Think Smart Programme For Young People

Second Edition (2009)
The first addition of this book was authored by Rod Booth at Clarity Insight Ltd Clarity, 2008 The second edition is a revised and updated version carried out by Penney Upton and Dominic Upton from the Psychological Sciences Unit at the University of Worcester, 2009
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording or any other information, storage and retrieval system, without the prior written permission of the authors. Contact: Val Chapman, University of Worcester
The Thinksmart Programme for Young People Content

Introduction: The Thinksmart approach
Page
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Session 1: Getting Started, Getting To Know You & Setting Goals

- Introductions, setting goals & expectations, establishing rapport, Self Assessment 1, group rules & contract
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Session 2: Thoughts, Feelings & What You Do

- The magic circle of thoughts, feelings & behaviours
28 39 57 71
Session 3: Identifying Thoughts & Types of Thinking

- Thinking errors, automatic thoughts & balanced thinking
Session 4: Controlling Your Thoughts

- Testing your thoughts & positive self-talk
Session 5: How Do You Feel?

- Identifying what feelings you have - Feelings & what you think & do
Session 6: Controlling Your Feelings

- Identifying helpful & unhelpful feelings - Learning to relax & be in control of how you feel
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Session 7: Why Do We Do What We Do?

- Identifying & understanding your actions and behaviours - How what we do affects how we feel
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Session 8: Changing Our Behaviours

- Positive activities & behavioural experiments - Choosing how to feel by picking the right behaviour
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Session 9: Learning to Solve Problems

- Learning to cope and manage problems more effectively - Learning the value of consequential thinking
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Session 10: Final Evaluation

Where were you at the beginning? Where are you now? What are the key differences? What can you do next to keep improving? Preparing for life & work setting your own goals Self Assessment 2 Evaluation of the Thinksmart programme
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Introduction: The Thinksmart Approach
Overview of the Thinksmart Programme

The Thinksmart programme is a personal development programme which is underpinned by sound psychological theory and techniques. The intended outcomes for the young people who participate in the programme include: improved emotional well-being, learning to manage anxiety during exams, and to feel more confident. Thinksmart is intended to be delivered systematically as a programme supported by a coach or mentor, referred to as a facilitator. The programme has been designed for use on a group basis.
Structure of the Programme

The essential focus of the programme is to foster and support the building of: Team working and collaboration with others Communication and interpersonal skills Self-Discovery and awareness Cognitive, coping and problem-solving skills Ability to manage and control emotions and behaviours A sense of self-confidence and positive self-esteem
Each of these elements is built into the structure of every session, with skills and coping strategies developing in a systematic way over the duration of the 10 week programme. Thinksmart is facilitated as a structured programme, with a core component of 10 group coaching sessions. These sessions will be a mixture of fun, appropriate activities or games and educational materials. Group participants are involved in written exercises, discussions, role play and creative activities. All will be encouraged to be autonomous in completing the exercises, interact with others, share experiences and work with each other in a way that helps the development of social skills and self-confidence.
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The first session sets goals for the programme, and aims to help the participants get to know each other and develop rapport with the facilitator, whilst reducing any anxiety or worry. Each of the subsequent sessions introduces a new topic or idea which builds upon previous information and learning. The pace is generally designed to be quite fast, with lots of information and activities covered in a short space of time. This style is designed to raise both the momentum and motivation of both group participants and facilitators. Each topic has a brief explanatory section that provides a concrete and understandable summary of the key issues. Illustrations and practical examples provide a way of relating the materials to issues and problems with which the young person may be familiar. The explanatory section can be photocopied and used as a handout, or it can be used to structure the session. The facilitator can then emphasise and focus on those issues that are most relevant for the participants, tailoring the sessions accordingly. A series of worksheets accompany each section, to help participants apply the information to their own particular difficulties. The worksheets provide examples of how the concepts can be conveyed, and are intended to be used flexibly and adapted by facilitators, based on their own experience. In keeping with best practice the group facilitator should aim to work in collaboration with the participants. A scientific, evidence-based approach to problem solving is also recommended to maximise effectiveness. It is also recommended that facilitators keep a record of each individuals activities, performance, attitude and re quired actions after each session using the Individual Recording Sheet for Facilitators, which can be found at the back of this workbook. In addition, a Home Activity Feedback Sheet is provided for each
session in order to monitor progress and development in home activities.
Recruitment
Recruitment to the programme will be voluntary, and follows the definition of the target group below. It is generally advised to inform all possible participants perhaps at an assembly, inviting young people programme. Those interested complete a simple questionnaire giving their name and reason for wishing to take part. Consultation with staff and Programme Managers or Outreach Workers would follow, with a group of approximately 5-6 young people per facilitator chosen. (NB. Groups of 6-8 tend to be the most effective scale for working with older children and adolescents) to involve themselves in the
Definition of Target Group

The target group will be learners aged 13-14 currently at school, who may have low self-esteem, and who appear to be disengaged and demotivated, yet have the potential to achieve given the appropriate support mechanisms.
Setting
This will clearly be defined by available facilities. It is recommended that a consistent, quiet and private setting is identified and remains the setting for the group throughout the programme, promoting a sense of security.
Time Planning
In simple terms, the more time given to each individual session, the more the participants will benefit. A minimum of one hour per week (or
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the equivalent of one lesson in a school timetable), should be required, although best practice suggests the optimum session would be 2 hours. This provides time to reflect on the previous weeks home activity, complete all the exercises and discuss forthcoming activities.
Support Materials
Each facilitator is provided with a master copy of all the materials and exercises for each session. In addition, participants will have their own personal workbook. Participants can also add their own home activities or other assignments, creating a personal portfolio of work.
Home Activities and the Involvement of Parents or Carers

Homework is a common and successful formula to cement progress and support change. Thus between- session home activities will be given at the end of each session, being briefly reviewed at the beginning of the following week. These activities will be backed by the content of the session. Unlike school or college work, home activities are voluntary and participants complete them only if they choose to, promoting autonomy and self-discipline. It is of course complete the extra work. There is increasing research that suggests involving parents or carers in such programmes may increase the benefits and manage potential difficulties. Parents and carers can contribute by supporting and encouraging the participant, or allowing them to practice new skills or behaviours at home. They can also be encouraged to reinforce the young person and work with them in planning for and addressing problems encountered. explained that participants are more likely to get more from the programme if they
Confidentiality
In the introductory session, participants are informed about confidentiality. If at any point in the programme a young person, parent or carer raises issues regarding the safety of themselves or others (abuse, self-harm, substance abuse, etc); facilitators are advised to record the information given and follow the Duty of Care procedures agreed for the Thinksmart programme. It is critically important that all participants feel safe in the group, or they are unlikely to share personal information. Confidentiality should be respected at all times throughout the programme, with group rules discussed in the introductory session. Any breaches of confidentiality can be addressed openly at the next session, often without naming the person involved.
Methods Used in Thinksmart

The methods which underpin the Thinksmart approach are based on sound psychological theory and practice. This evidence based programme draws on the principles of cognitive behaviour theory (CBT), an approach which aims to give people the skills to think, act and feel positively. It acknowledges the link between what we think and feel and how we behave. Thus real life issues such as poor school performance may be directly linked to unhelpful or irrational beliefs about the self (e.g. I cant do school work), others (e.g. teachers dont expect me to do very well) and the world (e.g. university isnt for people like me). Thinksmart therefore uses a range of approaches aimed at helping young people change their thinking (cognitive interventions), behaviour (behavioural intervention) and feelings (affective interventions) to be more positive and rational. The different types of intervention used are outlined in more detail below. However, an important component of the programme involves teaching participants about the link between Thinking, Feeling and Behaviour in order to explore and test their cognitions and to learn alternative
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cognitive and behavioural skills. This process involves developing a clear and shared understanding of the relationship between the vicious cycle (or Magic Circle in Thinksmart) of thoughts, feelings and what we do, with the underlying causes and triggers. To achieve this, it is important to begin by defining the problem. The Aimhigher Project Manager, Helen Dowdeswell, has created a visual tool called My House (see session 1) which helps make this complex process to be simply illustrated in a meaningful way for the participants. Representing the problem through a familiar object such as a house and its environment enables creative and personalised activities to be created. My House can also be used as the format of a final creative and self evaluative activity that the participants present back to their peers, friends, teachers and families.
Intervention Terms
There are a number of terms you are likely to encounter as you begin to learn about the intervention programme and these are briefly defined for you below:
Cognitive Interventions
Thought Monitoring
Common cognitions and patterns of thinking are assessed and recorded. Hot thoughts (those producing a strong emotional response), are labelled and explained.
Identification of Unhelpful Cognitions

Thought monitoring provides an opportunity to identify common negative or unhelpful cognitions which results in an increased awareness of the nature and type of cognitive distortions and unhelpful thinking.
Thought Evaluation and Development of Alternate Cognitive Processes

The identification of unhelpful cognitive processes leads to systematic testing and evaluation leading to the development of
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alternative skills. This encourages a process of balanced thinking or cognitive restructuring, such as: Looking for new information Thinking from an alternate perspective Developing consequential thinking Assessing contradictory information This evaluation will provide an opportunity to develop alternative, more balanced and helpful cognitions.
Learning New Cognitive Skills

These skills will include distraction, positive self-talk, selfinstructional training, consequential thinking and problem solving skills, and is a core focus in both sessions and home activity work.
Affective Interventions
Emotional Education
Emotional education is designed to identify and distinguish core emotions such as anger, anxiety or unhappiness. Physiological changes usually associated with emotions, such as a dry mouth or sweaty hands, are explained.
Emotion Monitoring
Monitoring strong emotions can help to identify times, places, activities or thoughts that are associated with unpleasant feelings. Rating scales can be used to rate the intensity of emotions to provide a way to monitor performance and assessing any change.
Emotion Management
An awareness of emotional patterns can lead to the development of preventative strategies such as balanced thinking.
Behavioural Interventions
Target Setting and Activity Scheduling
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Goal setting is a core activity within Thinksmart and overall objectives are mutually agreed and assessed. The achievement of specified targets is regularly reviewed and will provide an overview of progress. Targets may include increasing activities that will produce positive emotions or rescheduling to prevent or minimise activities associated with unpleasant emotions. The transfer of skills from session to real life is encouraged by the systematic use of assignment tasks and practice.
Behavioural Experiments
Guided discovery will test and challenge thoughts and assumptions, providing evidence which can be evaluated and tested. Experiments can determine whether what happens is similar or different to what was predicted, aiding insight and awareness.
Exposure
A process of graduated exposure designed to master difficulties is often used. Starting with the least difficult, exposure follows steps in a hierarchy (either live or in imagination), with easier, win -win experiments being built on over a gradual progressive programme of exposure. Continued exposure also helps to prevent habitual and unhelpful responses re-occurring, aiding relapse prevention, for example, avoiding certain events to prevent anxiety.
Role Play, Modelling and Rehearsal

This provides an opportunity to practice dealing with difficult or challenging situations, either live or in-session. It enables positive skills and alternate solutions to be learned and practiced safely. The process of observing others modelling appropriate behaviours or skills can result in new behaviours being rehearsed in role play or imagination before being practised in real life.
Reinforcement and Reward

Positive reinforcement of any appropriate behaviour is a cornerstone of the Thinksmart programme. External reinforcement from others is
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important, particularly for younger people, with authority figures such as parents, helpers, carers and teachers. Self-reinforcement is also a key area of learning, with re-balancing of negative thinking and positive self-talk taught within the programme.
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Session 1: Getting Started, Getting to Know You & Setting Goals
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Overview Activity-based worksheets include; Remembering Names and Getting to Know the Group. These first steps are key elements in establishing the framework of positive reinforcement, collaboration and support within the programme. Allowing the group to discuss, negotiate and agree their own rules is self-reinforcing and starts the process of empowerment and ownership, critical to successful outcomes. The exercises Who Am I? and Character Sketch initiate the process of self-reflection, as well as encouraging the group to get to know each other. The home activity includes two self report measures, the Personal Checklist and Rosenbergs Self Esteem Scale (SES). The Personal Checklist enables a participant to assess and self-monitor shifts and changes in thinking and feeling towards self and others. It also enables evaluation of behavioural shifts. The SES consists of 10 statements related to overall feelings of self-worth or selfacceptance.. Good reliability and validity has been demonstrated across a large number of different sample groups. These assessments are used at the start and end of the programme to assess progress.
Session Aims and Objectives

