Coping Skills
Name two healthy coping strategies you can use silently while sitting at your desk in a busy classroom.
Deep breathing (box breathing), 5-4-3-2-1 grounding, progressive muscle relaxation (clenching/releasing toes), or positive self-talk.
Name three physical warning signs your body gives you when you are starting to feel anxious or stressed.
Increased heart rate, sweaty palms, tight jaw/shoulders, stomach butterflies, shallow breathing, or feeling warm.
True or False: Saying "no" to a friend when you feel tired or overwhelmed means you are being a bad friend. Explain why.
False. Setting limits protects your mental health and prevents resentment in friendships.
Name two internal personal strengths that money cannot buy (e.g., empathy, resilience, curiosity, humor).
Identifying non-material internal qualities and self-attributes.
What is a cognitive distortion or a "tricky thought"? Give a quick definition in your own words.
An unhelpful or irrational thought pattern that distorts reality and makes us feel worse than a situation actually is.
Explain the difference between an active coping skill (like going for a run or drawing) and an avoidant coping skill (like scrolling social media for hours to ignore homework).
Active skills help you process or recharge so you can face a problem; avoidant skills temporarily distract you but leave the problem untreated.
True or False: There are "good" emotions and "bad" emotions. Explain your answer.
False. All emotions are informative signals. Some feel uncomfortable (sadness, anger, fear), but every emotion serves a purpose (e.g., fear protects us from danger).
Name the three main communication styles: Passive, Aggressive, and Assertive. Which one is healthiest for setting boundaries?
Assertive communication (being clear, calm, direct, and respectful).
What does the word resilience mean when facing a difficult situation?
The ability to bounce back, adapt, or recover after experiencing a challenge, mistake, or hardship.
Reframe this All-or-Nothing thought into a balanced thought: "If I don't get an A on this project, I am a complete failure."
"Getting a B or C means I worked hard and learned something, even if it wasn't a perfect score. My grade doesn't define my entire value."
Walk us through the 5-4-3-2-1 Grounding Technique. What senses do the numbers represent?
5 things you can see, 4 you can touch/feel, 3 you can hear, 2 you can smell, and 1 you can taste (used for anxiety/distress tolerance).
What does it mean to feel ambivalent or experience two opposing emotions at the exact same time? Give an example.
Experiencing two conflicting feelings at once (e.g., feeling excited to go to high school next year, but scared about leaving middle school friends).
Give an example of a digital boundary you can set with friends on social media or group chats.
Turning off phone notifications past 9 PM, not sharing passwords, leaving a toxic group chat, or letting friends know you won't reply instantly when studying.
Identify one area where you have grown or improved over the last year. What personal strength helped you make that progress?
Encouraging growth mindset and recognizing personal agency/effort over static achievement.
What is Catastrophizing (or "making a mountain out of a molehill")? Reframe this thought: "I tripped in the hallway, now everyone in school hates me."
Catastrophizing is expecting the worst possible outcome. Reframed: "Tripping was embarrassing for a second, but people fall all the time and will forget about it by lunch."
You get an unexpected bad grade on a test and feel an immediate wave of anger and frustration. What is a healthy "cooling off" strategy you can use before reacting?
Taking a 10-minute time-out, using deep diaphragmatic breathing, writing out feelings in a journal, or drinking cold water (TIPP skills).
What is the difference between primary and secondary emotions? (Hint: Think of anger as an iceberg).
Primary emotions are the immediate, raw feelings underneath (like hurt, fear, or shame). Secondary emotions are reactions to the primary emotion (like anger acting as a protective shield over hurt feelings).
A friend repeatedly asks to borrow your homework to copy it. You want to keep the friendship, but you don't want to get into trouble. How do you respond assertively?
Using clear limits (e.g., "I can't lend you my completed paper, but I'm happy to hop on a call and explain question #4 to you if you want").
How can a strength you possess (like being a good listener or being detail-oriented) accidentally become an area of stress if you overuse it?
Understanding balance (e.g., being a great listener can lead to absorbing other people's problems until you feel overwhelmed).
Explain what it means to practice "Thought Spotting." How do you check if a thought is a fact or an opinion/feeling?
Examining the evidence for and against a thought before automatically believing it as an absolute truth.
Demonstrate "Box Breathing" to the room right now (Inhale 4s, Hold 4s, Exhale 4s, Hold 4s). Explain how it affects your nervous system.
slowing down breath activates the parasympathetic nervous system ("rest and digest") to calm the body's fight-or-flight response.
Describe a time you felt misunderstood or overwhelmed recently.
Processing personal experience using emotional identification and structured communication (e.g., "I feel overwhelmed when I am given three assignments on the same night because I don't know where to start").
Role-play setting a boundary with a friend who keeps teasing you about something that hurts your feelings, using a calm and direct tone.
Direct practice of setting personal limits (e.g., "Hey, I know you're joking, but I really don't like when you make comments about my clothing. Please stop doing that").
Name one thing you genuinely appreciate about yourself that has nothing to do with school grades, sports performance, or physical appearance.
Cultivating intrinsic self-worth and non-contingent self-esteem.
magine you tried out for a school team or club and didn't get selected. Give one toxic/unhelpful thought you might have,and then reframe it using Growth Mindset self-talk.
Unhelpful: "I'm terrible at this and should never try again." Reframed: "I'm disappointed I didn't make it, but I learned what areas I need to practice, and I can try again or explore a new interest."