Challenging Negative Thinking Activities for Positive Self Talk

Counseling resources to change negative thoughts and replace them with positive self-talk. Use this in small group counseling or individual counseling to help students with automatic negative thoughts identify them, find strategies to challenge them, and create positive replacement thoughts. 

Resources available in print and digital Google Slides for distance learning.

This resource is packed with materials so you can continue practicing and reinforcing the concept until students feel comfortable. 

What's Included?

• Small Group or Individual Plan. This counseling plan is meant to be flexible so that you can respond to your student's needs and skills.
• Change Your Thinking Poster. Simple poster to help students change their negative thoughts.
• Sort the Thoughts Activity. Students sort 36 thoughts either too negative, too positive, or just right.
• Challenging Negative Thinking Materials. This section provides 12 suggested strategies for challenging negative thinking. Students can apply these to provided negative thoughts or their own negative thoughts.
• Bright Light Thoughts Activity. Students create positive thoughts that they can use to counter negative thoughts. Example statements are included.
• 10 Keep It Positive Worksheets. These are ten worksheets with thirty different examples. Each example gives a typical student problem and a corresponding negative thought. Below the scenario and negative thought, there is space for the student to write a positive thought they could think instead.
• Blank Worksheet: This provides the template that a counselor and student could fill in together by letting the student generate a personal scenario and negative thoughts. This will help the student make a stronger connection. A counselor could also use this sheet to develop more examples of their own.
• 2 Reflection Sheets: Two sheets are provided with reflection questions that students can answer to analyze their feelings, thoughts, and behaviors after a triggering event.
• Negative Automatic Thoughts Poster and List: Thinking error poster and list of more specific errors.
• Student Skills Data Sheet. Track how your student is doing with these skills.

Details

This resource is ideal for individual counseling or within small CBT-based groups. Special education and general education teachers can use many parts in their work with individual students. Parents may also find this very helpful.

The resource is based on cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) and is perfect for students in 3rd-6th grade. It can easily be modified for second grade as well.