Enable group members to get to know each other in order to form a collaborative self-supporting group Agree some group rules and set boundaries Set some goals and objectives for the programme Introduce the Thinksmart learning journal Have fun!
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Session Plan
Welcome participants and share agenda for session with group Introduction to the course Getting to know each other. Includes activities designed to enable group members to get to know each other e.g. Remembering names Being part of a group Getting to know the group Group rules: Produce a summary on flipchart/whiteboard for all to put in their learning journal. This should include a discussion about confidentiality and boundaries of work Activity 1: Who Am I? An exercise to enable participants to begin the process of describing how they see themselves Activity 2: Character sketch. Some young people may be selfconscious about acting/role playing so they can draw a picture or just write their thoughts if they are anxious Feedback: On completion of these exercises, participants are encouraged to feedback two pieces of information about themselves to the group (one could be a name!). Participants only share the information they are comfortable with. Activity 3: My House. participants should now be ready to start thinking about their problems and how Thinksmart might help. Participants should be assured that this is a personal record that does not have to be shared with the group. However it provides a starting point for the group discussion that follows Group Discussion: Produce a summary of the main goals of Thinksmart
Home Activity: Personal checklist and SES. These questionnaires

are designed to enable participants to identify their sense of selfconcept and self-esteem.
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Introduction to the Course

This course has been designed to help you to help yourself. The activity sheets and discussion topics will provide you with the opportunity to explore different aspects of how you think, feel and behave, then help you make the changes that you want in your life. Here are some important points to keep in mind as you make a start: We all have the ability to solve problems and to make effective changes in our lives. Sometimes we need to remind ourselves of how to do this. Change of any sort affects us on all levels. For example, a change in the way that you think about a certain situation can lead to changes in how you feel physically and in how you behave in that situation. When you feel stuck, if you take note of what the whole of you is feeling, thinking and sensing then you are likely to come up with some creative solutions to your difficulties. A programme of this type can help you to feel more in control of your life and to enjoy more fulfilling relationships, solve problems more effectively, and feel better about yourself. Remember thinking smartly is a great way to start to think and feel better about yourself!
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Remembering Names
Names are an important part of who we are. You may have chosen to shorten your name or use a nickname to reflect how you would like to be known. Remembering other peoples names is an important skill and there are many techniques that can help you do this. One is to link the persons name with something else an object, something they like doing, a colour they like to wear and so on. For each person in the group, note down something that will help you to remember his or her name. Name Memory aid
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Getting to Know the Group

Find as many people as possible in the group who can agree with the following statements. Write their names in the space provided. Statement I own a mobile phone People that agree
I have a pet
I enjoy watching sport
I have seen one of my favourite films more than three times I like spicy food
I got the bus here today
I have an unusual hobby
I dont like chocolate
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Being Part of a Group

Throughout life most of us have the chance to be part of many different groups, including family, school, work, sport and friendship groups. You may feel more comfortable in some types of groups than others and you will have developed certain ways of being and thinking about yourself in relation to different groups. It is important to recognise that you have some choice about this. How I normally cope with groups How I would like to be in this group
What I believe I can contribute
What would help me to feel most comfortable in this group
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Group Rules
Respect Each Other
It is important that we each try to respect others in the group and the group facilitators. This involves supporting and listening to each other and taking turns to speak.
Timekeeping
It makes it difficult if you are not on time for the group to start. While it is the responsibility of the group facilitators to ensure groups are organised to start and finish on time, it is your responsibility not to be late.
Personal Choice
It is your choice to be in the group. By making this choice you can decide to leave at any time. However, for safety reasons it is important that you let the group facilitators know of your whereabouts at all times. If you are disrupting the group, your actions will suggest that you no longer wish to take part and you will be given the choice to either stay and stop disturbing the session or leave the group. If you choose to leave on more than one occasion you may be asked to leave the group altogether.
Commitment
It is important that if you are to get something out of this group then you are prepared to put something in of yourself. We hope to encourage the entire group to take part in all the activities. However, we will not make anyone do anything. By making the commitment to become part of the group you also commit to doing the home activity work and taking part in all group activities, not just the ones you like.
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Confidentiality
Confidentiality means that what we talk about in the group is special to us and we wont tell anyone outside the group. Its OK for you to talk to your own family and friends about what you do and say in the group if you want to, but remember, what others say is private. If you tell the group facilitators anything that makes them think that you are not safe outside the group or that you are in danger they will have to talk to someone outside the group who can help protect you. But they will try to tell you what they are doing and why. The most important thing is that you are safe. Please think about the rules you would like to have in your group to feel safe. Our group rules about Confidentiality are:
I agree to keep to the group rules and to stick to the confidentiality agreement.
Signature:__________________________________________
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Activity 1: Who am I?
Something important about me Physical features
Personality
Beliefs
Talents and skills
Things I enjoy
Things I dislike
Important events
Important people
Important places
Difficulties I have overcome
Hopes/ambitions
Anything else?
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Activity 2: Character Sketch

Imagine that you are writing a script for a play about your life. How would you describe yourself in a character sketch? Write as though you are your own best friend, someone who knows you better than anyone else and is supporting and understanding of the true you. Start with your name. _________________________________ is...
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Activity 3: My House
3 . 2.
Behaviour Birds
(how do I act?)
Sensation Smoke
(how do I feel?)
1.
(what rules do I believe?)
Roof of Rules
1. 2. 3. 1. 2. 3.
Chimney of Fears
(what do I worry about?)
Window of Truth
(my beliefs)
1.
Window of Truth Window of Truth

(my beliefs) (my beliefs)
3.
2.
Doorbell
(my trigger)
Yellow Brick Road

(my early experiences)
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Group goals and objectives.

At the end of the course I would like to:
1.__________________________________________________
2.__________________________________________________
3.___________________________________________________
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Home Activity 1: Personal Checklist

Shade in the boxes to show how much each of these statements is true for you.
I have a strong sense of who I am I am very aware of how I behave in different ways according to the situation I am in I can usually see things from other peoples perspectives I have a good understanding of how different relationships work I am usually realistic about how I think others view me I am able to be independent and self-reliant
I am able to be in a relationship without feeling swamped or overwhelmed by the other person I understand my emotions and why I feel the way I do in different situations I believe that I am a likeable and worthwhile person
I am respectful and tolerant of other peoples views
I feel in control of how I express my emotions
I am able to distinguish my feelings from those of others I can accept constructive criticism from others
I am able to acknowledge my own strengths
I recognise areas that I find difficult and may want to work on I like and respect myself I am self-motivated. I tend not to worry too much what others might think of me
I am assertive in the way that I deal with unjustified criticism from others I take good care of myself I believe that I have mastery over my life
I can tolerate my own mistakes I know how to relax and enjoy myself
I feel OK about my physical appearance I am able to adjust my actions, feelings and thoughts according to realistic assessments of my progress I am usually able to listen well to what others have to say
I enjoy new challenges
I believe that I let other people see who I really am through my words and actions I believe that my options, thoughts and actions have value
I enjoy talking to new people
I consider myself to be a creative person
I am confident enough in my own abilities to be able to try different ways of solving problems I cope well with unexpected events
I am generally optimistic
I tend not to dwell on past events or worry about the future
I regularly set myself realistic yet challenging goals
I believe that I am capable of fulfilling my potential
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Home Activity 2: Rosenberg Self Esteem Scale (SES)
Please read the following statements and shade the box that best describes how much you agree or disagree with each one
Strongly Agree On the whole, I am satisfied with myself 3 0 3 3 0 0 3 0 0 Agree Disagree Strongly Disagree 0 3 0 0 3 3 0 3 3
2 1 2 2 1 1 2 1 1
1 2 1 1 2 2 1 2 2
At times, I think I am no good at all I feel that I have a number of good qualities I am able to do things as well as most other people I feel I do not have much to be proud of I feel useless at times I feel that I should be valued and I am equal to others I wish I could have more respect for myself I often think I am a failure I take a positive attitude toward myself
Add up the total number of points in the shaded boxes to get your final score:
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Session 2: Thoughts, Feelings & What You Do
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Overview This session is designed to introduce the link between thinking, feelings and behaviours. Different types of thoughts (automatic and core beliefs) are explained, the role of assumptions is highlighted, and the effects of positive and negative thoughts on feelings and behaviour are described. The worksheet Magic Circle is designed to introduce the participant to the concept of thought monitoring, and learning the key skill of making the link between thoughts, feelings and behaviours. The home activity My Thought Diary builds on the concepts leant during the session by providing a structure for recording emotionally charged, or hot thoughts, and learning to link these to emotional reactions.

Understand the links between thoughts, feelings and actions Learn about The Magic Circle as a way to remembe r these links Begin the process of understanding how to monitor your thoughts
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Session Plan
Welcome: set agenda for the session. Feedback: from the previous week/homework activity. Encourage sharing of good ideas and success Introduce topic Thoughts, Feelings and What You Do: Discuss the basic concept of The Magic Circle using handouts supplied in order to raise self-awareness Activity 1: The Magic Circle. Creativity in the use of these tools is key. Facilitators can demonstrate an example first and the group can discuss their own examples. Alternatively participants can fill in the sheets individually and present to the group. Facilitators should ensure that they involve all participants in discussions by asking if others would have similar or different feelings and actions
Home Activity
My Thought Diary: Facilitators introduce the idea of practising catching thoughts and how it can help to explain changes in feelings. Catching and monitoring specific thoughts helps young people develop awareness and begin to validate their feelings. Participants will be encouraged to share their thoughts with the group at the start of Session 3 but would not be pressurised into doing so.
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Home Activity Feedback

What did you learn or notice from your homework this week?
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
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Thoughts, Feelings and What You Do

Hassles and problems are part of everyday life. Parents, friends, boy or girlfriends, school, work in fact almost everything create problems at some time or another. Luckily, we are quite good at coping with many of these problems and they are quickly and successfully sorted out. Other problems seem more difficult. This may be because: They happen fairly often They have been around for some time They feel totally overwhelming They seem to affect everything you do Sometimes these problems take over and life becomes one big unhappy worry.
The Magic Circle

Thinksmart aims to help you discover helpful ways of dealing with your problems. It is based on something called cognitive behaviour theory (CBT). Cognitive refers to what you think; behaviour is about what you do. According to this theory what you think about things affects how you feel and what you do:
What you
think
What you
do
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How you feel
We will find out more about this link, but here are some examples to help you understand how it works: Thinking that you are not very good at talking to people may make you feel very worried or anxious when you are out with your friends. You may go quiet and not talk very much. Thinking that no one likes you may make you feel sad. You may stay at home on your own. Thinking that you never get things right may make you feel angry. You may give up trying because you think itll be wrong. Thinksmart will help you realise that sometimes you may not see the whole picture, and maybe only look at one side of the story usually the bit that hasnt quite gone right. Often, you may not even realise what you are doing. It has become part of everyday life and it can be very difficult to see any way out, or to think about how things could be different.
What You Think

Our minds are always busy. As soon as one thought passes through, another arrives to take its place. We are constantly thinking about all sorts of things. Many of our thoughts are describing things that are going on around us. Others will be about ourselves. These might be about the way we see ourselves: Im fat I have lots of friends Ive got a bad temper
These might be about how we judge what we do: Im hopeless at organising myself Im good at sports Im pretty good at making friends
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They might describe our view of the future: No one will ever want to go out with me Ill never get to university Ill be a millionaire by the time Im thirty
How You Feel

