calm-a-llama

https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Anxiety-Strategies-Workbook-3515127

My first item of interest is the Calm-a-Llama workbook.  The workbook is based on mindfulness practices and teaches students how to better cope with stress and emotionally self-regulate.  The reason why I like this workbook so much, is because it guides students and helps them develop coping skills that are effective for them.  The book first starts out with a ther-llama-ter, which is a rating scale that kids can use to help them identify what they are feeling.  The colors on the ther-llama-ter go from green to indicate calm to red to indicate out of control.  ON the side the student is supposed to write coping skills that they will use at every level to help them from going to the red zone.  I think that this is a solution focused, strengths based approach because the student picks out what they are going to do at every zone and during this lesson, students are also taught how to identify when they are escalating.  The workbook also has a weekly tracker where students can self-report how they felt during the week which can be useful if this is incorporated into a BIP or an IEP.  Additionally, the self-report part of the work book can be used to track data at different parts of the day and in different settings as well. The workbook also teaches students how to use mindfulness based deep breathing to help calm themselves down when they are started to feel like they are escalating.  The workbook also addresses grounding techniques and helps the student through the grounding process. Another nice part of the workbook is that it comes with a mini-social story that students can use to prompt the use of their workbook.  The workbook is meant to be used with a younger population, but I have used parts of the book with my high schoolers and they have loved it.  Mindfulness based interventions are also evidence based and this workbook can be used with students that are struggling with anxiety or incorporated into the social emotional curriculum.  

school refusal and anxiety

My second item of interest, is taken from a presentation from the IASSW conference.  The presentation was sponsored by AMITA Health and it first provides framework for understanding a trauma informed focused. As the presentation goes on, it gives interventions to use for students that are high anxiety and that are refusing school.  One of the highlights of the presentation is a slide that contains a chart that students can use to rate their anxiety and then list coping skills that they can use to bring that anxiety to a lower level.  The anxiety rating scale is out of 10 and I thought it was neat that this chart also contained physical symptoms.  I feel like whenever I have worked with students that have anxiety I do not think I’ve focused on the physical symptoms of the anxiety.  I think that helping students identify any potential triggers. I think that explaining students how anxiety can impact their physical bodies is also a good psychoeducational tool to have.  The presentation also explains the impacts of the downstairs and upstairs brain and how each part can impact an individual’s behavior. Trauma impacts the downstairs brain by overdeveloping the areas that are primarily responsible for keeping us safe and alive.  The whole presentation also provides interventions that we can use in the school setting to accommodate students with anxiety or that are refusing schools.  It breaks down interventions from the macro levels to the micro levels as well.

Setting SMART Goals

For my second item of interest I have chosen this lesson put together by a school counselor on setting SMART (Specific, Measurable, Realistic, Timely) goals. This activity is more geared towards older students in middle or high school. This activity can work with individuals, small groups, or big groups. The activity shown was conducted with a classroom of 8th graders. The counselor broke the activity down into three days with different focuses but it can be tailored to fit the amount of time you have and according to what you want to focus. This approach to setting goals has been tested a professor of psychology and proved that writing down goals and having actions steps that follow are important for achieving the goals. The first link gives a short explanation of the goals that you can have students write down without using any worksheet.



Quick Explanation


Goal Setting Activity

Goal Setting Problem Solving Tier 2

For my item of interest, I have chosen a tool that my supervisor and I use when co-leading our male Tier 2 groups. This group is for males who have indicated need for additional educational support to improve school performance. This can also work with female students as well. We use a goal setting problem solving approach weekly during their lunch through the means of a worksheet. The worksheet is broken down into four main sections: Short term goals: goals they want to accomplish within the six weeks’ frame. Long term goals: goals after high school. Third section are the obstacles that get in the of accomplishing the short term goals. Lastly plans of action, this is where as a team we brainstorm ways for that student to succeed with accomplishing their short term goals for that week. This allows for open dialogue to be held within the group. After six weeks we evaluate where the student's grades started to where their grades ended up, after the goals in placed. And if they may benefit with more sessions. 

Social Stories

https://carolgraysocialstories.com/social-stories/what-is-it/

My item of interest is Social Stories. My supervisor asked me to start writing some stories for one of the student's on the case load with autism. The goal for this particular student was helping him to understand how to work with others. However, social stories can literally be used for anything social skills related. It is a great tool when you need to appropriately introduce students to concepts they are unfamiliar with. I think it is very beneficial for the elementary/ middle school age, but of course can be used for high school age students as well.  The website does give several examples of social stories, which I found helpful when writing my own. The topics the website has examples on are, safety, tragedies, discovery of self and others, and advanced concepts like stereotypes.

Therapist Aid-worksheets and tools for mental health professionals

https://www.therapistaid.com

Therapist Aid is a very useful website that has many tools available for mental health professionals.  The website allows you to choose which demographic you are working with, children, adolescents, or adults and provides worksheets and tools designed specifically for each population.  Therapy aid also allows you to search different topics, such as, anger, anxiety, stress, self-esteem, grief, and trauma.  There are also art therapy worksheets and projects available for each age demographic.  Therapy aid provides videos and articles that cover various topics including, depression, the anxiety cycle, progressive muscle relaxation, and deep breathing exercises.  I have found the anxiety coping skills, healthy stress coping, and self-esteem worksheets to be very helpful for working with high school students. I also think that the Trauma information and worksheets provided are very sensitive and helpful in explaining what trauma is and its impact on a person. The trauma worksheets can be used to help a student process their own trauma and develop healthy coping strategies.  There are also informational videos  and worksheets on CBT and DBT.  There are worksheets that help with interpersonal skills, distress tolerance skills, emotion regulation skills, communication skills, challenging negative thoughts, goal development and much more.  I have used different worksheets from therapy aid in groups and one on one sessions and found them to be effective in both settings.  There are different membership types, but I have been using the free one and have been able to get a lot of worksheets, videos, and articles.

