As counselors, adopting the 3 C’s of CBT (Catch, Check, Change) offers a structured and effective approach to address cognitive distortions in teenagers. By catching, checking, and changing negative thought patterns, we empower adolescents to navigate their emotions with resilience and embrace a healthier mindset.
Calming corners can be used in your house, in the classroom, and in your counseling office. I view calming corners as a way to help students regulate their emotions and focus on positive coping skills. Calming corners encourage students to cope with their negative emotions and “self-soothe”. Learning these positive coping skills at a young age is something that will help them throughout the rest of their lives!
Separation anxiety is common when students first start preschool and elementary school. It’s not that common in middle school, but let’s just say it happens enough for me to write a blog post about it!! Every year I see more and more separation anxiety at the middle school level. Some parents say their child has always had separation anxiety and others say this is the first time they’re seeing signs. It’s not surprising that students suddenly develop anxiety in middle school considering they’re developmentally moving from concrete thinking to abstract thinking. There’s lots of information available online regarding the connection between abstract thinking and anxiety but that’s not something we’re going to dive into today.