As we have begun to see, the way in which we think affects how we feel. Our thoughts will result in many different feelings.
Positive or nice thoughts often produce pleasant feelings. The thought Im really looking forward to that party may make you feel happy. The thought Although we lost I played really well may make you feel pleased. The thought I look quite nice in these clothes may make you feel relaxed.
At other times we may have more negative thoughts, and these often produce unpleasant feelings: The thought I bet no one will turn up to my party may make you feel anxious. The thought We lost again we will never win may make you feel angry or sad. The thought I dont like these clothes may make you feel worried and unhappy.
Many of these feelings will not be strong and will not last for very long. You may not even notice them. At other times, these unpleasant feelings take over. They become very strong and seem to last. The unpleasant feelings people notice most often are those of stress, unhappiness and anger.
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What You Do
If these feelings last or become very strong, they start to have an effect on what you do. We like to feel good, so we usually try to do more of those things that make us feel good and less of those things that make us feel unpleasant. If you feel anxious when talking to other people, you may avoid going out or turn down invitations to meet up and do things with your friends. When you stay on your own you may feel more relaxed. If you feel sad or unhappy at school, you may stop going. You may feel happier when you stay at home. If you feel angry when people criticise your work, you may give up trying so hard. There are lots of ways in which your thoughts and feelings can affect what you do. You may notice that you: give up and stop doing things avoid situations that might be difficult become reluctant to try new things It would seem that these changes prove that our thoughts were right all along! Difficulty in concentrating would prove the thought that I will never pass these exams Staying at home would prove the thought that No one likes me I havent got any friends Finding it difficult to sleep or putting on weight would prove the thoughts that I look a wreck and No one would want to go out with me
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Can we look at this again? You may be caught in a trap. You may only be looking for evidence to support your negative thoughts. You may have found it difficult to concentrate today you didnt sleep very well last night. Usually you sleep better, and when you have had a good nights sleep you are able to concentrate. You may have stayed at home last night, but you have arranged to go out with your friends tomorrow. You may have gained 2 kg but does that really make such a big difference to how you look? Your favourite clothes still fit well. Thoughts may magically come true because you are only looking for evidence that supports them. Is it possible that you are only seeing one side of the story? Sometimes by becoming more aware of our thoughts and feelings, we can start to see how the things we do are affected by our thoughts and feelings. This is the first step to changing our behaviour.
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Activity 1: The Magic Circle

Think of a situation where you felt happy.
What were you thinking?
What did you do?
How did you feel?
Think of a situation where you felt sad or angry.

What did you do?
How did you feel?
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Home Activity: My Thought Diary

Throughout the week note down in your thought diary three experiences you have had Try to give examples of both a good and bad experience Think about what happened in these situations and what you thought and felt at the time You dont need to write lots, just jot down a few notes!
Day & Time
Situation
Where were you? Who were you with? What happened?
Thoughts
Feelings
How were you feeling?
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Session 3: Identifying Thoughts & Types of Thinking
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Overview
Automatic thoughts are discussed and explained, as is the Cognitive Triad featuring thoughts about self, others and the future. The reasons why automatic thoughts seem so real are explained, as are the effects of positive and negative automatic thoughts on feelings and behaviour. Cognitive distortions are introduced as thinking errors, which bias the way in which situations and events are interpreted and assessed. For example, cognitive errors result in positive events being overlooked. Negative aspects are highlighted using six key themes of thinking, where the main errors are highlighted to confirm awareness. The Negative Trap exercise reinforces the concept of thought monitoring whilst cementing the thinking feeling behaviour link. What Are They Thinking? encourages the young person to both
identify and rate the extent to which they believe negative thoughts.
The home activity What Thinking Errors Do You Make? builds upon this new knowledge and understanding. It is a self completed questionnaire that encourages participants to reflect upon the thinking errors they make.

Understanding what an automatic thought is Learn about common types of thinking errors Understand what a negative trap is and how it applies to you
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Session Plan
Welcome: set agenda for the session. Feedback: from the previous week/homework activity.Encourage sharing of good ideas and success Introduce topic Thoughts and Types of Thinking : Discuss different types of thinking using the introductory section on automatic thoughts and the cognitive triad of view of self, others and the future. Introduce thinking errors: Using the Thinking Errors handouts the idea of common types of unhelpful thinking is introduced. Activity 1: The Negative Trap cycle Facilitators can demonstrate an example first and work through the Sam example. The group should then fill in their own examples. They may then present these to the group if they wish. Activity 2: What Are They Thinking? worksheets. Encourage participant to fill in the thought bubbles either by drawing a picture or writing a sentence. The scenarios should represent a variety of emotions
Home Activity
Self assessment questionnaire: What thinking errors do you make? Encourage the participant to look at their own thinking errors as their homework. This will be useful to help them see what type of thinking errors they usually make
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1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
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Thoughts and Types of Thinking

Automatic Thoughts
Thoughts that quickly pop into your head throughout the day are called automatic thoughts. They provide you with a running commentary about what happens and what you do. We have these thoughts all the time, and they are important because they affect what we do and how we feel. Being asked to complete your coursework may trigger
automatic thoughts like: I dont know what to do, This isnt good enough or Im not sure that they want more than this.
Failing your driving test may result in automatic thoughts like:
I really screwed this up, Ill never be able to drive or I knew I wouldnt be able to do it.
A relationship ending may result in automatic thoughts like: I knew this wouldnt last, it never does, He/she was just making fun of me or Ill never get another boyfriend/girlfriend.
Me, What I Do and My Future

The automatic thoughts we are most interested in are those that are about you. They might be about any of the following: How you see yourself: - Im clever - Im not very good at getting on with people - Im good-looking The way you judge yourself: - Everything I do goes wrong - Im hopeless at sport - I did really well in my maths test The way you see the future:
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- One day Ill settle down - Im never going to be happy - There are plenty of things I can do when I leave school These are the building blocks that form the overall picture of how you see yourself. These thoughts shape what you think about yourself, how you judge what you do, and what you expect will happen in the future. These thoughts can be positive: I played well in that game I had a really nice time with my friends tonight
Mike seems to like me
These positive thoughts might encourage you to: Continue training and playing sport Make another arrangement to go out with your friends Invite Mike round and spend more time with him Automatic thoughts can also be negative: Thats the worst Ive ever played None of my friends are talking to me tonight Im not sure, but I dont think Mike likes me
Negative automatic thoughts might make you stop or avoid doing things. You might start to: Miss training sessions Become less interested in going out and seeing friends Avoid going to places if you know that Mike might be there We have a mixture of negative and positive automatic thoughts. Most people are able to see both sides and end up making balanced decisions and judgements. Others find it harder to think about things positively. They seem to look through negative glasses and will only see and hear the things that are not right. Their thoughts tend to be very negative
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They find it hard to think, hear or see anything good about themselves They do not recognise any positive skills They have a gloomy view about their future and do not believe that they could be successful For some people, this way of thinking takes over. Their automatic thoughts become mainly negative.
Thinking Errors
We have begun to see that some of our hot automatic thoughts are not helpful. They may make us feel unpleasant or prevent us from doing things. The problem with negative automatic thoughts is that they continue to go round and round in our heads and we seldom stop to challenge or question them. In fact, we do the opposite the more we hear them, the more we believe them, and the more we look for evidence or select things to prove them. These are thinking errors. There are six common types of thinking errors that we make.
1. The Downers
With these types of errors we focus only on the negative things that happen. We only see the things that go wrong or that arent right. Anything positive is overlooked, disbelieved or thought to be unimportant. There are two common types of downers:
Negative glasses
Negative glasses only let you see one part of what happens the negative part! If you have a good time, or if nice things happen, the negative glasses will still find the things that went wrong or werent quite good enough. It is these negative things that you notice and remember most.
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You may have had a really good day out with your friends, but at lunchtime your favourite cafe was full. When you are asked whether you had a good time, you reply No, we couldnt get into the cafe.
Positive doesnt count

With this thinking error, anything positive is dismissed as unimportant or else discredited. The person who hears that a boy or girl wants to go out with them may think: They probably cant find anyone else to go out with. Doing well in a maths test may be discounted as you think: But it was easy we learned all that last year.
2. Blowing things up
The second type of thinking errors are those when negative things are blown up and become bigger than they really are. This happens in three main ways:
All-or-nothing thinking
Everything is seen in all-or-nothing terms. It is either boiling hot or freezing cold, and there doesnt seem to be anything in between. You may have a disagreement with your best friend and think to yourself: Thats it youre not my friend any more. If you fall short of perfect, then you see yourself as a total failure. Getting 72% in a maths test may cause someone to think I never get anything right Im going to give up maths.
Magnifying the negative

With this thinking error, the importance of things that happen is exaggerated. Negative events are magnified and blown up out of all proportion. I forgot his name and everyone was looking at me and laughing at me
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I dropped my book and the whole class was watching me
Snowballing
With this thinking error, a single event or upset snowballs and quickly grows into a never-ending pattern of defeat. The first grey cloud in the sky becomes evidence of an approaching thunderstorm. Not being picked for the sports team could result in thoughts such as Im no good at sports, I cant understand maths, I just cant do anything.
3. Predicting failure
Another type of thinking error is about what we expect will happen. These types of errors often predict failure and make us expect the worse. This can happen in two main ways:
The mind-reader
With this thinking error, the person thinks that they know what everyone else is thinking. I know she doesnt like me. I bet everyone is laughing at me.
The fortune-teller
With this thinking error, the person thinks that they know what will happen. If we go out, Ill end up sitting on my own. I know Im not going to be able to do this work.
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4. Feeling thoughts
With this thinking error our emotions become very strong and cloud the way in which we actually think and see things. What we think depends on how we feel, not on what actually happens.
Emotional reasoning
Because you feel bad, sad and down, then you assume that everything else is, too. Your emotions take over and colour the way in which you think.
Dustbin labels
You attach a label to yourself and think of everything you do in these terms.
Im just a loser Its me, Im just hopeless Im rubbish
5. Setting yourself up to fail

This error is about the standards and expectations that we set ourselves. Often our targets are too high, and we never seem to achieve them. We set ourselves up to fail. We become very aware of our failings and the things we have not done. These thoughts often start with words such as: I should I must I shouldnt I cant They result in us setting impossible standards, which we cant achieve.
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6. Blame me!
At other times we feel responsible for the negative things that happen, even though we have no control over them. Everything that goes wrong is down to us! As soon as I got on the bus, it broke down. If your friend doesnt see you and walks past without talking to you, you may think I must have said something to upset him. Remember! It is important to remember that everyone makes these errors at some stage. The problem starts when they happen regularly and when they prevent you from making real choices about the things you can or want to do in your life.
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Activity 1: The Negative Trap
Confirm your failure
Negative thoughts
Feels disinterested & unmotivated
Create doubts/ worries
Affect what you do
Produce unpleasant feelings
Make you feel sad, depressed, anxious and uptight
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Sams Negative Trap

My exam went really badly Im going to fail my exam
I cant be bothered to revise if Im going to fail anyway
Im never going to get into Uni and my family will think Im a failure
Im not in the mood to go to school or do any work
I dont like myself for letting my family down
I feel upset and tearful thinking about it
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My Negative Trap
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Activity 2: What Are They Thinking?

