appreciating their own value as members of the groups to which they belong (family, school, friends, etc.) Likewise, they may not typically stop to think about the goodness of others and the contributions that others make to those same groups. Finally, they may lack experience or comfort in expressing appreciation to other people in those groups. Yet research shows that expressing appreciation improves relationship satisfaction (for both the recipient of appreciation and the person expressing the appreciation) and intensifies the feeling of being connected.
View and print Speak from the Heart instructions.
Rationale: The children that we see in therapy sometimes have difficulty recognizing their own goodness and appreciating their own value as members of the groups to which they belong (family, school, friends, etc.) Likewise, they may not typically stop to think about the goodness of others and the contributions that others make to those same groups. Finally, they may lack experience or comfort in expressing appreciation to other people in those groups. Yet research shows that expressing appreciation improves relationship satisfaction (for both the recipient of appreciation and the person expressing the appreciation) and intensifies the feeling of being connected.
View and print Speak from the Heart instructions.
Click on image at left to print Word Finder.
Template to make your own cards for Mixed Emotions: An Activity for CBT
If you have purchased Mixed Emotions, you can add cards to the game by creating your own. Click on a link below to view and print template:
Option 1: template with lines
Option 2: template without lines
For best results when you print, select Scaling: None on your printer's dialog box
