I have found that children are quick to learn positive thinking skills, but are also quick to forget them! Affirmation cards can help children remember to put positive thinking skills into practice. I encourage clients to put the cards in places that they will see throughout the day to trigger positive thinking.
Affirmation cards work well to solidify cognitive behavioral therapy interventions. I am a strong proponent of CBT, always looking for creative ways to integrate the skills into play therapy. We often play therapy games as well as modified board games to help children identify self-talk and to rescript negative statements. Affirmation cards are a great follow up to put the new ideas on paper. Kids can then look back on them regularly to continue the work. These are a great addition to add to their coping skill toolboxes.
Related Post: How to Use CBT with Children
Positive self-talk is vital for healthy self-esteem. Unhealthy thought patterns can result in high anxiety, depression, anger, and a host of other issues. It is difficult for a person to maintain healthy relationships while having an unhealthy relationship with their self. Identifying and modifying negative thoughts can be quite difficult with children, as most are unaware of their internal dialogue. Many CBT concepts are beyond their developmental ability to understand without incorporating play or visuals to make it easier.
Metaphors are powerful tools when working with children. They take abstract ideas and put a picture with them. When you give a physical representation of something happening within the body, it helps children to understand. This can happen through play, books, games, puppetry, and many other avenues. Children will learn best and enjoy the process when it is engaging and fun.
I like to use Angry Birds to teach CBT concepts. The pigs represent negative self-talk statements and the Angry Birds represent truth bombs. I will choose a negative self-talk statement and help the child identify an appropriate truth bomb to blow it up. I have a blog post about ways to use Angry Birds in play therapy as well as a free Angry Birds Truth Bomb card game.
I also enjoy using metaphors such as beautiful flowers to help children with self-esteem. Flowers come in all different shapes, sizes, and colors. This concept is incorporated in my free eBook Tend the Garden of Your Heart.
Here is the process I use:
Step 1: Discuss with the child how positive thoughts lead to positive feelings and negative thoughts lead to negative feelings. **Best done through play! These concepts come out regularly through using CBT games.
Step 2: Role-play various scenarios of using fearful thoughts, angry thoughts, sad thoughts, happy thoughts and help your client identify how they would feel in those situations.
Step 3: Help your client identify thoughts that trouble them, such as: "I'm ugly," "I'm stupid," "No one likes me." Explain how to challenge negative thinking with positive thinking, such as "I don't like my chin, but my eyes are beautiful," "I struggle with math, but I'm great at reading," and "Johnny is mean to me, but I still have lots of friends." **Be sure to look for themes during play. Many of these thougths and feelings can be unspoken, but are apparent as they process through play.
Step 4: Make affirmation cards to reinforce positive statements.
Step 5: Place cards where they will be seen throughout the day.
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