Everyone experiences negative self-talk from time to time, but how can youngsters learn to take it easy on themselves? Use an activity that focuses on talking positively to oneself, including giving yourself compliments and spending time doing what you enjoy, to help develop a positive self-image.

Concepts

self esteem, expressing feelings, emotions, counseling, anger management, compliments, positive thinking

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Additional Tags

health

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Instructional Ideas

• Use in a peer counseling class, or when counseling a small group of learners
• Have individuals write about the times when they are hard on themselves, or when they feel frustrated with themselves
• Don't assign the entire activity as an individual assignment, as it's best as a guided activity

Classroom Considerations

• The title is a bit of a misnomer; the activity is more about self-care and positive talk, with reward discussions at the very end of the lesson
• Sensitive nature of discussion topics requires a classroom atmosphere of trust and confidence

Pros

• Beneficial for those in need of emotional regulation, as well as any learner who feels pressure or stress on occasion
• Gently guides learners through the process of examining their own negative self-talk, and actively turns the negative statements into positive statements
• A great way to improve the self-esteem of adolescences

Cons

• None