Cognitive Behavioral Therapy

DESCRIBE THESE WORDS Rather than teaching, I try to focus on what they know already. Most of these children are super smart, they know more than what we tend to give them credit for. So, asking them what this means, can really help us know what they know, and what else they need to know, and sometimes it can also help them remember when they are teaching others.

WHAT DOES YOUR FUTURE LOOK LIKE In this session I teach the children about how a situation leads us to have a belief system, leading to thoughts, feelings, and actions. Once the actions occur several times, it leads to habit, character, and personality. This is my favorite session. This can be such a good conversation with kids who are oppositional, aggressive, and have impulsive behaviors. Similar to how we just brush our teeth without thinking about it (because of our behaviors turning into a habit), do they want to have a habit of impulsive, aggressive, and oppositional behaviors, and what kind of life would that look like (jail, thief, violent person)?

SHARING EXAMPLES: This is a fun exercise for the children to share their examples of going in detail to their triggers or events they shared in the timeline activity. If they have a hard time sharing their examples, they can always choose to discuss others, or maybe talk about a scene from the movie, a celebrity, role model, or cartoons that they like.

EXPLORATION OF BELIEF SYSTEM: This is my favorite one. To explore the belief system, you can always go back to the previous session and explore the triggers, timeline activity, or what they themselves think is their belief system. Or, you can always ask these questions to explore their thoughts and find more.