Art Therapy Exercises

The item of interest I have chosen is a website that presents about 100 different art therapy exercises. The website was put together by an emotion-focused counselor which provides external links to sources where ideas for activities are given. Some are better suited for work with younger students, others are more appropriate for work with older students, and others would be great for groups. I have been able to apply several of these lessons to my students who have a hard time expressing themselves verbally. These activities have been a great way of introducing topics of family, self-esteem, relationships, etc. The website breaks down the activities in different categories, so it is easy to find an activity that targets the population one is working with.

100 Art Therapy Exercises

Social Skills and Trauma Related Resources

I wanted to find some helpful ways to engage with students (especially on the teen level) when they do come down for check ins but there are no immediate concerns. As well as for my students who do have IEP’s, I was looking for other resources that I can implement with the students that are geared towards their goals. So I stumbled upon childtherapytoys.com. They have everything from sand trays and the miniatures, to books and games that can be categorized by age group. You can ‘shop by topic’ where they have a list of different mental health needs. For every mental health category there are different books such as workbooks and interactive activity books. Some of the books (not all) may look a little more outdated but there is a nice variety. One of the games that stood out to me was The Empathy Card Game.  The purpose of the game is to assist teens and children with how to understand someone else's feelings and to read nonverbal cues. This game is perfect for kids who have difficulty with social communication and a great way to build rapport and engage. The cards are separated into 3 categories: emotion cards, value cards and talking without words cards. The value cards will give the student a scenario and they would choose what the best choice would be based on the 4 options listed. The Emotion cards are more of questions pertaining to their emotional response to scenarios; again there are 4 options listed. The talking without words cards deals with more non verbal responses. An example is, “I’m going to make a face like one of the choices below. Guess which one I’m thinking about,” and then there are 4 options listed below such as, “my pet turtle died, I just flunked a spelling test, I just took a sip of spoiled milk, I ate too much for dinner.”

They have some really great books for the younger kids that really stood out to me. The Becoming A Superhero: A Book for Children Who Have Experienced Trauma book, which provides young kids with specific coping skills for dealing with trauma, includes strategies to reduces PTSD symptoms, helpful for prevention and intervention, and is the information is on research based techniques. I would also recommend checking Amazon for potentially cheaper prices.

The Mask You Live In

Being exposed to this documentary during Undergrad, was really eye opening and honestly felt a relief to see other men reflecting on the expectation to be a “man” today is toxic. The Mask You Live In discusses what it means to be a man in today’s society and the expectations and pressure that goes along with it. The idea of how exactly do we get these male gender norms that tell young boys that to be a man. Norms such as “You cannot cry, you have to play sports, get a girlfriend by treating them this way, and be this tough guy persona”. We live in a society that tell young boys to have this mindset at such a young age to just man up and move on. The Mask You Live In is a great tool to use in a school setting especially during their Freshman year and throughout as a way of exposure to themes such as defining what masculinity is to them, learned behaviors (nature vs nurture), resulting emotions feed into violence, and lastly the responsibility that men have today to towards the younger generation. By using this film and using the follow up questions from the film. Questions such as "How has your present-day definition of masculinity been informed? Have you actively challenged societal concepts of masculinity, or do you feel you have taken a more passive approach and absorbed gender norms?” I feel this is a great way to get young men to understand and reflect on where they stand and how they want to be. 

http://influencefilmclub.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/09/The-Mask-You-Live-In-Discussion-Guide.pdf

The Emotions Tree

This worksheet was shared with me last year during my foundation year field placement at Youth Services of Glenview/Northbrook. It was originally presented as a tool to use with children who have been impacted by trauma. It was recommended to me that I use it with a client and have him identify various members of his family and then explore the reasons behind his choices. I have since used this tool in a number of other ways. I have utilized this as a form of a family tree for adolescent clients of various backgrounds. I appreciate that the people around the tree do not conform to specific genders or sexuality so there is room for the client to pick and choose as they please. Additionally, there are a number of emotions portrayed by the people that can be interpreted by the client in various ways. I have also used this worksheet to explore emotions and broaden a client's emotional vocabulary. This can be especially useful with clients on the spectrum who may benefit from social skills therapy. This worksheet is so open ended! I welcome your thoughts and feedback on how this may fit you and your client's needs. 

Calm Classroom

The second item of interest I chose was Calm Classroom, by Jai and Joy Luster.  This is an evidence based program that uses mindfulness techniques to help students and teachers be more aware of themselves.  The program focuses on developing self-awareness, mental focus and inner calm.  Calm Classroom provides users with ways to manage stress, regulate their emotions, and live more balanced lives.  The program includes breathing, stretching, relaxation, and focusing methods to create a more mindful school climate.  Many of these techniques are written down by the authors and read to the class by the teacher.  Each technique takes roughly three minutes to implement by a teacher.  The teacher is supposed to do the activities three times a day at scheduled times.  These methods are not limited to just a school, they can also be implemented during individual sessions with students. 

Calm Classroom is ultimately dependent on the teacher or social workers consistency to utilize the methods provided in the curriculum; regular use will produce the most effective results.  Ultimately, the program encourages the development of empowered and self-aware students and emphasizes peace in ourselves and our communities.