Look at the pictures of young people in different scenarios. Imagine you are in their position. What would their automatic thoughts be?
Failing an essay
Having fun with friends
Seeing a younger child being bullied
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What Are They Thinking?
Doing your favourite hobby
Being given a present
Being left out by friends
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Home Activity: What Thinking Errors Do You Make? The downers

1. How often do you find yourself looking for the bad things that happen? Never Sometimes Often All of the time 2. How often do you find yourself looking for the things that go wrong or which arent quite good enough? Never Sometimes Often All of the time 3. How often do you ignore or overlook the positive or good things that happen? Never Sometimes Often All of the time 4. How often do you play down the positive or good things that happen? Never Sometimes Often All of the time
Blowing things up
1. How often do you find yourself all-or-nothing thinking? Never Sometimes Often All of the time
2. How often do you magnify or blow up the things that go wrong? Never Sometimes Often All of the time
3. How often do single negative events seem to snowball into something bigger? Never Sometimes Often All of the time
Predicting failure
1. How often do you think you know what other people are thinking about you? Never Sometimes Often All of the time
2. How often do you expect things to go wrong? Never Sometimes Often All of the time
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Feeling thoughts
1. How often do you think that you are a stupid or bad person? Never Sometimes Often All of the time
2. How often do you think that you are a loser who can never do anything right? Never Sometimes Often All of the time
Setting yourself up to fail

1. How often do you think that things are not good enough unless they are perfect? Never Sometimes Often All of the time
2. How often do you find yourself thinking that you should do this or that? Never Sometimes Often All of the time
3. How often do you find yourself saying I must? Never Sometimes Often All of the time
Blame me!
1. How often do you blame yourself for the things that happen or go wrong? Never Sometimes Often All of the time
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Session 4: Controlling Your Thoughts
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Overview
Participants are introduced to the idea of checking and testing negative thoughts. This is designed to ensure that they have looked for all the relevant evidence that thoughts are not distorted, and are balanced and reasonable to the situation. This process leads to cognitive restructuring, where on the basis of the evidence; a young person identifies an alternative, more helpful and balanced thought. Positive Self-Talk and the Thought Thermometer are exercises designed to check, test and evaluate negative thinking. Scaling is reinforced within the thermometer and can be used to demonstrate change and progress towards balanced thinking. Jamies Day is an interactive group exercise which enables participants to review their learning regarding cognitive evaluation and restructuring. It is designed to be a group assessment of the progress being made by participants. Home activity Deal With It! balanced thinking. is an exercise designed to reinforce

Learn how to identify and challenge negative thoughts What we should say when we talk to ourselves (positive self talk) Learn how our thoughts can affect our mood
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Session Plan
Welcome: set agenda for the session. Feedback: from the previous week/homework activity. Discuss examples of thinking errors and their consequences Introduce concept of balanced thinking and controlling your thoughts: Work through the handout using the questions that you might ask yourself to test your balanced thinking Positive Self-Talk - Abbies Story. This case study should be introduced and used as the basis for a brief group discussion to illustrate the principle of positive self talk. Activity 1: Jamies Day. Review the case study together; brainstorm what went well and what didnt, using the whiteboard to capture the information. It may be useful for facilitators to use spider diagrams (or other visual illustrations) to summarise the good and bad points. Would Jamie describe his day as being half empty or half full? Activity 2: Thought Thermometer Optionally the thought thermometer can now be used to demonstrate change and progress towards balanced thinking
Home Activity
Deal With It: Worksheet to help participants appraise and evaluate negative thinking. Encourage participant to complete handouts with: One negative thing they might think about often What they do to help themselves Other things they could do How other people can help them
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Balanced Thinking
Often we become stuck in a negative trap and find ourselves making the same thinking errors time and time again. The more we make these errors, the more we believe our negative thoughts and the harder it becomes to challenge them and see things in a different way. In order to break out of this cycle, we have to learn to identify and challenge our negative thoughts. By doing this we shall be able to gain a more balanced view of what is going on. Until you get used to doing it, balanced thinking can be hard. The following questions might be helpful:
Q. What evidence is there to support this thought? Q. What evidence is there to question this thought? Q. What would my best friend/teacher/parent say if they heard me
thinking in this way?
Q. What would I say to my best friend if he or she had this thought? Q. Am I making any thinking errors?
Think back to the previous session on negative thinking and ask yourself:
Q. Am I having a downer on myself and forgetting my strengths? Q. Am I blowing things up?
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Q. Am I predicting failure (mind-reader or fortune-teller)? Q. Are these feeling thoughts (emotional reasoning and dustbin
labels)?
Q. Am I setting myself up to fail? Q. Am I blaming myself for the things that have gone wrong?
Our thoughts have to be realistic. Otherwise we would be fooling ourselves into thinking that everything is problem free and this just isnt the case.
Remember! Balanced thinking is not about rationalising your thoughts. Balanced thinking is not about seeing everything positively. Balanced thinking is about looking for new information that you might otherwise overlook.
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Controlling Your Thoughts

We spend a great deal of time listening to our thoughts. Some of these thoughts are negative and are about ourselves, what we do and what we expect to happen in the future. As we have already found out, we accept many of these thoughts as true without really questioning them, particularly the negative ones. We then become trapped
The negative thoughts become louder
It becomes harder to turn down the volume and hear other thoughts
The more we listen, the more unpleasant feelings we experience, and the less we end up doing
We have started to identify some of our negative thoughts and to learn about the types of thinking errors that we make. Looking for new evidence to test these thoughts is important, and it will help us to check that our thinking is balanced. You can use the Thought Thermometer to test the strength of your thoughts. How strongly do you believe them? Where would you rate them on the thermometer?
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Positive Self-Talk
We are not always very good at praising ourselves for being successful. Positive self-talk is a way of helping us to take more notice of our achievements. Instead of thinking Ive only answered on question Ill never be able to finish all ten, use positive self-talk such as Thats the first question finished now for the next one. Instead of thinking No one talks to me when we go out, use positive self-talk such as That was the first time Rory has ever said anything to me. Positive self-talk helps you to recognise that although things may not be perfect, they may be better than you think!
Because everyone is different, people often have quite different thoughts about things. Some people always seem to see the good or positive things in everything and everybody, while others only seem to see the bad or negative things in life. This can be described as seeing the glass as half full or half empty.
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Abbies story
Abbie becomes very anxious and fearful whenever she goes out of her house. She has lots of negative thoughts about what will happen, and these make her feel very anxious. Abbie decided to try coping and positive self-talk when she next went out. Instead of listening to her negative doubts and worries, she decided to think differently. Before she went out she used her coping self-talk. Abbie said to herself, Im going to do this today, it will be alright. I have been out before and everything was OK. Im feeling relaxed, Im in charge and I want to go out. As Abbie walked down the road, she used her positive self-talk, with comments such as, Thats good, Im halfway there, I knew I could do it and Its going OK and I know Im going to do it. Abbie kept repeating these thoughts to herself until she returned home. After Abbie arrived home she remembered to congratulate herself and thought, Well done, that wasnt so bad after all. She then treated herself to a long, relaxing bubble bath.
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Activity 1: Jamies Day

Read through the story of Jamies day together. Discuss the good and bad points of his day. Using a whiteboard, take it in turns to brainstorm the positive and negative things that happened to him during the day. Did the positive parts of the day make up for the bad points? At the end of his day do you think Jamie would describe the glass as being half full or half empty? Jamie woke up and looked at his clock. He had overslept; it was 8.30am! Hurriedly, he leapt out of bed and threw on his school uniform. He was really hungry but didnt have time to eat breakfast. He grabbed his school bag and lunch and ran out of the door. Jamie was running so fast along the pavement to school that he tripped over a large crack and went sprawling. He felt a sharp pain and peered down at his bleeding knees. Limping, he tried to hurry the rest of the way, but his knees were hurting so much that they slowed him down. The head teacher was walking across the empty school yard when Jamie arrived at school, and she shouted at him to hurry up as he was very late. Jamie felt scared, as he hated getting told off by the head teacher, and wondered if he would get into trouble. Mrs Rogers, Jamies form tutor, looked up sternly as he burst into the classroom, but as she noticed his bleeding knees, she looked on more kindly. She gently sent him off to the school nurse to look at his knees. When he got back to the classroom, he got out his books for Maths and rummaged in his bag for his pencil case, but realised he had forgotten it. He didnt want to get in any more trouble today. He whispered over to Sarah, and asked if he could borrow a pen for the day. No, she replied, You should have brought your own! Amy leaned over towards him, passed him a pen and smiled. Thank you, he mouthed back at her, feeling relieved. Right, get your homework out, his teacher told the class. Jamie looked up in confusion. What homework? He couldnt remember any homework being set! Everyone else was pulling their homework out of their bags so Jamie pretended he was too and sat low in his chair, hoping that his teacher wouldnt notice he didnt have his with him. Luckily, the teacher quickly 66
moved on and Jamie felt relieved. Hed just have to catch up on the homework tonight. Jamie sat down with his two best friends at lunch time and began chatting away. He was starving after missing breakfast and opened his lunch box eagerly, expecting his favourite snacks to be inside. Instead his lunch box was full of carrot sticks, salad and some really smelly egg sandwiches. A group of girls walked behind where Jamie was sat. Urrrggghhh, whats that stink? one of the girls said, I feel sick! The other girls started sniggering. Jamie went bright red and quickly shut the lunch box lid. He couldnt believe his mum could embarrass him like that! Especially as one of the girls in the group, Tina, he had really liked for ages. Now she would just think he was an idiot. Lunchtime meant football practice, which was Jamies favourite part of the day. He was an avid Leeds United fan and loved watching, reading about or watching football. He pulled on his boots and wandered over to the pitch. Umm, dont think you should really be playing Jamie, the captain said as he noticed Jamie limping slightly. Please let me play Steve, Jamie said, Ill be fine. No, you should sit out today mate, Steve said, I need our best team out there. Jamie slumped off and sat in the bench. He was gutted , as hed been looking forward to the practice all morning. Stupid knees, he thought and sat looking glum. Halfway through practice Steve wandered over to the bench. Go and give it a shot then Jamie, the teams not as good without you! and smiled. Jamie jumped up and jogged onto the pitch. He wasnt going to let some scratched knees ruin his game! He went on to score the winning goal and the team congratulated him. He felt really good and quite proud of himself. The afternoons lessons dragged a bit and Jamie was glad when it was time to go home. He shouted goodbye to his friends and ran out of school. He jogged all the way home, but slowed down as he reached his street. There was a big group of older boys huddled together at the corner of the street. He crossed the street quickly to try and avoid them and kept his head down so they didnt spot him. These boys were well known at school for causing trouble and bullying younger pupils. But it was too late. The oldest boy had spotted Jamie and 67
shouted over to him, Oi you, what you looking at? Nothing, sorry, Jamie muttered and carrying on towards home. Dont you walk away from me, yelled the boy, Get over here! Jamie really didnt want to but knew that this boy, Gary, had a reputation around school and he had heard stories of him beating a lot of people up. He reluctantly crossed the road and wandered towards the group of boys. They were all stood smoking and laughing, and staring at Jamie who felt about two feet tall. Come here runt, Gary laughed. Jamie approached him and Gary started sniggering. Where are you off to? Just home, Jamie muttered. Come hang out with us, Gary said, You dont want to be going home when you could be having fun with us! Im ok thanks, Jamie said, My mums expecting me. Your mummys expecting you?! Mummys boy! laughed Gary and the others joined in. Have one of these, he said, and threw a cigarette at Jamie. No thanks, Jamie said, trying to sound confident, although inside he was really scared. Just smoke it, Gary snarled. I dont want to, Jamie said and tried to back away. Gary lunged towards him and Jamie thought he was about to hit him. Leave him alone Gaz, piped up one the other boys. Yeah, dont bother, another muttered. Gary looked around him at his gang of mates and turned and walked away. The others followed, and Jamie felt so relieved. One of the boys looked back and winked at him and he smiled back, then wandered home. Jamie got into his house and found it was empty. His parents must have still been at work. He went upstairs and collapsed down on his bed . What a rubbish day, he thought, thinking back to being late, cutting his knees, forgetting his homework and pencil case, being embarrassed at lunch, not being allowed to play football and then the incident with Gary. He lay back and thought about not bothering going into school tomorrow. Itll save me some hassle, he thought, I dont want to face them all again tomorrow. He turned on his Playstation and began playing to take his mind off it all. Ten minutes later his phone began vibrating, and he picked it up to read the text. It was Tina! He didnt even know how she had his number! She was apologising for laughing at him at lunchtime, and asked if he wanted to do something at the weekend. His heart leapt with excitement. He had liked Tina for ages but had always been too scared to ask her out. He lay back on his bed and began texting her back. Maybe he would go to school tomorrow after all!
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Activity 2: The Thought Thermometer

Think of a thought you have quite often How strongly do you believe this thought? Where would you place this thought on this Thought Thermometer?
I strongly believe it
10 9 8
I believe it fairly strongly
7 6 5 4 3
I believe it a little
2 1
I dont believe it at all

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Home Activity: Deal With It!

