Types of Support
A friend listens while you talk about a hard day and helps you feel understood. What type of support is this?
Emotional Support
What does it mean to regulate your body?
Helping your body and emotions settle so you can respond thoughtfully.
What are automatic negative thoughts?
Quick, often negative thoughts that pop into our minds in response to a situation.
What is the first thing you should do when using a problem-solving process?
Identify or define the problem.
Someone helps you organize your homework or gives you a ride to an appointment. What type of support is this?
Practical Support
Why can calming your body help you think through a challenging situation?
It can help you slow down, focus, and make better decisions instead of reacting automatically.
Instead of saying, "I failed this math test," you say, "I am stupid."
Labeling.
After identifying a problem, what should you do before choosing a solution?
Brainstorm possible solutions.
A coach says, "I know this is hard, but I believe you can keep working at it." What type of support is this?
Encouragement
Name one coping strategy we practiced that can help you reset when you feel overwhelmed.
Visualization, puzzles, Sudoku, or kinetic sand.
You send a message to a friend, and they don't respond. You immediately think, "They're mad at me." What thinking trap is this?
Mind reading.
Why is it helpful to think of more than one possible solution?
It gives you options and helps you find a strategy that might work best.
A trusted adult helps you look at a problem from another point of view and suggests possible next steps. What type of support is this?
Guidance or perspective
You feel frustrated and your thoughts are racing. Name two things you could do to help yourself regulate.
Take slow breaths, visualize a calm place, work on a puzzle, use kinetic sand, or take a short break.
You get one question wrong and think, "I'm going to fail this entire class!" What thinking trap is this?
Catastrophizing.
You keep getting distracted while doing homework. Describe how you could use problem-solving to address this.
Identify the distraction, brainstorm solutions, choose one (such as putting away your phone), try it, and evaluate whether it worked.
Your friend is overwhelmed about a project. Give one example of each type of support: emotional, practical, encouragement, and guidance/perspective.
Examples include listening without judging (emotional), helping organize materials (practical), reminding someone they can do it (encouragement), and helping break a project into steps (guidance/perspective).
You are so upset about a difficult assignment that you cannot focus. Explain what you could do first, next, and after that to calm down and return to the task.
Pause and notice your feelings, use a calming strategy, check whether you feel more settled, and then break the assignment into smaller steps.
You forget to finish an assignment and think, "I should have known better. I should never make mistakes." Identify the thinking trap and give a more balanced thought.
A "should" statement. A balanced thought might be, "I wish I had finished it, but mistakes happen. I can make a plan to do better next time."
You try a solution, but it does not work. Does that mean you failed at problem-solving? What should you do next?
No. Evaluate what happened, adjust the plan, choose another solution, and try again.