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Do We Really Need to Get Back to the Green Zone?

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Do We Really Need to Get Back to the Green Zone?

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© 2021 Think Social Publishing, Inc.

Those of you who are seasoned users of The Zones of Regulation framework are very familiar with the core tenet and phrase " All the Zones are OK." So, if we really mean that all the Zones are OK, why are we asking kids to "get back to Green"? If you're new to The Zones, The Zones of Regulation framework and curriculum (Kuypers, 2011) teaches learners scaffolded skills toward developing a cognitive pathway to build awareness of their feelings/internal state and utilize a variety of tools and strategies for regulation, prosocial skills, self-care, and overall wellness. This includes exploring tools and strategies for mindfulness, sensory integration, movement, thinking strategies, and healthy connection with others. When it comes to The Zones of Regulation, it is imperative to state, restate, and restate again that there is no "good Zone" or "bad Zone," and that all Zones-the full rainbow spectrum of emotions-are expected in life. In fact, many of us grownups spend a great deal of our lives in the Blue or Yellow Zone, so why put undue pressure on children and young adults to be in the Green Zone? While the Green Zone certainly feels good and is an optimal state for learning, there is no best Zone. When we deny the existence and need for this full emotional experience, we are teaching our learners that they need to "calm down" no matter the context or situation. This is at odds with the fundamental principles of The Zones and its philosophy of meeting each individual where they are, in the moment, and honoring their authentic feelings and state. Let's consider that cognitive pathway that we are teaching in The Zones of Regulation lessons. First, we figure out how we are feeling internally and categorize this feeling/energy state into one of our four colored Zones: Blue, Green, Yellow, or Red. Once we know what Zone we're in, we can think about the context and decide if we need to regulate or manage it. These Zones categories also help us determine which tools and strategies we may want to try to help us regulate that particular Zone. I'd like to illustrate this by thinking through an example from my own (grownup) life.

A few weeks ago, my kids went back to school after almost a year at home in distance learning due to COVID-19. After their very first day back at school, I stood eagerly awaiting my kids (kindergarten and 2nd grade) at the bus stop, already in the Yellow Zone as a parent nervous about her kids being in a school building. When the bus pulled up, my kindergartener hopped off the bus, but his older brother was nowhere to be found. Trigger? Lost kid. Zone? Full-on Mama Bear Red Zone. Did I need to "get back to Green" at this moment? Absolutely not. Now, let's layer on the context. I was in a total panic, but I had my 6-year-old with me that had just taken his very first bus ride, and I really didn't want him to be afraid of the bus. I needed to use my tools to regulate my Red Zone. Had my little guy not been there, I would have had a much different reaction. That's why context matters. I was in the Red Zone all throughout the six or so phone calls it took to ensure my son would get home safely, through him being dropped off at the door, and even for a while after he got home. I didn't need to move out of the Red Zone, I needed to TAKE CARE OF MY RED ZONE. By using my Red Zone regulation tools (deep breathing, limit noise, fresh air), I was able to pause and strategize how to locate my older son and get him home swiftly and safely while also ensuring the comfort and care of my younger son. I was terrified but effective regarding my goals and actions, and eventually my Red Zone simmered down into the Yellow Zone.

So, how does this play out when we are teaching kids, teens, and adults about The Zones? Our language is important. Instead of saying that we are using tools to "get back to the Green Zone," consider using some of these phrases instead:

Let's use a tool to take care of our Zones.

I wonder if a tool might help us manage our Zones right now?

I need a tool to regulate my Zone, how about you?

What Zone are you in? Is there a tool that might help?

What is your goal right now? Would a tool help you meet it?

Let's find a ____ (color of Zone learner identifies) tool to help you ... (get back to the fun, follow the schedule, finish your work, and so on).

The point is to emphasize that when we are dysregulated, we don't need to change Zones, we need to regulate within, manage, or take care of our Zone. This allows us to honor our authentic feelings while meeting the demands of the environment around us, helping us to accomplish our goals, and supporting our well-being. Sometimes we end up in the Green Zone, but often we don't, and as the saying goes, "All the Zones are OK." So, do we really need to "get back to the Green Zone"? We think not.

About the author

Emily Walz is an Implementation Specialist for The Zones of Regulation®. She is a licensed special education teacher (MS-Special Education LD/EBD/DCD) with 15 years of teaching experience working with unique learners in New York City and the Minneapolis/St. Paul metro area. In her teaching career she has worked predominantly with elementary and middle school learners with special needs in both resource/inclusion and self-contained settings and has come to specialize in social emotional learning. Emily has held the role of school-based Social Emotional Learning Coordinator and is deeply passionate about the impact that SEL instruction has on equity and inclusion in schools. In her role at The Zones of Regulation, Emily is primarily working toward developing resources and capacity around implementing The Zones schoolwide, as well as training and consulting with schools and districts in the USA and abroad. She lives on a sunny corner in Minneapolis, Minnesota with her husband and two sons.

Leah Kuypers is the creator and author of The Zones of Regulation, --a framework used to foster self-regulation and emotional control. The Zones of Regulation (Kuypers, 2011) has been enthusiastically received by educators, therapists, and parents around the world. In addition to developing additional learning tools to supplement The Zones curriculum, she owns a small business, Kuypers Consulting, Inc., based out of Minneapolis, Minnesota. She enjoys providing training and consultations to parents, schools, and professionals by offering workshops on self-regulation and The Zones framework to groups locally, around the United States, and internationally. To learn more about Leah and her journey to developing The Zones of Regulation click here.

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Do We Really Need to "Get Back to the Green Zone"? We Think Not.

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© 2021 Think Social Publishing, Inc. Those of you who are seasoned users of The Zones of Regulation framework are very familiar with the core tenet and phrase " All the Zones are OK." So, if we really mean that all the Zones are OK, why are we asking kids to "get back to Green"?

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A benefit mindset builds on a growth mindset, where we not only seek to fulfil our potential, but choose to do it in a way that serves the wellbeing of all.

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Help the children in your life slow down and be present by practicing these simple and effective mindfulness exercises.

This mindfulness deck is divided into 4 categories that you can chose from: breath, movement, sensory, and guided imagery.

Easy to use and integrate in the classroom, office, or at home.

Engaging images and fun exercises make it appealing to children of all ages.

Mindfulness Cards for Kids Includes:

an index card

Mindfulness activity tips and additional suggestions

25 mindfulness cards with illustrations

25 corresponding description cards

The kids are multicultural from various countries.
For the digital version: Instantly download, print, and practice. Printing Instructions
Age group: Ages 4+.

Download these 60 digital cards to bring simple mindfulness practices to your home, classroom, or studio.

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Explore 25 Unique Ways to Help Children Slow Down! Help the children in your life slow down and be present by practicing these simple and effective mindfulness exercises. This mindfulness deck is divided into 4 categories that you can chose from: breath, movement, sensory, and guided imagery.

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The mysterious nerve network that quiets pain and stress - and may defeat disease

T ake a deep breath. Hug a friend. Reach for the ceiling and stretch your limbs. Each of these simple acts bestows a sense of calm and comfort. And each works its soothing magic in part by activating a complicated system of nerves that connects the brain to the heart, the gut, the immune system, and many of the organs. That system is known collectively as the vagus nerve.