Think of a negative thought that you have quite often. Consider ideas or people that could help you to cope with this negative thought.
My negative thought:
These are 3 things that help me to cope with my negative thought:
These are 3 new ideas of how I can help myself cope with this negative thought in the future:
This is how other people could help me:
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Session 5: How Do You Feel?
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Overview
Participants are introduced to affective education, which .aims to increase awareness and understanding of different feelings. It helps young people identify common unpleasant emotions such as anger, depression and stress. In doing so, the relationship between feelings, thoughts and behaviour is highlighted by r eviewing the Magic Circle from Session 2. A key learning point is to educate participants about the connection between feelings and situations or events that produce the most unpleasant or difficult emotions. A number of different feelings can be introduced through What Feelings Do I Have? and participants can learn to identify their most common difficult feelings.
Sticky Situations is an exercise where participants can consider what they would be feeling in different situations and links can be made to changes in thinking and behaviours that follow. Recognising the cues and signs of different emotional states through such exercises is a key part of affective education in Thinksmart. The word search activity Find the Feeling is a fun way to rei nforce the importance of being able to identify and label different emotions. How Do You Feel? is a home activity exercise designed to reinforce the accurate identification and labelling of emotions.
Aims and Objectives

Understand how what you think affects how you feel and what you do (the magic circle) Understand how you can identify your feelings and become more self aware
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Session Plan
Welcome: set agenda for the session. Feedback: from the previous week/homework activity. Encourage sharing of good ideas and success Return to the Magic Circle from session 2. Check whether the participants believe their strongest feelings are linked to thoughts. Encourage participants to become more aware of how they feel. Activity 1: Sticky situations Encourage participants to complete worksheets regarding thinking, feeling and doing. Discuss the outcomes. Activity 2: Find the feeling. Word search.
Home Activity: How Do You Feel? This worksheet enables

participants to identify feelings that are linked to places and situations raising self awareness. Complete using coloured pens/pencils.
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The Magic Circle

Think back to the Magic Circle from Session 2. It will help you with your learning in this session. What you think
What you
do
How you feel
How You Feel

Each day you will probably notice yourself having a range of different feelings. For example, you could: Wake up feeling anxious about going to school Feel happy on the school bus talking with friends Feel angry when your friend forgets to bring the CD you wanted to borrow Feel stressed about completing your history homework Feel relaxed when watching TV at the end of the day You will find that: Some of these feelings will last only a short time Others will go on and on Some will be so weak that you may not even notice them Others will be very strong and seem to take over Our first job is to find out more about the types of feelings that you have. This is not always easy because: We are not always very good at identifying our feelings We often wrap all our feelings up together under one label
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Here are some questions it would be helpful to answer about your feelings:
Q. What feelings do you have? Q. What feelings are the strongest? Q. Where you are most likely to have these feelings? Q. What thoughts go with these feelings?
What Feelings Do I Have?

Learning to identify your feelings is important, as it may help you to learn how to control them. For example, breathing exercises may help with feelings of anxiety or worry, but not with feelings of sadness. Three of the strongest and most common unpleasant feelings are stress, unhappiness and anger.
# Stress
When people feel stressed or wound up they notice a number of different symptoms. The signs of stress vary from one person to another but may include: feeling sick butterflies in the stomach shortness of breath sweating legs feeling heavy or like jelly going red in the face feeling light-headed fainting aching muscles your mind going blank difficulty in making decisions
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# Unhappiness
Everyone feels unhappy at some time or another, but for some people this feeling takes over their life and they end up feeling very depressed. They might find themselves: regularly tearful crying for no clear reason or over small things waking up early in the morning having difficulty falling asleep at night feeling constantly tired and lacking in energy comfort eating or losing their appetite having difficulty in concentrating losing interest in things that they used to enjoy going out less often Because these feelings produce some very strong physical reactions, people sometimes end up thinking that they are ill or unwell. These symptoms then become the reason why they stop or avoid doing things.
Im not sleeping and cant concentrate, so I have given up my weekend job.

These physical reactions are very real, but you may not be unwell. It may be part of a trap where your negative thoughts create these symptoms. If you are unsure or want some reassurance, then check this by talking with your doctor.
# Anger
Anger is a very common feeling and can be expressed in many different ways: shouting, yelling and screaming swearing and threatening throwing things breaking things slamming doors hitting, kicking, fighting wanting to harm oneself
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Feelings and What You Do

Feelings dont just suddenly happen. There is usually something that triggers them. If you remember the Magic Circle, then you will remember that how you feel will be affected by what you do and what you think. You will have different feelings in different places: At school you may feel anxious At home you may feel relaxed In town you may feel worried You will notice different feelings when you engage in different activities: When watching TV you may feel calm When talking with people you may feel anxious When doing maths you may feel happy When playing sport you may feel tense You will also notice that you feel different with different people: With With With With your your your your dad you may feel angry best friend you may feel relaxed and confident teacher you may feel happy sister you may feel stressed
Feelings and What You Think

The way in which we think causes feelings: If you think that you have no friends, you may feel sad If you think that you are disliked, you may feel worried If you think that you did well with your homework, you may feel pleased
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Putting it all together

If you put all this together, you will probably start to notice a pattern.
What you
think
What you
do How you feel

Sad
How you
feel
What you do
Stay at home alone
What you think

Ive got no friends
Go out with Jim
Happy
We always have a laugh together
Go to school
Stressed
I just cant keep up with my work
Go clothes shopping
Angry
I can never find anything that looks good on me
Have a bath
Relaxed, calm
Its nice lying here
Remember! How we feel depends on what we do and what we think. Try to identify the different feelings that you have. Check whether your strongest79 feelings are linked to particular thoughts or what you do.
Putting Yourself Down

Low self-esteem (or self-opinion) can sometimes lead to all sorts of problems with people around you. It can make you feel angry or upset and also cause you to compare yourself negatively with others. You might think other people wont like you. One of the healthiest ways to be around others is to feel equal or the same as others by being your real self not someone you think they might like. Learning to accept yourself can be hard, but one good way to learn is to work on ways that you put yourself down, so that you are more real around people.
Feeling Better About Yourself

We all rate ourselves all the time. We are good or bad, a success or a failure, a winner or a loser. doesnt make it helpful though. We need to try to stop giving ourselves overall general ratings all the time. Things like Im no good at any subject at school, are labels we give ourselves that suggest we are no good. When we label ourselves in this way, we can begin to think quite negatively (Im no good) and feel down. We might not bother to try then, and say to ourselves, Whats the point, Im no good at it anyway! Then we just feel worse. Here are some examples of labels: # Im weak # Im useless # Im pathetic # Im a loser # Im no good # Im bad # Im a failure # I dont matter # Im crazy # Im stupid # Im disgusting # Im worthless Just because we do this all the time
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Here are some ideas of how to deal with your labels: Try not to use them! Every time you refuse to use them (inside your head or out loud) you are improving. If you use them, make yourself keep count put 5p in a jar, or keep a note in your diary or on a chart. This will show you how often you use them and remind you to stop. Instead of using general labels (Im no good) just focus on what part of you or what you do (or dont do) that you arent happy with. Try replacing these general labels for ones that are more accurate: Unhelpful labels Im weak Im no good Im a failure Im stupid Different, more helpful ideas I have strengths and weaknesses I have some really good qualities Im normal so I get things wrong and I get things right I can do stupid things sometimes but that doesnt mean Im stupid
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Activity 1: Sticky Situations
Situation 1
Your best friend hasnt done her homework and asks to copy yours. You spent ages doing it the night before and worked really hard on it. You are really proud of your efforts. You know youll get into trouble if the teacher realises.
Q. What do you think?
Q. How do you feel?
Q. What would you do?
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Situation 2
You see your brother stealing a video game from a shop. He tells you not to tell your parents and says hell lend you the game if you keep quiet.
Q. How do you feel?
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Situation 3
You see some older boys picking on a younger pupil at school. They are being aggressive and the smaller child looks really scared.
Q. How do you feel?
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Situation 4
You are sat eating lunch with your friend when she starts saying unkind things about another girl in your class. The other girl hasnt done anything to upset your friend.
Q. How do you feel?
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Situation 5
Your friend tells you that they are having a horrible time at home and that their parents are always shouting at them for no reason. They are thinking of running away from home.
Q. How do you feel?
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Activity 2: Find the Feeling!
Checklist
Afraid Amazed Angry Ashamed Cheerful Confident Confused Content Depressed Excited Frightened Glad Grumpy Happy Hurt Insecure Mad Nervous Relaxed Sad Scared Tense Unhappy Worried
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Home Activity: How Do You Feel?

Here is a list of situations that you are sometimes in. Think about how you feel when you are in these situations. Look at the list of words at the bottom of the page. Do any of these feelings match up to the situations for you? Write them in the thought bubbles. You can add your own feelings that arent included in the list too
Sharing my feelings
At school
Doing my favourite hobby With my mum or dad
With my friends
Happy Sad Bored Relaxed
Feelings Angry Frightened Frustrated Upset Excited Lonely Guilty Confused
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Session 6: Controlling Your Feelings
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Overview
Practical methods of controlling unpleasant feelings are discussed and explored in Session 6, continuing a process of affective education for participants. Participants are introduced to methods to relax and manage angry or unhelpful emotions. Feeling Footsteps for example, can be used as a method to help young people who experience aggressive or angry feelings and outbursts. Participants are helped to plot their own unique anger build-up by focusing on their thoughts, physiological responses and behavioural reactions, as they progress from calmness to an angry outburst. This process can be visualised as a volcano which develops through varying degrees b efore erupting into aggressive thoughts, feelings and actions. Hey Relax teaches relaxation techniques, both cognitive and
physiological (body relaxation) to relieve pressure as it builds, modifying the nature and type of the violent outburst. Home activity focuses around relaxation ideas utilising the Time To Relax worksheet which can be followed up in Session 7.
Aims and Objectives

Learn how to identify helpful and unhelpful feelings Learn how to relax Gain an awareness of how to be in control of how you feel
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Session Plan
Welcome: set agenda for the session. Feedback: from the previous week/homework activity. Encourage sharing of good ideas and success Introduce topic Controlling Your Feelings Discuss times where how you feel relates to what you do, e.g. feeling anxious when you go out. Use flipchart paper and coloured pens to illustrate Learning How To Relax: Brainstorm what you could do to relax. What do the participants do to relax? Activity 1: Hey.relax! Try some physical and mental relaxation exercises using handout as an example Activity 2: Feeling Footsteps Work through handout to demonstrate how an initial thought can soon escalate. Plotting the steps shows how the feeling builds up and leads to behaviour that you dont want to reach. Use the blank Feeling Footsteps handout and encourage participants to include thoughts, feelings and behaviours at each step.
Home Activity: What helps you to relax. Encourage participants

to complete the Time to Relax handout. Think about what helps you to relax
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Controlling Your Feelings

The feeling finder has helped us to discover that the places we go to or the things we may sometimes produce strong feelings. For example, you may notice that you: feel anxious when you go out feel calm and safe at home feel worried when you are with others feel relaxed and happy on your own We try to do things or go to places that give us pleasant feelings, and we try to avoid those that make us feel unpleasant. This seems to make sense. After all, none of us want to feel unpleasant for most of the day. But sometimes your feelings take over and stop or limit what you really want to do. You may want to go out, but because you feel so anxious you feel unable to go. You may want to be with friends, but because you feel so worried you feel unable to see them. You may want to call up a friend, but because you feel so unhappy you feel unable to do this. At these times, the way you feel is stopping or preventing you from doing those things that you really want to do. Learning how to control your feelings will help to break down these barriers. We have discovered that we can learn to control our feelings in different ways.
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Learn To Relax
There are different ways in which you can learn to relax. Some methods will take you through a series of physical exercises to tense and then relax each of the large muscle groups in your body. Others will teach you to imagine relaxing pictures in your mind, and these calming images will help you to feel more pleasant. It is important to remember the following points: There is no one way of relaxing People find different methods useful at different times It is important to find what works for you
Relaxing Activities
There will probably be some things that you enjoy doing and which make you feel good. Examples of these might include: reading a book watching TV playing football listening to music taking the dog for a walk playing the piano How do you relax (make a list of ideas from the group on the whilteboard)
Prevention
Sometimes we are aware of our feelings, but often we leave it too late to do something about them. At these times our feelings become too strong and no matter what we do we just cant seem to regain control. We need to learn to identify these times so that we can try to control our feelings before they get too strong.
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Activity 1: Hey Relax!

