This is a tool that helps children and teenagers begin the process of understanding emotional identification and expression. By drawing and linking physical responses to emotions, it will hopefully help them have a better understanding of their feelings and give them space to choose the appropriate coping strategies or corrective responses to situations.
This is a great tool to introduce a child to teletherapy services while both building rapport and introducing basic emotional expression.
Assertive Communication Activity: Assertive communication (rather than passive, aggressive, or passive-aggressive) is the ideal communication style to advocate for ourselves while still showing others respect. Many people find that they shift into patterns of ineffective communication when under stress, or in different contexts (for example, assertive at work, but passive with family and passive-aggressive with spouse). Go over the following handout with your client and explore when they utilize assertive communication and in what emotional situations/contexts they fall into less-effective communication styles. Explore what it might be like for client to practice assertive communication in one of these contexts.
For the next week, do 1 thing every day from this list of 176 activities. Notice which activities you gravitate towards, and notice how incorporating these events into your daily life affects your mood, relationships, and thoughts
Sometimes it is hard to understand why we react the way we do when we have big feelings. This video is a great way to teach children as a clinician or a parent how emotions can be linked to reactions, and it can help open conversation about what kinds of reactions they might be having as a child.
Kids are experiencing a variety of confusing emotions right now (as are adults!). Use the worksheet below or have clients draw out their own Feelings Heart on paper. Have the child choose a few emotions, and the therapist choose a few emotions to use in their heart. Ask the child to color in their heart using colors to represent how much of each emotion is in their heart right now. Normalize all of their emotions!
This is a cognitive defusion exercise that allows clients to practice mindfulness and acceptance of their thoughts and feelings.
This imagery is helpful for temporarily containing difficult emotions and thoughts so one can function better in daily life.
Progressive Muscle Relaxation is an effective way to release pent-up stress and tension that the body is holding, perhaps without you even realizing that it’s there. It is a way to become more mindful of when the body is building tension.
Media is a major stressor. This script (that reads like an exercise) helps its readers and listeners to engage more consciously with media. It is a mindfulness practice different than formal meditations. However, it offers us deeper insights into the way we engage with technology.