The vagus nerve is one of the twelve cranial nerves, which sprawl out from the brain and into the body like an intricate network of roots. These nerve networks act as lines of communication between the brain and the body's many systems and organs. Some of the cranial nerves interpret sensory information collected by the skin, eyes, or tongue. Others control muscles or communicate with glands.

The vagus nerve, also called the "10th cranial nerve," is the longest, largest, and most complex of the cranial nerves, and in some ways it's also the least understood. Experts have linked its activity to symptom changes in people with migraine headaches, inflammatory bowel disease, depression, epilepsy, arthritis, and many other common ailments. The more science learns about the vagus nerve, the more it seems like a better understanding of its function could unlock new doors to treating all manner of human suffering.

Vagus is Latin for "wandering," which is apt when one considers all the different parts of the body the vagus nerve reaches. "It seems like every year somebody finds a new organ or system that it talks with," says Tiffany Field, PhD, director of the Touch Research Institute at the University of Miami School of Medicine.

"There's a massive bioelectrical and biochemical series of events that the vagus nerve is responsible for, and all that is almost impossible to map."

Field says that branches of the vagus nerve are connected to the face and voice. "We know that depressed people have low vagal activity, and this is associated with less intonation and less-active facial expressions," she explains. A separate branch of the vagus nerve runs down to the gastrointestinal tract. Here, low vagal activity is associated with slowed gastric motility, which interferes with proper digestion, she says.

Still other branches of the vagus nerve are connected to the heart, the lungs, and the immune system. The vagus nerve's activation or deactivation is tied to the ebb or flow of hormones such as cortisol and the digestive hormone ghrelin, the amount of inflammation the immune system produces, and many other internal processes that shape human health and experience. "There's a massive bioelectrical and biochemical series of events that the vagus nerve is responsible for, and all that is almost impossible to map," Field says.

How could one nerve system control so much? While some aspects of vagal activity are inscrutable, it's clear that the nerve is the governor of the parasympathetic nervous system, which helps control the body's relaxation responses. In simple terms, heightened vagal activity counteracts the stress response, which involves the sympathetic nervous system. "The sympathetic nervous system is fight or flight, while the parasympathetic nervous system is more chill out," says Stephen Silberstein, MD, a professor of neurology and director of the Headache Center at Philadelphia's Thomas Jefferson University Hospitals.

Silberstein co-wrote a comprehensive 2016 review of the research on the vagus nerve. He says that heightened vagal activity slows heart rate and also switches off inflammation, in part by triggering the release of immune system calming chemicals. There's also evidence that activating the vagus nerve through electronic stimulation can produce a range of health benefits. "Depending on the frequency of the stimulation, we know it can turn off an asthma attack or an epileptic seizure," Silberstein says. "It can turn off a migraine or cluster headache, and it can decrease the perception of acid reflux."

Pick almost any common medical condition that's made worse by stress or inflammation - everything from arthritis to inflammatory bowel disease - and there's research showing that vagus nerve stimulation can help treat it or relieve its symptoms.

In the past, this stimulation required a surgical implant in the chest that transmits electrical pulses directly into the vagus nerve. But some newer, noninvasive devices - including one that has FDA approval for the treatment of migraine and cluster headaches - are capable of stimulating the vagus nerve when pressed against the skin of the neck. Silberstein says doctors are exploring the use of vagus nerve stimulation for a wide range of diseases and disorders, including afflictions of the mind.

"More and more, we're learning how critical vagal activity is to attention and mood," says Field. Already, there's evidence that stimulating the vagus nerve may improve working memory or help people with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. And since the early 2000s, the FDA has approved vagus nerve stimulation for the treatment of some forms of depression.

While electronic stimulation holds promise - and, in some cases, is already providing relief - for people with a range of ailments, Field says there are plenty of ways to stimulate vagal activity without a device or implant. "We know that massage and yoga promote parasympathetic nervous system activity, which is vagal activity," she says.

Her research has shown that these and many related activities increase vagal activity via pressure receptors buried beneath the surface of the skin - receptors located throughout the body, and ones that only firm pressure or a deep stretch can reach. She points out that light touching or stroking is arousing, while a bear hug or powerful handshake are inherently soothing. "A strong hug or a handshake promote parasympathetic activity," she says.

Silberstein says that almost anything people find relaxing - meditation, deep breathing - is also associated with heightened vagal activity and parasympathetic nervous system activity. "We did studies in the past showing that patients with migraine have impaired vagal activity," he says. "We tried to fix that by doing yoga or deep-breathing meditation, and we found a lot of those things enabled us to activate the vagal nerve." On the other hand, stress and anxiety are associated with depressed vagal activity, which may help to explain why these conditions are linked with an increased risk for other maladies.

There's still a lot about the vagus nerve science doesn't understand. But as doctors uncover more of its secrets, these discoveries are revealing new and more effective ways to relieve pain, inflammation, sadness, and disease.

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Science Confirms That the Vagus Nerve Is Key to Well-being

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The mysterious nerve network that quiets pain and stress - and may defeat disease T ake a deep breath. Hug a friend. Reach for the ceiling and stretch your limbs. Each of these simple acts bestows a sense of calm and comfort.

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Books for Trauma, Challenging Behaviours

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Books for Trauma, Challenging Behaviours

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Thank you to everyone who recommended books!

I will continue to add books to this list over time.

Keep an eye out for updates at:
https://www.facebook.com/groups/maslowbeforebloom/ https://twitter.com/drp_principal
If I can assist you in any way, please reach out.

Dr. Bryan Pearlman, EdD, LMSW - Keynote Speaker, Author, Educator & Therapist

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List Of Books On Trauma, Challenging Behaviors, Mental Health & More

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Thank you to everyone who recommended books! I will continue to add books to this list over time. Keep an eye out for updates at: https://www.facebook.com/groups/maslowbeforebloom/ https://twitter.com/drp_principal If I can assist you in any way, please reach out. Dr. Bryan Pearlman, EdD, LMSW - Keynote Speaker, Author, Educator & Therapist

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Creating cultures of everyday leadership.

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Center on the Developing Child at Harvard University

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As early experiences shape the architecture of the developing brain, they also lay the foundations of sound early childhood mental health.

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Resources for Adversity, Culturally trauma informed organisations

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Resources for Adversity, Culturally trauma informed organisations

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Dr Treisman's bestselling books (sold together but 2 volumes) on "A Treasure Box for Creating Trauma-Informed Organizations: A Ready-to-Use Resource For T rauma, Adversity, and Culturally Informed, Infused and Responsive Systems" are available for from amazon, Jessica Kingsley Publishers, and numerous other book sellers- they are over 600 pages long, in full colour, and A4 in size. They are jam packed with treasures such as practical ideas, photographed examples, photocopiable resources, real world examples from contributors from all around the world, amazing new illustrations and infographics, and much more. Please find a brochure here including the content and some more information on the books- LOW RES - A Treasure Box for Creating Trauma-Informed Organizations - Brochure

The recorded trauma informed organization book launch and interview with the author which was attended by over 400 people virtually can be found here- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jQOC0bHhbUE&feature=youtu.be