Here a few short exercises you can try to help you relax if you feel tense or stressed. Concentrate on your muscles and especially the ones that seem the most tense. These exercises are easy enough for you to be able to do yourself at home! The more you practice, the better and faster you will become at relaxing.
Arms and hands

Clench your fists and push your arms straight out in front of you.
Legs and feet

Push your toes downwards, gently raise your legs and stretch them out in front of you.
Stomach
Push out your tummy muscles, take a breath and hold it.
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Shoulders
Scrunch up your shoulders
Neck
Push your head back against the chair or bed.
Face
Screw up your face, squeeze your eyes tight and push your lips together.
Sometimes people think about images that make them feel soothed for example the waves on a beach, a babbling brook, the sun on your face. What kind of images can you conjure up to feel more calm and relaxed>
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Activity 2: Feeling Footsteps

The Feeling Footsteps diagram helps you to plot out the steps that you take up to a certain point It could plot a time when you are angry, upset or experience another feeling You should plot your thoughts, feelings and behaviours Plotting each step will help you to realise how this feeling builds up and can lead to a behaviour that you dont want to reach You will then be able to work to help stop this build up of feelings and to remain calmer and more in control There may only be a couple of steps or there may be many
Here is an example of the feeling footsteps for you: Step 5: Step 6: Hit them
Swear, re
Swear, red face, mind blank Step 4: Clench fists, grit, angry face, threaten Step 3: Seems like a dream Step 2: Watching myself from above Stop it and Im going to hit you Feels hot and starts to sweat Step 1: Youre trying to wind me up Normal voice and volume, feels calm
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Feeling Footsteps
Here is a blank diagram of the Feeling Footsteps for you to fill in It can be from an experience of feeling angry, upset or another feeling Try to include your thoughts, feelings and behaviours at each step
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Home activity: Time To Relax

Think about what helps you to relax when you are feeling angry, tense or stressed. Note down these ideas in the thought bubbles. Then jot down some ideas of things you are going to try in the future to help you to relax.
Things that help me relax:
Things that I will try in the future to help me relax:
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Session 7: How Do We Do What We Do?
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Overview
The way in which thoughts and feelings affect behaviour is introduced in this session. Why We Do What We Do is describ ed in a simple and memorable A-B-C process: Activating Event Beliefs Consequences This key theory is introduced at this stage to explain behavioural responses and raise awareness of consequential outcomes. The A-B-C principle is explained through a series of simple worksheets, which encourage participants to reflect upon situations in which their response to a situation was influenced by their beliefs. In this way participants learn about their own behavioural responses to situations or events, and how these unique view or belief about an event triggers consequential changes in thinking, feelings and behaviours. Rescheduling activities, breaking down challenges into small steps, graded exposure and response prevention, are identified as ways in which the young person can understand and then control what they do (or dont do) more often. Home activity is an exercise called Your Actions which focuses on the changes that occur in a persons behaviour when their emotional state is unpleasant or negative. This is an exercise which teaches activity monitoring, and can be followed up in Session 8 when behavioural experiments and graded exposure are introduced into the programme.
Aims and Objectives

Learn how to identify our actions and behaviours Learn how what we do affects how we feel
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Session Plan
Welcome: set agenda for the session. Feedback: from the previous week/homework activity Encourage sharing of good ideas and success Introduce topic: Why Do We Do What We Do its as easy as ABC! Explain the ABC theory and the link between situations and a persons behavioural reaction. Activity 1: Personal ABC examples. Discuss the example to highlight how this works. Highlight a different belief to show how the outcome changes. Encourage group to consider different scenarios, such as: Being bullied Being pressured into doing something you dont want to Falling out with your friend Activity 2: What Did I Do? Participants should be encouraged to brainstorm as many of their own real experiences as possible in this activity.
Home Activity: Your Actions. Encourage participants to complete

Your Actions handout. What do I do when I am happy? What do I do when I am scared? What do I do when I am upset? Useful to ask participants what they would usually do but to also consider a different more positive outcome (Ref: Session 8)
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Why Do We Do What We Do?

What we think, both good and bad, has an effect on our feelings. We now know that: The thought: Im really looking forward to that party, might make you feel happy. The thought: I bet no-one will turn up to my party, might make you feel anxious. When the unpleasant feelings last for a long time, they often have an effect on what you do next. If you feel anxious when meeting new friends, you might avoid situations where you dont know many people. If you feel worried about going to school, you might withdraw and stay where you feel safe. If you feel upset when people criticise your efforts, you might stop trying.
Avoiding, withdrawing and stopping might make you feel a bit better at the time, but later on you might feel worse. Often when you do less, you feel more and more down. Trying anything different or new takes a lot of effort, and sometimes unpleasant feelings come back, as what you try doesnt always work out the way you want. In Session 8, we look at how to change your behaviour. To make changes that will work, we first need to understand why we do what we do, so we know what to change and how.
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The ABC of Why We Do What We Do

To help you understand how the things you do (or dont do) are linked to the way you think and feel about situations or events, we use a simple A B C.
AA- Activating Activating Event Event Something that really happens to you, for example you fail a test. Or something you think might happen, like not being invited to a party.
B- Beliefs When the event happens your beliefs or thoughts about the event will lead to you feeling or behaving the way you do as a result.
C-Consequences Your thoughts, feelings and behaviours that come after the event. So if you think you wont be invited to the party, you would feel upset and angry and then not speak to your friend.
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ABC Examples
To help you understand A B C better, here are 2 examples of events, one real and one imaginary.
A- Activating Event
B- Beliefs
C-Consequences
External (Real) You fail an exam
Im a total idiot
Feelings: You feel angry, upset and sad Behaviours: You decide not to bother revising for other exams
I should not have failed
Ill never pass anything
Internal (Imaginary) You think you will not be invited to a friends party and you worry about being left out
Im not popular because if I was I would be invited
Feelings: You feel worried, upset and lonely Behaviours: You avoid your friends because you think they wont like you
If everyone else goes but me I will look stupid
Nobody likes me
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The ABC Approach

Here is a summary of how the A B C problem approach works:
A B C A B C
You fail an exam at school
You believe that: I should have done better and have failed to get the mark I wanted
You tell yourself: I am a failure. You feel sad and upset so you decide not to revise for future exams.
You imagine that you will not be invited to the party
You believe that: I am unpopular and nobody likes me
You tell yourself: I am a loser. You feel upset and lonely so you avoid seeing your friends.
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Activity 1: Your Own ABC Examples

Learning to write down and organise the separate parts of a problem will help you to understand and control what you do as a result. Write below or on a piece of paper, examples of two events that have had an effect on you recently. Think about one external event (something real that has happened to you), and one internal event (something you imagined might happen to you).
A- Activating Event B- Beliefs _________________ _________________ _________________ _________________ _________________ _________________ _________________ _________________ _________________ _________________ _________________ _________________ _________________ _________________ _________________ C-Consequences Feelings__________ ________________ ________________ ________________ ________________ Behaviours________ ________________ ________________ ________________ ________________ ________________ ________________ ________________ Feelings__________ __________ ________________ ________________ ________________ ________________ Behaviours________ ________________ ________________ ________________ ________________ ________________ ________________ ________________ _______________
External (Real) ________________ ________________ ________________ ________________ ________________ ________________ ________________ ________________ ________________ ________________ ________________ ________________ Internal (Imaginary) ________________ ________________ __ ________________ ________________ ________________ ________________ ________________ ________________ ________________ ________________ ________________ ________________ ________________ ________________ _____
_________________ _______ _________________ _________________ _________________ _________________ _________________ _________________ _________________ _________________ _________________ _________________ _________________ _________________ ________
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Activity 2: What Did I Do?

Pick one or more of the scenarios that you have experienced. Describe what you did, and then how that made you feel.
Scenario 1
Your friends pressured you into doing something you didnt want to.
Is your reaction good or bad?
What did you do?
Do you see a link between reacting well and feeling better?
If you reacted badly, did you feel worse?
How did you feel after you did that?
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Scenario 2
Your parents kept shouting at you for no apparent reason.

What did you do?
How did you feel after you did that? If you reacted badly, did you feel worse?
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Scenario 3
You were teased a lot when you were younger.

What did you do?
Session 7: Why Do We Do What We Do?
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Scenario 4
You fell out with your best friend after a silly argument.
What did you do?
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Home Activity: Your Actions

Think about the things you do when you are happy, scared and upset. Draw or write these actions in the boxes. What do I do when I am happy?
What do I do when I am scared?
What do I do when I am upset?
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Session 8: Changing Our Behaviours
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Overview
Thinking and feelings with regard to how they link to behaviour is reexplained and the learning cemented in Session 8. The need to understand and manage activities (e.g. re-scheduling) as a method of overcoming safety-seeking (avoidant) behaviours is examined, and graded practice and exposure to create positive evidence of progress is encouraged. The idea of breaking down challenges with smaller more achievable chunks increases the likelihood of success is explained in Small Steps and exposure examined in Face Your Fears. Small Steps also forms part of a systematic de-sensitisation programme, whilst Face Your Fears is designed to be used in response prevention (where a young person is encouraged to change habitual responses to unpleasant or challenging situations, for example, avoiding people or events that cause anxious feelings). Changing long-term, embedded patterns of behaviour is often very challenging, and a young person may need support, positive reinforcement and encouragement whilst attempting to make shifts in behaviour. The need for reinforcement and reward for progress and success is therefore highlighted throughout this session. All participants should be encouraged to identify and celebrate success, no matter how small. Stepping Stones is a graded practice activity where a person can think through the phases of gradual change to challenging behaviours.. It also serves as a cognitive evaluation and restructuring exercise, as problems are re-assessed and re-appraised into realistic, achievable chunks which can then be translated into activity scheduling for behavioural experimentation. Linking this exercise with positive reinforcement and feedback practice which Its All About Me! encourages will support the repetition and habituation of pleasure-seeking activities. Participants
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should be encouraged to recognise and celebrate any success a group member achieves, and give positive feedback. Home activity for this session focuses on reinforcing the affective management ideas introduced in session 6. Activities (behaviours) are linked to feelings via My Activity Diary and participants learn to recognise, evaluate and label the links between what you do and what you feel. The Feeling Thermometer can also be used as a measurement scale.
Aims and Objectives

Learn about how you can change your behaviour Learn that you can have some control over how you feel by picking the right behaviour
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Session Plan
Welcome: set agenda for the session. Feedback: from the previous week/homework activity. It is also useful to refer to previous sessions homework as an introduction to Session 8. Introduce topic: Changing Your Behaviour. Discuss techniques that will help participants change their behaviour by Increasing fun activities, Mapping out how they feel and what they do (so as to understand how they link) Breaking down activities into smaller steps (Jennys Swimming helps illustrate this) and Facing fears Activity 1: Stepping Stones Encourage participants to think about a challenge that they have, then break it down into smaller tasks before looking at the steps and numbering them in order of difficulty Activity 2: Its All About Me This activity is designed to encourage participants to think positively about themselves and others. It also creates a sense of positive reinforcement and encourages participants to model appropriate and helpful behaviours in feedback.
Home Activities: My Activity Diary. Encourage participants to

keep a diary of what they do and how they feel each day. The Feeling Thermometer can then be used to rate the strength of the feelings. This activity can help the participant feel better and will give them less time to listen to negative thoughts. Suggest that if there are times of the day that are difficult to plan their timetable differently. Encourage participants to break challenges down into smaller steps, to help chances of success. Above all encourage to keep practising and reward themselves when they have done well.
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Changing Your Behaviour

