Counselor's Corner Check In
I hope you are all staying safe and warm. What a winter we have had!
While it has been cold and snowy, we've still been busy learning skills! This month the kids have been continuing to add tools to their "Emotion Regulation" toolboxes. So far this month we've learned all about: checking the facts, opposite action and ABC PLEASE.
Our skill of checking the facts is just that- examining what is going on to ensure that the emotion matches the situation. Oftentimes, it does. For example we experience something sad and feel sadness as a result. However, there are times where we feel an emotion based on something that is not factual such as feeling hurt when someone laughs when you walk in the room. In order to fully address the issue, we must learn to examine what actually and factually happened. Could it be that someone told a joke at the very moment you walked in? Learning to check the facts can help minimize unnecessary negative emotions and reactions.
Opposite action is the skill that we use, for example, when we may feel sad or just not wanting to get out of bed and get going... Doing the complete opposite of that- getting up, ready and out the door helps us get out of that strong emotion that we may be feeling at the time. This is also the skill that we use when we've had such a bad day or so much has gone wrong that we just begin to laugh. Students have learned that, not all of the time, but some of the time doing the complete opposite of what we feel like doing can be helpful.
ABC Please skills include gathering positive experiences, doing things to build confidence, coping and head and taking care of our physical bodies as seen below in the diagrams.
In the coming months we will finish up Emotion Regulation and move to Interpersonal Effectiveness. Let's make the rest of this year great, go Eagles!