Dr Karen Treisman and Dr Mandy Davis are very excited to release their new & unique online trauma informed thinking space module (access to paid course here- https://safehandsthinkingminds.thinkific.com/courses/trauma-informed-thinking-space-a-series-of-podcast-style-conversations-dr-mandy-davis-and-dr-karen-treisman). A real, unscripted, unedited, & honest TI thinking space containing a series of reflective podcast style conversations about some of the thorny, nuanced, multi-layered aspects of TI practice in teams, systems, & organisations. Full of golden nuggets & enriching discussions. You can read the FAQs & what to expect including contents here- FAQ trauma informed thinking space And you can see a sense and flavour of the types of conversations which are included in the module so here is a 17 min one which is from the myths & dilemma's section focusing on the question "Is TI just about being sweet, nice, and kind?"- https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=vFR1MyznXW4&feature=youtu.be
Dr Treisman has a very exciting new book being released in 2023 (details to be released soon) around trauma-informed healthcare- a specific focus on hospitals, clinics, surgeries and health and medical settings. With chapters on medical trauma, traumatised systems, cultural humility within healthcare, the impact of trauma on the body and on our sensory systems, tangible differences which can be made, system changes, staff wellbeing, and much much more. With contributions from 390 patients as well as from practitioners working in midwifery, dentistry, oncology, sexual health, pain, endocrinology, burns, and so so much more. This page is focused on providing resources, websites, information, & services around moving towards and sustaining being a culturally, adversity, and trauma-informed, infused, and responsive organisation and system. We at Safe Hands and Thinking Minds also offer a range of consultation, support, and training packages to support and enhance this transformation.
An adversity, culturally, dissociation, and trauma-informed, infused, and responsive organisational lens acknowledges & advocates that "trauma-informed" practice and organisational cultural change is so much more than a buzz word, a one-off training event, a fruit bowl being placed in a reception area, an adapted policy collecting dust on a shelf, or a tick-box exercise. It is more about meaningful, multi-layered, and whole-system wide transformation; and is a journey. This focuses on supporting, creating, embedding, & sustaining cultural & paradigm shifts & transformation across all levels of the organisation.

This shift & vision recognises the prevalence, & multi-layered impact of trauma & adversity at an individual, family, societal, & organisational level; as well as the crucial parallel processes which can occur within & between these systems. Therefore, culturally, adversity, and trauma-informed and responsive organisational transformation focuses on humanising systems & making them healthier, more relational, more integrated, more reflective, & more connected. It is about changing how systems do what they do, & who they are- their very fabric. This also includes embodying & infusing adversity, culturally, dissociation, and trauma-informed ideas & practices into everyday practice, into the feeling of the place, & into the whole system; from policies to supervision, to team meetings to the language used, to recruitment procedures, to the physical environment, & so forth (Please see the infusing & weaving worksheet below).

Under a trauma-informed process, this knowledge, values, principles, & assumptions aim to be embedded into the culture of the organisation, & are ideally owned & contributed to by everyone; including those from multiple levels, roles, & those with lived experiences. A trauma-informed process can not be trauma-informed without being interconnected with areas of cultural humility, cultural inclusiveness, & cultural responsiveness; including integrating & acknowledging historical trauma, oppression, cultural trauma, social injustice, intersections of identity, & inter generational trauma.

Within trauma-informed organisational change there are various steps, guiding values, & stages; however, like with people, this can be slow, complex, not linear, & messy. Therefore, the progress, development, embedding, & sustaining of meaningful trauma-informed ideas, attitudes, policies, & practice is an ongoing process & a journey.

To engage more with these ideas. Please see worksheets & websites for more information & resources.

A bit about our story, journey, & passion in this area:

Dr Treisman & associates passionately believe in social, contextual, societal, & systemic impact & that trauma-informed practice is a social movement. As the quote above says, "If the flower doesn't bloom, you don't try to fix the flower, and you certainly don't blame the flower, but you try to make environments which support flowers to bloom". Therefore, we need to make adversity, culturally, and trauma-informed, infused, & responsive environments which not only acknowledge, respect, & are structured around the pervasive, extensive, & multi-layered impact of trauma, dissociation, toxic stress, and adversity in our societies; but also ones which actively resist & reduce further re-traumatising, blaming, marginalising, exclusion, & oppression.

Dr Treisman & associates have also experienced the vast difference, impact, & physical/social/spiritual/emotional consequences of working in traumatised, trauma-inducing, and unhealthy systems; verse working in connected, supportive, healing, & nurturing teams. This has further validated & fuelled their passion & dedication to trauma-informed organisational practice.

To develop further, connect, & expand on these ideas & passion, Dr Treisman was also awarded a Winston Churchill Fellowship which involved travelling to 14 cities across America, attending 3 international conferences, & having meetings with over 100 specialists in this area to learn from best practice in culturally, adversity, dissociation, and trauma-informed, infused, & responsive systems. The report from this trip can be found below; and will be expanded much more richly in Dr Treisman's forthcoming book on this topic. Dr Treisman wishes to extend a huge thank you to the incredible people & organisations who gave their time, energy, & knowledge to the trip; as well as to the Winston Churchill Fellowship for a phenomenal opportunity.

Therefore, to disseminate these ideas, & expand on them, Dr Treisman & associates have drawn on their extensive clinical experience in the areas of relational trauma, developmental trauma, disrupted attachment, trauma-informed organisational change, refugee & asylum-seeking people; as well as in the areas of implementation science & groups dynamics to offer a range of support, consultation, & training packages; & to create multiple free trauma-informed organisational resources & useful links (See below). They are also currently proactively putting these theories, concepts, models, values, & ideas into practice by offering trauma-informed & trauma-responsive transformation packages (of different lengths and levels) to multiple organisations within the UK & internationally (Africa & Asia) including residential homes, social services, foster care systems, prisons, youth offending services, schools, hospitals, homelessness shelters, & domestic violence shelters.
Please contact us to learn more about the fellowship, the worksheets, training, consultancy, and support offered around meaningful trauma-informed practice.
Free Resources and Worksheets (This is regularly being updated; as well as worksheets being updated- We also welcome suggestions, as well as ideas for new resources. For other clinical resources & worksheets around relational & developmental trauma, please see the other pages on this website)

A huge amount of photocopiable and practical ready to use resources will be shared and released in the forthcoming book- "A Treasure Box for Creating Trauma-Informed Organizations: A Ready-to-Use Resource For T rauma, Adversity, and Culturally Informed, Infused and Responsive Systems"- Please find a brochure here including the content and some more information- LOW RES - A Treasure Box for Creating Trauma-Informed Organizations - Brochure

Dr Treisman's Winston Churchill Report on adversity, culturally, and trauma-informed, infused, and responsive organisations- https://www.churchillfellowship.org/ideas-experts/ideas-library/becoming-a-trauma-informed-organisation-practices-and-principles

Recorded book launch of trauma-informed organization book and interview with Dr Karen Treisman- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jQOC0bHhbUE&feature=youtu.be

Key questions and reflection points for organisations enquiring about trauma-informed training (great document to read before enquiring, doing tenders, booking training etc)- Trauma informed queries and requests points to reflect on

Some of the rationale and whys as to why an organisation might want to move towards being more adversity, culturally, and informed, infused, and responsive- the why and rationale finalword

The different organisational elements and areas that trauma-informed principles and values should be infused & woven into- Visual Sketch note trauma-informed weaving into whole system

Trauma-informed values, principles, and assumptions- Visual Sketch note- trauma-informed values, principles, and assumptions

Trauma-informed values and principles applied to the current covid situation written by Dr Karen Treisman- trauma informed values in covid