We have discovered that sometimes we have negative and unhelpful thoughts. We think that things will be difficult. We expect and predict the worse. Sometimes it is hard to see anything positive. We have come to understand that these thoughts may make us feel uncomfortable. We may try to make ourselves better by: Avoiding situations that we think will be difficult Withdrawing and staying where we feel safe Stopping doing things that might make us feel unpleasant This may bring some immediate relief, but over time you will probably feel worse. As you do less you may find yourself feeling more and more down. Anything new needs an even greater effort, and it becomes harder to tackle any new challenges. Strong unpleasant feelings flood back as you feel cross and disappointed with yourself. And so it goes on.... and on... and on... An important way of breaking out of this trap is to become more active and take control. Push yourself to do things. As you become busier you will notice a number of benefits.
You feel better

Becoming more active means that you have less time to notice any unpleasant feelings or to listen to any negative thoughts. You will start to feel better.
You feel more in control

You start to regain control of your life and do the things that you want to do
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You feel less tired

Doing nothing is very tiring! You will feel very lethargic and exhausted. Although it sounds silly, the more active you become, the less tired you feel.
You want to do more

The hardest thing is to get started. Once you become active you will want to do more. Quite simply, the more you do, the more you feel like doing.
Your thinking becomes clearer

Doing nothing makes you feel sluggish both mentally and physically. Activity sharpens up your thinking.
Increase Fun Activities

The first and hardest job is to get going again. A useful way to do this is to increase your enjoyable activities. Set yourself targets to increase the number of enjoyable activities that you do each day or week. Make a list of the things you enjoy/want to do and those activities that you used to enjoy and have now stopped. These can be any activities at all, and remember that they dont have to cost money. They could be: Social activities talking to a friend, having someone round for tea Outdoor activities going for a walk, swimming, shopping Indoor activities listening to music, watching a video, reading a book, drawing, playing video games
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From your list choose the activity that you would most like to do. Choose a day, set a time and do it! Gradually build more and more enjoyable activities into your life.
Map How You Feel and What You Do

There will probably be certain times of the day/week when you are more likely to notice strong pleasant or unpleasant feelings. It may be useful to tune into these and find out whether there are any patterns or particular difficult times. A useful way of doing this is to keep a diary: Write down what you are doing and how you feel each hour. Use the Feeling Thermometer to rate how strong your feelings are. At the end of the week, look at the diary and see if there are any particularly good/bad times and whether any activity made you feel better/worse. If you find a link between certain activities and strong feelings, then try planning your time differently. Where possible, try to do more of those activities that make you feel good and less of those that make you feel bad.
Small Steps
Sometimes starting an activity might seem too large a step to tackle all in one go: At these times it might be useful to break down the task into smaller steps Each smaller step feels more manageable This increases the chances of success, and each step will move you closer to your target The following case study shows how Jenny used this technique.
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Jennys Swimming
Jenny liked swimming, but over the past six months she had become down-hearted and unhappy and had not been swimming at all. She listed all of the activities that she wanted to start again, and chose swimming with her friend Susie as her number one choice. Although she wanted to do it, the thought of going swimming with Susie seemed an enormous challenge. Jenny decided to break this task down into the following smaller steps which she felt she could handle.
1. Go to the swimming baths and find out about opening times and
costs.
2. Go on her own late one evening for a short 10-minute swim. 3. Go on her own late one evening for a 30-minute swim. 4.
Go swimming on her own one morning (when it was busier) for
30 minutes.
5. Go swimming with Susan one morning for 30 minutes.

Breaking the task down into smaller steps made it easier for Jenny to be successful.
Face Your Fears

Breaking tasks down into smaller steps is helpful, but you may still put off doing them because you feel too anxious. Anxious feelings often stop us doing the things we would really like to do. However, by not
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doing them we then have to cope with other unpleasant feelings such as sadness and anger. You might feel very frightened about going to school, but staying at home might make you feel sad. You might feel scared about going out with your friends, but staying in on your own might make you feel angry. At these times it can be useful to face your fears and learn to overcome them. You can do this by going through the following steps:
1. Use small steps to break down your challenge into smaller tasks. 2. Think about coping self-talk and practice using it. 3.
Relax and imagine yourself successfully coping with your first
task.
4. Test it out, one task at a time. 5. Praise yourself for being successful.
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Activity 1: Stepping Stones

What is your task or challenge?
________________________________________________________
Break this down into smaller steps that will be easier to manage. Look at all the steps and number them in order of difficulty.
You can now begin with the easiest step. Once you have achieved it you can move onto the next, and so on until all of the steps are completed! You will realise that breaking down challenges into smaller steps makes them easier to achieve.
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Activity 2: Its All About Me!

Write your name in the star. Pass the piece of paper round the group. Each person will write one positive comment about the named person it can be about anything to do with them!
When the piece of paper comes back to you, read the comments that have been written. How did you feel when you read the positive things that people had to say about you? Hopefully they will make you feel good about yourself, and you will remember that positive activities will result in you having positive feelings, and also that its always nice to compliment someone!
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Home Activity 1: My Activity Diary

Keep a diary for 3 days of things you have done and how you have felt. You can use the Feeling Thermometer to rate how strong these feelings are. Can you see any patterns between what you do and how you feel?
Day 1
Time Activity Feeling How strong are my feelings?
7.00 am
8.00 am
9.00 am
10.00 am
11.00 am
12.00 pm
1.00 pm
2.00 pm
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3.00 pm
4.00 pm
5.00 pm
6.00 pm
7.00 pm
8.00 pm
9.00 pm
10.00 pm
11.00 pm
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My Activity Diary Day 2

7.00 am
8.00 am
9.00 am
10.00 am
11.00 am
12.00 pm
1.00 pm
2.00 pm
3.00 pm
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4.00 pm
5.00 pm
6.00 pm
7.00 pm
8.00 pm
9.00 pm
10.00 pm
11.00 pm
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My Activity Diary Day 3

7.00 am
8.00 am
9.00 am
10.00 am
11.00 am
12.00 pm
1.00 pm
2.00 pm
3.00 pm
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4.00 pm
5.00 pm
6.00 pm
7.00 pm
8.00 pm
9.00 pm
10.00 pm
11.00 pm
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Home Activity 2: The Feeling Thermometer

How strong are your feelings? How would you rate your feelings on this Feeling Thermometer?
Very strong
10 9 8 7
Fairly strongly
6 5 4
Quite weak
3 2 1
Very weak
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Session 9: Learning To Solve Problems
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Overview
Common reasons for problems are identified, such as acting without thinking, feelings taking over and preventing us from thinking problems through and being unable to see alternative solutions. Ways of developing more effective problem-solving skills are explained and a self instructional traffic light system of Stop Think Go is suggested to improve skills. Alternative and consequential thinking is explained through identifying different solutions, thinking through the consequence and talking yourself through it. Activities include an exercise to practice the Stop Think Go traffic light system which engages the young person in methods of alternative and consequential thinking. This builds a key skill of identifying and evaluating possible solutions to problems. Talking to yourself continues this self reflection by encouraging participants to talk about their problems with others with similar experiences to themselves. Problem solving, based on the handout provided is used as a home activity In this exercise, a participant is asked to generate as many different possible solutions to the problem as possible. Once the solution has been identified, consequential thinking can be developed by examining each solution and looking at the possible outcome before taking action.
Aims and Objectives

Learn how to cope and manage problems more effectively Learn to assess, evaluate and identify solutions Learn and practice consequential thinking
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Session Plan
Welcome: set agenda for the session. Feedback: from the previous week/homework activity. Encourage sharing of good ideas and success Introduce the topic: Learning to solve problems. Spend some time discussing different reasons why problems happen. Learn to stop and think introduces the Stop, plan and go traffic light system. Ways of identifying different solutions, thinking through the consequences and talking your self through solutions should be discussed. Activity 1: Think stop and go. This activity gives participants the opportunity to practice planning new solutions to old problems. Encourage students to choose a problem they feel they encounter regularly in their daily lives Activity 2: Talking to yourself. This is activity continues the self reflection and planning from activity 1. Participants should be encouraged to think about who they could talk to about this problem. The focus should be on finding someone with the same problems so as to find out how they try and cope.
Home Activity Problem Solving

Using the handout, encourage participants to write down a particular problem and then think about all the possible solutions they can think of.
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Learning to Solve Problems

Each day brings a new set of problems and challenges. For example: dealing with being unfairly told off by a teacher trying to stay in your seat at school coping with teasing by an annoying brother or sister negotiating with your parents about staying out late When we encounter a problem we have to think about the different ways in which we could deal with it and then make a decision about what we will do or say. Sometimes we make the right choice, while at other times we seem to get it wrong. There will always be times when this happens, but some people seem to make more wrong choices or find it harder to solve problems than others. When this happens it is useful to think about how you are dealing with your problems and whether you could try to solve them in different ways.
Why Do Problems Happen?

There are many reasons why we are unable to solve our problems successfully. Some of these reasons are quite common:
Acting Without Thinking

Decisions and choices are sometimes made too quickly. You may rush into something without really thinking through what will happen. Nicks problem Nick heard his dad say that he had left the shopping in the car. Wanting to be helpful, Nick rushed out and carried all the bags from the back seat of the car into the ho use. He didnt check with his
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parents, but if he had he would have found out that their shopping was in the car boot. The bags he brought in were for a party his dad was organising at work. Sabrinas problem Sabrina heard her teachers instructions to copy her work into her book, and she immediately picked up her pen and started. Unfortunately, she didnt hear the next instruction, which told her to use a pencil and to start her work on a new page. Nick and Sabrina were both trying to be helpful, but in their rush they created more problems for themselves.
Feelings Take Over

Strong feelings like anger or anxiety sometimes take over and prevent us from thinking problems through and making the right choices about what we do or say. Mikes problem Mike became very angry when he was tackled during a game of football, and he kicked the other player. The referee sent Mike off the pitch. Jennys problem Jenny didnt understand her schoolwork, but was really worried about asking her teacher for help. She didnt ask, she got her homework wrong and she had to stay behind after school and do it again. Mike knew that if he kicked someone he would be sent off. Jenny knew that if she got her homework wrong she would have to do it again. At the time Mike and Jenny were not able to think about the consequences of their behaviour. Strong feelings took over and prevented them from thinking these situations through.
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Cant see any other solution? The third reason why we cant solve problems is because we just cant think of another way of doing things. We become very fixed in our ideas and cant see any other solutions.
Learn To Stop and Think

It is useful to learn a way of dealing with problems which ensures that you dont rush in with the first thing that comes into your head. A helpful approach is the Stop, Think and Go traffic light system:
Red Amber Green
Stop and consider your problem Think about what you do or say Go with your plan
The first step is often the hardest, and sometimes you may find it hard to stop yourself from rushing in. Practise imagining a picture of some traffic lights and as you see the red light think to yourself,
stop. As the light comes on, take a few deep breaths. This may help
you to calm down and slow down enough to let you plan and think about what you want to do, and go with your plan. The more you practice, the easier it will become.
Identify Different Solutions

