7 CBT Activities You Can Use in School Counseling
CBT activities are the perfect for school counselors looking for effective and reusable materials for individual counseling with kids.
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CBT counseling bundle for individual and small-group sessions | Grades 2-8 | 3 resources, 78+ pages | PDF + editable PowerPoint | color & black-and-white included.
You know the student who won't try because something might go wrong. The one who's quietly stopped doing the things they used to love. And the one who's decided they just are an angry kid. Different students, different weeks, and the same moment of wondering which tool to reach for.
This bundle puts three CBT tools in one place, each built for one of those students and ready to use with minimal prep. Every tool uses a research-backed technique, a metaphor kids latch onto fast, a short counselor guide, and a personalized plan the student can practice between sessions.
With this bundle, you'll help students:
- Face what they've been avoiding, one manageable step at a time.
- See how activity and mood are connected, and rebuild the routines that lift them.
- Step back from a big feeling and use coping strategies to shrink it.
- Track their own fear ratings, mood shifts, and practice over time.
What's Included
Brave Ladder: Gradual Exposure Counseling Activities
A step-by-step gradual exposure tool. Students name a brave goal, brainstorm and rate steps with the Brave Thermometer, build a personalized ladder, and track practice with before/after fear ratings. Works for social anxiety, separation fears, and specific phobias.
8+ pages | PDF + editable PowerPoint | color & BW | Grades 2-8
Behavioral Activation Counseling Activities
A behavioral activation tool built around a battery-charging metaphor for students who are withdrawing. Two differentiated student packs (grades 3-5 and 6-8), plus a counselor guide with session plans and language for pushback. Includes charge/drain sorting and two mood trackers.
20 pages | PDF | color & BW | Grades 3-8
Name It to Tame It: Externalization Activities
An illustrated externalization set. Students pick from 10 ready-made feeling characters or draw their own, then build a full character profile (triggers, warning signs, talk-back scripts) and a plan to shrink it. Covers worry, fear, anger, sadness, overwhelm, negative self-talk, perfectionism, comparison, impulsivity, and relational aggression.
50+ pages | PDF + editable PowerPoint | color & BW | Grades 3-6 (usable 2-8)
Over 78 pages | PDF + editable PowerPoint | color and black-and-white included.
Why This, Why Now
The same student often cycles through more than one of these. A kid who's anxious starts avoiding, then withdraws, then decides something's wrong with them. Having all three tools in one place means you can meet whatever they bring in on a given Tuesday without stopping to source a new resource. The techniques are ones you can use with confidence: gradual exposure, behavioral activation, and externalization are core CBT approaches, translated here into steps a student in grades 2-8 can follow.
How It Fits Together
- Fear and avoidance point to Brave Ladder: build the ladder, then practice and track.
- Low mood and withdrawal point to Behavioral Activation: sort what charges and drains, then build a plan.
- A big feeling a student is fused with points to Name It to Tame It: give it a face, then shrink it.
Each tool stands on its own, and the shared CBT language carries across them, so follow-up sessions build on what came before.
Ways to Use It
- Pull the right tool for a student on your caseload the day they show up struggling.
- Run a short individual intervention with built-in home practice between sessions.
- Add a goal-setting and tracking piece to an anxiety or coping skills small group.
- Build a go-to CBT toolkit you reach for all year across different presenting concerns.
Good to Know
- Research base: CBT (gradual exposure, behavioral activation, externalization).
- Formats: PDF for everything; editable PowerPoint for Brave Ladder and the Name It to Tame It create-your-own template.
- Printing: color and black-and-white options included, so you can save ink on student pages.
- Prep: print only the pages you need.
- Delivery: instant digital download.
Details
- Grade Levels: 2-8 (core 3-6)
- Ideal For: school counselors, psychologists, social workers, SEL teachers
- Use: individual counseling or small group
- Format: PDF + editable PowerPoint
- Length: 78+ pages across three resources
Get More CBT Counseling Resources Here
© Social Emotional Workshop. For single-classroom or single-counselor use. Please purchase additional licenses to share with colleagues.