Karen Treisman- reading a poem written by Karen for Drop for Disorder about trauma, adversity, and culturally informed, infused, and responsive systems and organisational change- "trauma reducing not trauma inducing"- the topic of Karen's forthcoming book on trauma-informed organizations- https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=1&v=LRJ9w3jIv0w&feature=emb_logo

Dr Mandy Davis and Dr Karen Treisman are very excited to release our new & unique online module (paid module- accessible here- https://safehandsthinkingminds.thinkific.com/courses/trauma-informed-thinking-space-a-series-of-podcast-style-conversations-dr-mandy-davis-and-dr-karen-treisman however please first read the FAQs and below). A real, unscripted, unedited, & honest TI thinking space containing a series of reflective podcast style conversations about some of the thorny, nuanced, multi-layered aspects of TI practice in teams, systems, & organisations. Full of golden nuggets & enriching discussions.We hope you enjoy it as much as we enjoyed making it & sharing the space together. We are looking forward to your thoughts & feedback. You can read the FAQs & what to expect including contents here- FAQ trauma informed thinking spaceWe also wanted to give you a sense and flavour of the types of conversations which are included in the module. So here is a 17 min one which is from the myths & dilemma's section focusing on the question "Is TI just about being sweet, nice, and kind?"- https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=vFR1MyznXW4&feature=youtu.be

An image from Karen's trauma-informed health care book about how an organisation can be like a person- an organisation as a person worksheet

Karen Treisman discussing some of the survival, protective, and coping responses and skills which organisations, systems, and teams can use and rely on when in a place of threat, stress, trauma, and fear. Discusses fight, flight, freeze, and many more responses. https://youtu.be/PaRwY7qzEyw and a worksheet on this http://www.safehandsthinkingminds.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2018/09/organisational-defences-final-bled.pd f (please ensure this is fully cited and referenced if shared or used)

A spotlight for research in practice around organisational trauma and organisational memory (an extract from the trauma-informed organization book by Karen Treisman)- https://practice-supervisors.rip.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/StS_PT_A_spotlight_on_organisational_trauma_the_system_as_the_client_Final.pdf

Karen Treisman discussing the importance of how organisations make people feel during this time; and how the values of trauma-informed practice need to be embedded and modelled; and our staff wellbeing needs to be at the forefront- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9J7ayCkw4eg

Karen Treisman and Lisa Cherry in conversation about trauma, adversity, and culturally informed, infused, and responsive organisations in the context of the pandemic- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4rqbKq9UBHU&feature=emb_logo

A discussion with Lisa Cherry about trauma-informed organisational culture, language, nuances and much more- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gfwG6CrHuE4

A 2 min clip with Lisa Cherry and Karen taken from the above about if the walls could talk- https://youtu.be/4WRPa0fnHCY

Trauma inducing and trauma reducing paper on health and medical settings- trauma-informed medical and health settings- trauma inducing or trauma reduci

A spotlight for research in practice on survival skills in the context of trauma - extract from trauma informed organizational book by Karen Treisman-

Some tips and tools for "check-ins" in Team meetings- check-ins

Keeping momentum up, embedding it further, and breathing life into trauma-informed ideas- Some top tips to further keep the momentum alive

Some of Karen's most meaningful and impactful work is when training is delivered over a long period such as 6 months to 18 months alongside reflective practice, supervision, and consultation. See the following evaluation for a flavour of the impact of such a course- candle summary paper pdf-compressed

Intersection of Identities- Cultural Humility & Responsiveness- Visual Sketch note- cultural humility sketchnote pdf

Anti-racist resources- https://docs.google.com/document/d/1BRlF2_zhNe86SGgHa6-VlBO-QgirITwCTugSfKie5Fs/mobilebasic

Anti-racist resources- 2- https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/11EbkgiGtisJFsp-gjNLPfNcw9Yqr111KKdYO5UsZhnc/htmlview

Anti-racist resources- 3- https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1bUJrgX8vspyy7YttiEC2vD0DawrpPYiZs94V0ov7qZQ/htmlview

Anti- racist resources- 4- https://docs.google.com/document/d/1BRlF2_zhNe86SGgHa6-VlBO-QgirITwCTugSfKie5Fs/mobilebasic

Anti-racist resources- 5- http://fopl.ca/news/anti-racist-resource-guide/

Trauma-informed implementation & sustainability obstacles, and things to hold in mind- implementation infographics with copyright word

Trauma-informed survival & coping responses- feeling safe & putting up defences

Trauma-informed survival & coping responses in an organisational context- organisational defences final bled

Multi-layered Organisational safety sketch note- mutli-layered safety sketch note

Different types of trauma & the impact & consequences Sketchnote- sketchnote types of trauma

Serious case review ramblings- Serious case reviews

Several more coming soon.

Recommended Websites and Links around Trauma-Informed Organisations, Systems, and Practice: (Not an exhaustive or prescriptive list; and not in a particular order. For clinical and other support links around trauma and attachment, please see other page)

SAMSHA- www.samhsa.gov

National Child Traumatic Stress Network- http://www.nctsn.org/ https://www.nctsn.org/trauma-informed-care/creating-trauma-informed-systems

Trauma-informed Oregon- https://traumainformedoregon.org/

Trauma-informed care: Perspectives and resources- http://trauma.jbsinternational.com/traumatool/index.html

Sanctuary Model- Dr Sandy Bloom- www.sanctuaryweb.com

Some great webinars on trauma-informed care including from Sandra Bloom- http://marc.healthfederation.org/brownbag

MARC Health federation (trauma-informed and trauma-responsive communities)- marc.healthfederation.org

ACEs connection- www.acesconnection.com

https://www.chcs.org/resource/implementing-trauma-informed-care-organizational-culture-practice/-Great webinar by Ken Epstein

Trauma-informed infographic- https://www.chcs.org/resource/key-ingredients-trauma-informed-care/

Campaign for trauma informed policy and practice (USA)- www.ctipp.org

Trauma Transformed San Francisco- http://traumatransformed.org/

International Society for Traumatic Stress Studies- https://www.istss.org/

Chadwick Center- www.ChadwickCenter.com

Chadwick Trauma-informed Systems, Dissemination, and Implementation Project- https://ctisp.org/

Ohio Domestic Violence Network- http://www.odvn.org/ (Trauma-informed road map and trauma-informed approaches)

Children's Crisis Treatment Center- http://cctckids.org/programs-services/overview/

Traumatic Stress Institute- Klingberg Family Center- https://traumaticstressinstitute.org/

Blackness and belonging podcast- https://irresistible.org/podcast/13

Anti-racism resources- https://docs.google.com/document/d/1BRlF2_zhNe86SGgHa6-VlBO-QgirITwCTugSfKie5Fs/mobilebasic

Social justice resources- http://www.childrenscommunityschool.org/social-justice-resources/?fbclid=IwAR1nYaguHgh6pysiiips01OmY2pFQSSuDEuSp8DKYDD9vQfmB7bjlFTeZVE

Your kids aren't too young to talk about race- https://www.prettygooddesign.org/blog/Blog%20Post%20Title%20One-5new4?fbclid=IwAR0vEPAZ74G-KJTYxx3k3vvg5hzwI1o0NyFm1jW36ojJ-tSDXt10kTwJfWc

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Adversity, Culturally, Trauma-Informed, Infused, & Responsive Organisations & Systems

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Dr Treisman's bestselling books (sold together but 2 volumes) on "A Treasure Box for Creating Trauma-Informed Organizations: A Ready-to-Use Resource For T rauma, Adversity, and Culturally Informed, Infused and Responsive Systems" are available for from amazon, Jessica Kingsley Publishers, and numerous other book sellers- they are over 600 pages long, in full colour, and A4 in size.