Sometimes we meet the same problem or challenge every day but often end up making the wrong decision over and over again. When this happens, it is useful to stop and think about all of the different ways in which you can deal with this problem. Try using the or method to find as many possible solutions as you can. Another way of doing this is to take a sheet of paper and write down
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all of the possible solutions you can think of in two minutes. The idea is to get as many ideas as you can, so dont worry if some of them seem unrealistic or silly.
Billys Problem
Billy felt that his friends often ignored him, so he came up with a list of solutions to find ways in which he could get his friends to listen to him. I could talk louder shout stand in front of their faces so that they would have to listen to me keep repeating myself talk with one person rather than all the group find things to talk about that really interested them find a new group of friends
For Billy, the idea of shouting all the time seemed silly, and changing his group of friends was not really possible. Some of the other ideas he came up with were more useful. Billy decided that he needed to listen more carefully to the things that really interested his friends. He also decided that he would try to talk more with people on their own, rather than trying to join in with the group discussions. If you find it hard to think of any different ways of dealing with your problems then it may be useful to talk this over with someone else. Ask how they would deal with your problem, and see if they can suggest some different ideas.
Think Through The Consequences

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Once you have made a list of possible solutions, the next step is to work out which is the best one. Think about the positive and negative consequences of each idea and then choose the one that you think, on balance, will work best. This involves five steps:
1. What is my problem? 2. How could I deal with this problem? 3. What are the positive consequences of each solution? 4. What are the negative consequences of each solution? 5. On balance, what is the best solution?
Mandys Problem
Three girls at school have started to tease Mandy and call her names at break time. On the first day, Mandy became very angry and chased after the girls. On the second day, she hit one of the girls and ended up in trouble in front of the head teacher. On the third day, she called the girls names back, but this seemed to make the name-calling worse. Mandy decided to sit down and work out how she would cope with this problem.
Talk Yourself Through it

Another useful way of learning to solve problems is to ask someone who is successful to talk to you through what they do: Ask them to tell you what they do Watch them doing it
141
Then talk yourself through the problem This can be very helpful for those problems that seem to occur fairly often.
Michaels Problem
Michael felt very worried when he met his friends because he often did not know what to talk about. His friend Rob was very popular and always seemed to know what to say, so Michael asked for his help. Rob said that when he arrived at school each morning he would go up to his group of friends, say hello and talk about something that had been on television last night, such as a sports match or the latest episode of their favourite TV soap. Rob went to school with Michael the next day and as they arrived Rob talked aloud about what he was going to do as Michael watched. The next day, when Michael arrived at school he talked aloud about what he was going to do, Im going to walk across the playground, go up to Max and Ed, say hello and ask if they saw the game last night. Michael did this and was pleased to find that he was soon chatting with his friends. The next day he talked himself through it again, and after a few times Michael found that he was now doing this without thinking.
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Activity 1: Stop, Think, Go!

The traffic lights below will help you to deal with a problem you may have. Follow the 3 steps stop, think and go! Planning this out means that next time the problem occurs you should be ready to try out your new solution, which should hopefully help to deal with it!
STOP
What is your problem?
THINK
What is your solution?
GO!
When will you try it out?
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Activity 2:Talking To Yourself

Sometimes you have a problem that happens again and again. It can help to talk to or watch how someone else copes, and then to try out the ideas yourself. You can then make a plan to hopefully help you deal with this problem What is my problem?
Who could I talk it through with who has had the same problem?
How do they deal with this problem?
Which part of their plan can I use and when can I test them out?
How did it go?
144
Home Activity: Problem Solving

Write down a particular problem that you may have it can be anything. Then think of all the possible solutions you can to solve this problem or to make it easier.
My problem is
145
Session 10: Final Evaluation
146
Overview
This final session acts as a positive reinforcement of progress and success. It supports the theory that self-evaluation by participants is the most effective method when attempting to build self esteem, allowing participants to evaluate and feedback their own progress and change. Participants therefore complete and review the two evaluation tools and feedback areas of change, progress and development. The programme focuses on skills transfer, and from the outset, facilitators need to keep in mind strategies, tools and methods for promoting self-instructional and self-help skills. This final session should therfore look at ways that participants can maintain skills in order to prevent or manage future problems and challenges. To reinforce, praise and celebrate, an event or celebration might also be discussed and planned by the group as a closing session to the programme. For example, the presentation of the My House project if set. Finally goals and objectives for the future development might also be integrated into this final session. A chance for parents, teachers, family, friends and facilitators to share ideas about available resources, review or follow-up sessions and perhaps the idea of setting up further Thinksmart programme or support groups is often a valuable exercise post-programme.
Aims and Objectives

To evaluate the Thinksmart programme To identify what the participants have learned and celebrate individual and family achievements To explore strategies for the maintenance of change in the future To think about goals and plans for the future
147
Session Plan
Welcome: set agenda for the session. Feedback: from the previous week/homework activity.Encourage sharing of good ideas and success Self-evaluation activities. Participants are encouraged to re-rate
and assess themselves. A comparison can then be made using all, or any one of the self-assessment tools: Personal checklist Rosenberg self-esteem scale
Open Discussion regarding change would also be useful. In this way participants are encouraged to offer their feedback about the project. Possible discussion points include: What experiences have the participants learned from that have contributed to any positive change? How can they maintain progress and change? What obstacles have been overcome? What are the biggest changes that have been made or noticed? What are the participants pleased about? How do you celebrate achievements? My House could be used as a final creative activity that the participants present back to their parents and friends, teachers and families. Thinksmart evaluation forms should also be completed in this session Closing activity Offer a party, presentation or celebration for completing the programme to end the final session. You may want to have food, drink, fun and even present certificates!
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1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
149
Self Evaluation
The nature and structure of this final evaluation is by definition, a product of the process that has developed over the previous 9 weeks of the programme. Some key factors must, however be considered during and at the end of the programme. Transfer and maintenance of skills is a prime objective of the Thinksmart programme. However, progress towards increased selfmotivation, raised aspirations and the maintenance of healthy selfesteem can only be achieved when a young person has gained enough self-awareness to identify, evaluate and deal effectively with their own problems and challenges. Self-evaluation is therefore a key part of the Thinksmart programme. This session is therefore not just For about evaluating the programme and how useful/enjoyable it was it is also about you evaluating the changes you have experienced. example: Do you feel more confident? yourself and your ability to solve problems? Do you feel better about
Self-evaluation Tools
Two individual tools are provided within the programme to support this process of self evaluation. They are completed at the start and end of the programme so that individuals can evaluate any change that has taken place. They are: Personal Checklist Rosenberg Self Esteem Scale
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Personal Checklist
Shade in the boxes to show how much each of these statements is true for you.
I have a strong sense of who I am I am very aware of how I behave in different ways according to the situation I am in I can usually see things from other peoples perspectives I have a good understanding of how different relationships work I am usually realistic about how I think others view me I am able to be independent and self-reliant
I am able to be in a relationship without feeling swamped or overwhelmed by the other person I understand my emotions and why I feel the way I do in different situations I believe that I am a likeable and worthwhile person
I am respectful and tolerant of other peoples views
I feel in control of how I express my emotions
I am able to distinguish my feelings from those of others I can accept constructive criticism from others
I am able to acknowledge my own strengths
I recognise areas that I find difficult and may want to work on I like and respect myself I am self-motivated. I tend not to worry too much what others might think of me
I am assertive in the way that I deal with unjustified criticism from others I take good care of myself I believe that I have mastery over my life
I can tolerate my own mistakes I know how to relax and enjoy myself
I feel OK about my physical appearance I am able to adjust my actions, feelings and thoughts according to realistic assessments of my progress I am usually able to listen well to what others have to say
I enjoy new challenges
I believe that I let other people see who I really am through my words and actions I believe that my options, thoughts and actions have value
I enjoy talking to new people
I consider myself to be a creative person
I am confident enough in my own abilities to be able to try different ways of solving problems I cope well with unexpected events
I am generally optimistic
I tend not to dwell on past events or worry about the future
I regularly set myself realistic yet challenging goals
I believe that I am capable of fulfilling my potential
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Rosenberg Self Esteem Scale (SES)
Please read the following statements and shade the box that best describes how much you agree or disagree with each one
Strongly Agree On the whole, I am satisfied with myself 3 0 3 3 0 0 3 0 0 Agree Disagree Strongly Disagree 0 3 0 0 3 3 0 3 3
2 1 2 2 1 1 2 1 1
1 2 1 1 2 2 1 2 2
At times, I think I am no good at all I feel that I have a number of good qualities I am able to do things as well as most other people I feel I do not have much to be proud of I feel useless at times I feel that I should be valued and I am equal to others I wish I could have more respect for myself I often think I am a failure I take a positive attitude toward myself
Add up the total number of points in the shaded boxes to get your final score:
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3 .
2.
Behaviour Birds
(how do I act?)
Sensation Smoke
(how do I feel?)
1.
(what rules do I believe?)
Roof of Rules
1. 2. 3. 1. 2. 3.
Chimney of Fears
(what do I worry about?)
Window of Truth
(my beliefs)
1.
Window of Truth Window of Truth

(my beliefs) (my beliefs)
3.
2.
Doorbell
(my trigger)
Yellow Brick Road

(my early experiences)
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Thinksmart Evaluation Form

Name:_______________ Date:______ For each of the following questions please put a tick in the boxes below: Have you had fun in the group? Not at all A little bit A lot Loads
Has being in the group helped you get on better with others? Not at all A little bit A lot Very much
Has being in the group helped you feel more confident? Not at all A little bit A lot Very much
Has being in the group given you new experiences? Not at all A little bit A lot Loads
Do you think that the group had helped you feel better about yourself? Not at all A little bit A lot Very much
Has being in the group helped you with your worries? Not at all A little bit A lot Very much
What would you tell other people about the Thinksmart group? Load of rubbish They were ok Very good Brilliant
Any other comments about the programme or group?
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Individual Recording Sheet

Participant Name:
Date/Session Number Comments
Group Facilitator(s):
Date/Session Number
Comments
Date/Session Number
Comments
Date/Session Number
Comments
Date/Session Number
Comments
Date/Session Number
Comments
Date/Session Number
Comments
Date/Session Number
Comments
Date/Session Number
Comments
Date/Session Number
Comments
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Think Smart Programme For Young People

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Think Smart Programme For Young People

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Second Edition (2009)

The Thinksmart Programme for Young People Content

Session 1: Getting Started, Getting To Know You & Setting Goals

Session 2: Thoughts, Feelings & What You Do

Session 3: Identifying Thoughts & Types of Thinking

Session 4: Controlling Your Thoughts

Session 5: How Do You Feel?

Session 6: Controlling Your Feelings

Session 7: Why Do We Do What We Do?

Session 8: Changing Our Behaviours

Session 9: Learning to Solve Problems

Session 10: Final Evaluation

Introduction: The Thinksmart Approach

Overview of the Thinksmart Programme

Structure of the Programme

session in order to monitor progress and development in home activities.

Definition of Target Group

Home Activities and the Involvement of Parents or Carers

Methods Used in Thinksmart

Identification of Unhelpful Cognitions

Thought Evaluation and Development of Alternate Cognitive Processes

Learning New Cognitive Skills

Role Play, Modelling and Rehearsal

Reinforcement and Reward

Session 1: Getting Started, Getting to Know You & Setting Goals

Session Aims and Objectives

Home Activity: Personal checklist and SES. These questionnaires

Introduction to the Course

Getting to Know the Group

I enjoy watching sport

I got the bus here today

I have an unusual hobby

I dont like chocolate

Being Part of a Group

What I believe I can contribute

What would help me to feel most comfortable in this group

Talents and skills

Difficulties I have overcome

Activity 2: Character Sketch

(what rules do I believe?)

Window of Truth Window of Truth

Yellow Brick Road

Group goals and objectives.

Home Activity 1: Personal Checklist

I am respectful and tolerant of other peoples views

I feel in control of how I express my emotions

I am able to acknowledge my own strengths

I enjoy new challenges

I enjoy talking to new people

I consider myself to be a creative person

I tend not to dwell on past events or worry about the future

I regularly set myself realistic yet challenging goals

I believe that I am capable of fulfilling my potential

Home Activity 2: Rosenberg Self Esteem Scale (SES)

Session 2: Thoughts, Feelings & What You Do

Session Aims and Objectives

Home Activity Feedback

Thoughts, Feelings and What You Do

The Magic Circle

How you feel

What You Think

How You Feel

Activity 1: The Magic Circle