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Mental Wellbeing

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As an educator, you're all about helping children and young people to flourish. So are we.

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This is Part 1 in a 3-part series on Strength-Based Discipline. Read Part 2 here. Part 3 will be published next week.
No matter how great your kids are and no matter how much you love your children, there will still be moments (many moments probably) that require you to help, guide and correct their behavior. When you take a strength-based approach to parenting you'll still need to discipline your children, the difference is that you approach misbehavior from a constructive, growth-oriented perspective that gives your kids a clear idea of the strengths that can be used to change for the better.

Strength-based discipline is based on the premise that by nature we are motivated to self-develop and that, negative patterns or behaviors signify a block in our drive toward strength-based growth.

Strength-based discipline is about working with a child to discover what's blocking his progress and helping him get back on track.

Strength-based discipline can break the cycle of nagging/criticism/confrontation that quickly becomes unproductive. Despite what you might think (and what kids themselves might say), most children understand that rules are necessary. Even teenagers do, if there's room for negotiation. Children and teens routinely report that they'll follow rules, provided the rules are reasonable, consistent, and fair.

It's in how the rules are enforced-in other words, how we discipline our children-where the conflicts tend to arise.

Many of us equate discipline with punishment: being made to suffer for our actions. But the Latin origin of the word is "to provide instruction or knowledge." We can use discipline to teach our children the values and attitudes of society, right and wrong, how to get along in life, and how to get along with others.

Punishment breaks a child down. Discipline can help to build a child up.

The outcomes of discipline depend on the type of discipline used. Some types induce shame that is destructive to a person's sense of self. Others engender uncomfortable but constructive feelings of guilt that encourage prosocial behavior. Shame and guilt are often confused, but they are very different. Let's take a closer look at each:

Shame vs. Guilt

Essentially, there are two broad approaches to disciplining children: by inducing shame or by inducing guilt.

Shame

Shame makes a person feel bad about who they are. It is deeply rejecting because it rejects the person as being, in essence, bad. Shame-inducing statements might sound like this:

"How could you be so stupid?"

"You are rude."

"You are selfish."

Guilt

In contrast, guilt makes a person feel bad about what they did. It rejects the person's actions but not the person. Guilt-inducing statements might sound like this:

"That's the third time this week that you've left your math assignment at home. That is not good planning."

"What you just said to your sister was not kind."

"Cutting in line isn't fair to others."

I believe that most parents who use shame as a form of punishment are doing so because of projection. They see a quality or behavior in their children that they themselves have and are ashamed of. Instead of dealing with their own shame they project it onto their children so as to avoid discomfort. But you need to think twice if you are doing this, because shame leads to self-doubt, anxiety, and depression. What's more, it's not even an effective form of punishment. When a child feels shame, he will withdraw from others. Shame is so deeply painful that the child's only choice is to avoid (i.e., ignore) whatever caused the shame; thus no learning can take place.

ICYMI: How to Use the 'Strength Switch' to Overcome Your Natural Tendency to Be Negative

Shame is damaging, but guilt, while uncomfortable, serves a purpose. Guilt is a powerful part of our evolutionary wiring. Guilt leads to regret and empathy. When a child feels guilt, he can amend and repair. His regret and empathy motivate him to act differently in the future. Guilt is, in a word, prosocial: It fosters bonding within a group, helping us know when we've done something wrong toward someone else and causing us to feel bad about it so that we will repair and not do it again. Thus, it sends a developmental message that promotes improvement, or development, of our higher capacities: the self-control, good judgment, and kindness needed for appropriate behavior as part of the human family (and our own families).

Far from telling a child he is bad, guilt can be a powerful way to communicate to your child that he is better than his bad behavior: "I'm disappointed to hear that you teased the new student in your class. I wouldn't have expected that of you. I know you can do better."

But how will the child figure out what "better" is? Here's where strength-based parenting takes discipline to the next level.

Seeing Behavioral Challenges from a Strengths Perspective

I think the moments when our children make poor choices and get into trouble provide opportunities to talk to them about where they forgot to use their strengths or what strengths they need to call forward. It can be an opportunity to build social intelligence.

Whereas guilt-based discipline tells children what not to do, strength-based discipline goes a step further, letting our kids know what they can do-reminding them of strengths they possess to address the problem.

We show them how to reach within to find the resources for change, rebound from setbacks, focus their attention on repairing the problem, and move in a more positive direction.

If this sounds like we're helping kids become mindful of their actions and building their ability to activate their nervous system's pause-and-plan mode that can stand between them and their impulsiveness or lapses in judgment the next time around, you're absolutely right. That's the kind of discipline our children really need.

Five Questions for Diagnosing Possible Strength Breakdowns

For all of the reasons above, I often talk with parents about reframing children's challenging behaviors as lapses in strength or as strength breakdowns. Rather than thinking, "This kid is a problem," it's about thinking, for example, "This challenging behavior is happening because she forgot to use her strengths of fairness and kindness." Rather than punishing your child, it's a time to teach her how to better use and fine-tune her strengths. Reframing in this way keeps you from shaming your child and makes both you and your child feel that this is something the child is capable of fixing.

Here are five questions you can ask yourself to diagnose a child's strength breakdown:

1. Is It Strength Overuse?

Humor and playfulness are among my husband Matt's top strengths. When I met Matt in college, he had a way of lifting my heavy heart with his quick wit, big laugh, and ability to see the lighter side of life. To this day, he still lifts my heart and makes me laugh-big belly laughs-regularly. I'm not the only one who appreciates his humor and playfulness. He's regularly asked to be master of ceremonies at his friends' functions, and Nick is proud that his friends all think he has the funniest dad at school. Everyone enjoys Matt's humor.

Well, almost everyone. He tells me that it used to get him in trouble with the teachers at school. What was an appropriate display of this strength in the schoolyard was not appropriate in the classroom. In one context, Matt's playfulness was appreciated; in another, it was viewed as disrespect. Understanding the social landscape is important in deciding when and exactly how much to let humor out to play. Many strengths are like that. Curiosity can viewed as overstepping into nosiness; persistence can be seen as stubbornness; planning and forethought can show up as rigidity; kindness can become subservience.

We've all been guilty of misusing a strength and getting into trouble. When we look at behavior this way, it constructively changes how we respond.

A strength-based parent taking a child to task for overplaying humor could say, "You've got a great sense of humor, but when you overplay it, you get out of control and it's not a strength anymore. It leads to bad outcomes. What can you do to fix this situation and make sure your humor doesn't get out of control next time?"

Looking at misbehavior from this perspective teaches kids strengths flexibility: how to switch gears between strengths depending on the situation they're in and the people they're with. We tend to fall into the habit of over-relying on our core strengths. This doesn't sound so bad, but it can lead to negative consequences.

2. Is It Strength Underuse?

Asking your child whether she might be underusing or underplaying a strength is a much more positive way to help her reflect on her behavior than fixating on what she did wrong. Consider these contrasts in parent/child conversation:

Shame based: "I heard you were teasing the new student at school. I'm so humiliated that everyone knows about this. Typical of you to be mean. When will you ever change?"

Strength based: "I'm disappointed that you were teasing the new student at school. I see kindness and generosity in you so many other times. Last week you got up from watching TV to help your grandmother up the stairs and carry in her packages. I was so touched and proud to see how you noticed she needed help and you stepped forward. Your kindness is such a good quality in you. Is there a reason why you aren't using it with the new student?"

Helping children see where they might be underusing their strengths builds their mindfulness about their behaviors. It's also empowering: Kids realize that it's not a matter of their being "bad" but rather that their best self was not present in a particular situation: I didn't do this because I'm a bad person. I just forgot to bring in certain strengths. I know I have those strengths inside of me. If I bring them in next time, this situation won't happen again.

Strength underuse, like overuse, becomes easier to address the more you become a strength-based parent. As your child begins to see that she has many strengths available to her, the two of you will find endless combinations of how she can use her strengths to stay out of trouble and move forward positively in all sorts of situations.
I thought I knew my eleventh graders pretty well-I had known them for their entire lives at school and taught some of them at some stage. However, talking with them about their strengths surveys allowed me to see them in different ways. For example, we teachers often found one girl challenging. She would do anything to get out of things she didn't want to do, and her mom backed her up all the way, which was frustrating. She always questioned things, challenged school rules, asked why she had to do things, et cetera. She wasn't nasty, just obstructive and needed careful handling, otherwise she could get very argumentative and sometimes rude. But looking at her strengths and discussing them with her enabled me to understand where she was coming from, and to have a conversation about some of the things that had gotten in the way of our relationship. Her top strength, by far, was curiosity. Her second was fairness. Her third was honesty. She wasn't challenging; she was curious. She wasn't obstructionist; she was honest. If she felt she, and other students, weren't being treated fairly, she was going to tell us! It was as if scales had dropped from my eyes. In our conversation, I could also express my frustration that she got out of things by using notes from home and how I felt that wasn't fair. She took that on board and, honestly, it hasn't happened since.
3. Is It the Flip Side of a Strength?

Sometimes what we see as a problem is really the flip side, or what psychologists call the "shadow side," of a strength. In those situations, we need to help our kids learn new ways to regulate or express their strengths. Even what we might consider highly challenging behavior might be better handled if we can flip our view to see it through a strength lens, as this teacher discovered:

4. Could It Be a Blocked Strength?

A blocked strength can cause a strong emotional response. When we can't live in a way that feels authentic to us, it feels wrong and we get angry. How many of us have been hard to live with at home when we feel undervalued or underutilized at work? If your child is acting out, ask yourself if his strengths are being frustrated or blocked in some way.

5. Could It Be Forced Overuse of a Weakness or of a Learned Behavior?

It's almost a cliché in the business world: A talented achiever gets promoted into a management position that's a far cry from the original tasks in which she excelled and from which she derived great satisfaction. Even if she's a good manager, she's miserable because her new job forces her to constantly use learned behaviors rather than work from the energizing flow of her strengths. And if management skills are weaknesses for her, let's just say that she won't be the only one who's miserable on the job. Being forced to use weakness or learned behavior could lead to bad behavior.

It's exhausting and stressful to be in a situation where we must constantly use a weakness. Also depleting is being repeatedly required to use a learned skill that we know how to do-and may even perform well and be praised for-but that doesn't energize us and isn't balanced by the opportunity to flex our strengths. If it's hard for us as adults to handle this, imagine how a child, lacking the coping skills of a mature adult, might feel and react in such situations. If your child's behavior is frequently challenging, look at what his typical days are like. Perhaps the bad behavior is a result of him having to over-rely on weaknesses or learned behavior.

Getting a Handle on What's Happening

It takes only a few minutes to think through the questions above and get a sense of how your child's strengths are playing out (or not) in a given situation. This week, I want you to get a handle on what might be happening. Next week, I'll provide you with four tactics to help you put strength-based discipline into practice. The following week, I'll share the three things I do to effectively deal with weakness head-on.

Stay tuned.

***

Part 2: 4 Ways to Put Strength-Based Discipline into Practice

If you enjoyed the post, please click the thumbs up icon to let me know! 👍🏼

This post includes excerpts from Lea Waters's book "The Strength Switch: How the New Science of Strength-Based Parenting Can Help Your Child and Your Teen to Flourish" which has numerous footnotes supporting the research cited here. Greater Good Magazine named "The Strength Switch" one of its Favorite Books of 2017.

To learn more about Strength-Based Parenting or order your copy of The Strength Switch visit: www.StrengthSwitch.com.
﻿Copyright © 2018 Lea Waters. All rights reserved.
Photo credits (in order of appearance): Shelby Deeter, Patrick Fore, Caleb Woods, Naassom Azevedo, Jordan Whitt, Hunter Johnson, Diana Feil, Emma Simpson, and Michal Parzuchowski on Unsplash.

Tags: #StrengthSwitch, #SBP, #StrengthBasedParenting, #PositiveEducation, #ParentingAdvice, #PositiveDetective, #VisibleWellbeing, #Strengths, #Resilience, #PositivePsychology, #Wellbeing, #School, #EducationAuthor, #EducationSpeaker, #ParentingAuthor, #ParentingSpeaker, #Families, #Psychology, #Character, #CharacterStrengths, #MentalHealth, #Parenting, #Parent, #Children, #Child, #Optimism, #Education, #Teaching, #Teacher, #Discipline, #Shame, #Guilt, #Punishment

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Strength-Based Discipline: 5 Questions to Help Pinpoint Why Your Child is Acting Out

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This is Part 1 in a 3-part series on Strength-Based Discipline. Read Part 2 here.

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Actionable ideas

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Character Lab is a nonprofit organization that advances scientific insights to help kids thrive. We provide actionable advice for parents and educators.

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The Classification of Character Strengths and Virtues

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A breakdown of the classification of character strengths and virtues and how it is applied by psychologists, researchers, therapists.

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Published: October, 2017
Copyright 2017 Think Social Publishing, Inc.

Teachers and parents want their children to be emotionally self-regulated for obvious reasons. Yet, simply seeking emotional or behavioral self-regulation cannot be the singular goal of a treatment program.

Let's explore self-regulation as one of many important components within our lifelong journey of social emotional learning as we each morph and evolve with maturity, experience, changing contexts, etc.

Our own social emotional engine, when humming along and utilized to share space with others and/or engage in social interaction, gives us the systematic thinking and emotional-behavioral tools to attend to social emotional information, interpret our own and others' thoughts and feelings to make meaning of what is going on around us, and problem solve to make decisions about how to proceed in the situation. Ideally, we then produce an emotionally sensitive social response. Wow! That's a lot to factor in!

During different times in each of our lives our engines will work better than at other times. It depends on the load we're asking our social engine to manage as we encounter different types of people, new situations, emotional triggers, roadblocks, successes and failures. It also depends on how well our engine was originally constructed, and whether our engine needs basic repairs. If our engine isn't working well now, it's not going to miraculously begin functioning any better later on.

Just like with any engine, our social engine has to be regularly engaged and maintained for it to continue to function well. Students who we think are born to solid to strong social emotional engines may not be using their social motors enough if their social attention is being swallowed up by their focus on digital devices. Mainstream teachers are telling us students are not coming into classrooms with the same abilities to work as a member of a group, when compared to previous students who did not have access to these digital devices. In this case, it can be helpful to illuminate the many parts of their engine, to discuss how they function together and what stressors can cause their social engine to malfunction. This analytic approach can help them understand their need for regular face to face as well as digital social engagement and jump start awareness through a social cognitive perspective.

Students born to or who experience social emotional learning challenges (e.g., ASD, many with ADHD, attachment disorders, social anxiety, social communication disorder, etc.) need help with building certain components in their engine. Once we know all the components are in place we can help them learn how to synchronize the engine's many moving parts.

When we think about our social engine, it's important to realize that it is impossible to have a well running social emotional engine without the use of executive functions. Many people don't think about executive functions beyond helping individuals organize and carry out academic assignments. Yet, the organized thinking that results in the production of goal driven behaviors and helps individuals through their academic assignments is the same type of thinking that helps them with social problem solving and decision making. Consider that it takes as many organizational skills to manage a friendship as it does to complete and turn in a homework assignment! After all, you have to remember to reach out to your friends, include them in your plans, consider what they want in addition to what you want to do, etc. Perhaps we can think about executive function as the larger mental framework that holds the many parts of our social engine together, as well as providing the timing and sequencing mechanisms to help our engine work in synchronicity.

Let's explore this idea further: how are executive functions part of social emotional learning and self-regulation?

We can start by holding a common definition of executive functions. One definition is that these "are a set of processes that all have to do with managing oneself and one's resources in order to achieve a goal. It is an umbrella term for the neurologically-based skills involving mental control and self-regulation."
-Drs. Gerard A. Gioia, Peter K. Isquith, Steven C. Guy, and Lauren Kenworthy (2000)

Whenever we are around people, we typically have social goals, but most of them are unspoken and therefore unexamined. For example, when we participate in a classroom, there is a hidden expectation that all participants share common goals related to following the agenda the teacher has laid out, keeping each other comfortable as participants share space and possibly interact, doing what's expected in the group based on the situation, being included in the group, etc.

We organize our social systems and how we self-manage through our personal and collective social emotional goals. After all, whether we want to admit it or not, we have thoughts and emotions about the people who surround us and they have thoughts and feelings about us as well. At our core, we are constantly figuring out how we can attempt to bias how people think and feel about us, as well as constantly seeking to make meaning of others' situationally based intentions.

Social Thinking's Methodology helps teach students how to develop or refine the internal thinking processes that are expected to be up and running in their social engines so students can attend, interpret, problem solve/make decisions and respond. A core way we do this is to take research-based abstract information about social emotional learning and teach it in a more concrete manner. The broad definition of executive functions ("mental control" and "self-regulation") makes them hard to teach; they are abstract and all encompassing. Through Social Thinking, we break down these broad concepts into smaller, teachable units. We teach our students that they can start by focusing on three core components to executive functioning, that all revolve around achieving a goal:

1. We teach that a goal is simply something we each just think about - we don't do goals

2. We create a set of action plans (sequenced or parallel) that we use to help us achieve the goals we are thinking about.

3. Throughout these processes, it's essential that we self-regulate our emotions and behavior so we can carry out our action plans to accomplish our goals.

While all three steps can be quite difficult for some students with social learning challenges, the third step, which involves self-regulation of emotions and behavior, is by far the most difficult and one that at times shuts down the functioning of our engine.

Every engine needs a good mechanic; one who can check out the engine to make sure it's working smoothly and efficiently and tune it up when it isn't. Within Social Thinking, interventionists (parents, professionals and para-professionals of all types) are the mechanics, adults who understand how to use our frameworks and strategies to help students develop or maintain their engines while learning to self-regulate their behaviors and emotions.

Yet this social engine is not one that interventionists, whether they are educators, administrators, mental health specialists or therapists, intuitively know how to attend to, or were taught how to examine, tune up, or repair. To that end, the evidence-based Social Thinking Methodology also teaches the interventionist how they can become a stronger mechanic. We explain this (without the roadmap, engine and mechanic analogies) in our free article " Research to Frameworks to Practice: Social Thinking's Layers of Evidence." In this article we explain our conceptual frameworks for interventionists, as well as the treatment frameworks, strategies and activities we have created to help teach social emotional learning to enhance our own social executive functioning.

One particular treatment framework we find very helpful for teaching students about their own emotional self-regulation system is The Zones of Regulation, a self-regulation curriculum developed by Leah Kuypers and published by Social Thinking (in a book by the same name).

So how does "The Zones" fit within our Social Thinking Methodology and our social engine?

The Zones of Regulation encourages individuals to learn they can group emotions into one of four categories, each identified by a color:

1. The Blue Zone is used to describe low states of alertness or down emotions, such as when one feels sad, tired, sick or bored. This is when one's body and/or brain is moving slowly or sluggishly.

2. The Green Zone is used to describe neutral emotions and a calm, organized state of alertness. A person may feel happy, focused, content, calm, in control or ready to learn when in the Green Zone.

3. The Yellow Zone describes a heightened state of alertness; however, a person has some control when in the Yellow Zone. A person may be experiencing stress, frustration, anxiety, excitement, silliness, nervousness, confusion, and many more slightly elevated emotions (such as wiggly, squirmy, or sensory seeking or sensory overload).

4. The Red Zone is used to describe extremely heightened states of alertness or very intense feelings. A person may be experiencing anger, elation, devastation, panic or terror when in the Red Zone. Being in the Red Zones can be best explained by not being in control of one's body.

The Zones of Regulation is a very helpful framework as it helps individuals learn about their emotional self. However, teaching students how to group emotions into categories is not enough. Leah goes on to teach about our social behaviors and that self-regulation requires us to manage our emotions and behaviors while we're in social situations. The Zones curriculum includes many treatment tools and strategies, providing information on many concepts, some of which include but are not limited to how students can learn to observe triggers that move them into specific zones, and related strategies that can help students manage their behaviors in a zone (self-regulate). For instance, individuals may use self-talk to help them manage their anxiety when in a situation, or may use a sensory tool to regain calm and manage their triggers.

As I speak around the world, and mention the Social Thinking and self-regulation teachings embedded in The Zones of Regulation, I have asked audience members of all different cultures the same question: why don't you just yell at someone, cry, throw something, etc. when you're in the Red Zone? Remarkably the response to this question is exactly the same, everywhere in the world: I worry about how people will think of me if I behave this way.

And, that's our social awareness, perspective taking, and social executive functioning all kicking in to help us process and problem solve the situation we're in so we can successfully self-regulate.

This is how our social engine works! It's cased in executive functioning, thinking socially is the oil and gas that brings the engine to life, and self-regulation is when it's working and humming along.

Our social engine helps us navigate the road of life, especially when the inevitable bumps or detours appear. Individuals and interventionists will always need many treatment frameworks and strategies to manage the complexities of social emotional learning. The Social Thinking Methodology and its frameworks, Vocabulary, strategies and motivational developmental tools can prime your students' social engines so that Zones teachings make sense on a deeper level and students appreciate that social learning and self-regulation are a journey, not a destination. We're all on the road to self-discovery!

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Executive Functions, Social Thinking® and The Zones of Regulation®

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The lifelong journey of social emotional learning requires more than one treatment framework. In this article, Michelle Garcia Winner examines how the Social Thinking Methodology and The Zones of Regulation synchronize and work together as part of social emotional learning, executive functioning, and self-regulation.

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Crowded classrooms, hectic teaching schedules and rowdy students have teachers across the country looking for ways to keep their classrooms calm. That may be one reason mindfulness programs have become so popular. Mindfulness can be practiced in many ways, but at its core mindfulness is self-awareness, a way for students to ground themselves in the moment, creating space to better understand and manage their feelings.

Mindfulness has become a core social and emotional learning strategy in the Austin Independent School District (AISD) in Texas. The district has even created a mindfulness specialist position, filled by James Butler, the district's 2014 Teacher of the Year .

There are various understandings of mindfulness , but most focus on being nonjudgmental and present in the moment. Fourteen years of teaching experience has taught Butler that school-based mindfulness also must include kindness - to oneself and to others - in order to quiet the negative thinking that often overwhelms young people.

"My basic definition of mindfulness is being aware of the present moment and being kind to yourself," Butler said. "You're going to have thoughts and sometimes those thoughts are going to be unkind to you. Those are thoughts. That's not who you are."

He added, "Mindfulness isn't to just shut off all the thoughts. It's just to recognize those are thoughts, and to come back to your breath."

Butler emphasizes kindness because he's troubled by some of the patterns and mindsets he has observed in students over his career.

"I've noticed more kids just saying a lot of, 'I can't do this,' 'I'm not smart enough,' and just giving up and thinking 'I can't do it because I'm not enough.' That's where the kindness part comes in." He added, "If you mess up on a test or if you make a mistake out on the playground, it doesn't mean you're a bad person; but you might think you're a bad person."

As part of a presentation at , Butler and three of his former students shared what mindfulness looks like at multiple grade levels and why it's helpful in their age group.

"High school is really stressful," said Xavier Zamarron, a high school junior. "A lot of things can stack up on you, so it's nice to take a breath once in a while. And also in high school you kind of feel like a crappy person all the time because of just society, and like you wonder if you're cool or not, but none of that really matters. When we practice mindfulness, we're only worried about what we think about ourselves."

Fifth-grader Addison Green said she thinks if mindfulness was practiced more broadly, it would help kids better resolve social conflicts. She hopes emphasizing kindness would make some of the difficult social aspects of adolescence less painful.

"It's helping you make better decisions, I think, and making better decisions would mean people wouldn't get as mad at each other. And they'd treat each other a lot better. Especially in fifth grade because everybody is separating themselves and you lose a lot of friends."

Academically, Addison said she relies on mindfulness during stressful situations, like when taking high-stakes tests. It helps clarify her thinking. She said that during tests, she ends up thinking about several things at once. Mindfulness exercises help her organize those thoughts so she can focus on one thing.

"I feel a lot more calm and my brain is cleared out. And my memory is a lot better because, like I said, when I do it on a STAAR (State of Texas Assessments of Academic Readiness) test and I'm stuck on a question, I'll do mindfulness and then I'll sort of understand what I learned in class."

First-grader Teo Cardenas, the youngest student in the group, said mindfulness helped when he collided with someone at school and had to go to the hospital. He said he was scared and crying, so he took deep breaths to calm himself down.
MINDFULNESS IN THE CLASSROOM
Butler advises educators interested in practicing mindfulness in their classrooms to develop a regular mindfulness habit for themselves first. That way they'll feel confident in the practice before teaching it to students. He makes sure to squeeze in five minutes of mindfulness during the time it takes his coffee to steep in the morning. Previously, he used that time to check work email, but has found mindfulness to be a much better way to start the day.

"I have that five minutes and I can just sit down and breathe while the coffee is getting ready," said Butler. "It doesn't have to be a one- day silent retreat. Just having a simple tiny teeny practice, every day, that's awesome just so you know what it's like. So when you share with your kids, you can empathize, and that makes all the difference in the world."

As for practicing mindfulness with students, Butler says the exercises are similar across the different age groups, but there are unique challenges to scheduling time at different school levels. Taking five minutes might be easier in elementary school when kids are with the same teacher for the whole day, while the increased number of transitions in middle and high school makes exercises harder to schedule.

Schools with advisory or homeroom are well equipped to practice mindfulness, but Butler said it can also be effective as a transition tool. One middle school science teacher he knows started the school year by introducing a new mindfulness exercise each week, such as breathing, journaling or coloring. Once students were acquainted with a range of mindfulness strategies, the teacher let them pick the one that best fit their needs each week.

Having students lead mindfulness exercises also helped with buy-in, in part because adolescents were given the chance to be in charge.

"The kids who are like, 'this is dumb,' when they had a chance to lead or when their friends led, they were into it," said Butler. "A lot of times kids just want to be heard, even if it's as simple as pushing play on a mindfulness app."
STUDENT RECOMMENDATIONS
Student presenters at SXSW EDU shared their recommended tools for practicing mindfulness in the form of books, sites and apps.

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Learning Mindfulness Centered on Kindness to Oneself and Others

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Crowded classrooms, hectic teaching schedules and rowdy students have teachers across the country looking for ways to keep their classrooms calm. That may be one reason mindfulness programs have become so popular. Mindfulness can be practiced in many ways, but at its core mindfulness is self-awareness, a way for students to ground themselves in the moment, creating space to better understand and manage their feelings.

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Typically, schools and teachers know how to dish out consequences and punishments to students that misbehave. The challenge is finding an effective way of addressing recidivism.

The same students seem to do the same behaviors time and time again. The students begin to either not fear punishment, not know how to fix their behaviors, or only avoid behaviors because they know they will get in trouble--not because they truly understand why the behaviors are inappropriate. Punishment without coaching students through behaviors does not result in social and emotional growth in students--it only leads to temporary band-aids on much larger issues.

A very effective way for students to learn why their behaviors are inappropriate and why is to have them repair the harm they have caused. This is one of the most important parts of restorative practices in the classroom, which is an alternative to traditional discipline. Many students lack empathy for others and cannot put themselves into the shoes of others impacted by their actions. For example, a student that is tardy might not think it is a big deal, yet it causes the teacher to have to open the door, it might derail an important discussion or directions being given, and it might distract other students from their work by paying attention to who is coming in the door, let alone the detriment it causes to the student that was tardy by missing classroom instruction.

One of the very first things we should consider when addressing a student that is misbehaving is getting down to the root of the problem. Are they going through a tough time? Did they get enough sleep? Do they actually know that what they are doing is wrong? Next, ask the student how their actions have impacted others. This might take some prompting, but students will quickly catch on. Also, ask the students the damage that is caused to their own success by engaging in harmful behaviors. Once the student understands the personal impact of their own actions on and how it impacts others, it is time for them to repair the harm.

It is important for students to do a lot of the thinking, with coaching from the educator, when repairing the harm. When a student comes up with what they can do, there is much more ownership and willingness to follow through with their actions. Simply telling a student to apologize before building empathy for others and the harm it caused will likely make an apology just an act of compliance. Once the student has repaired the harm, reintegrate them back into the classroom or situation that they came from. We should now be able to put the incident behind us and move on to what we are all here to do, educate students!

By helping students understand how their actions impacted others, their own success, and empowering them to come up with a way in which they can repair the harm and make things right, we will truly start students on the journey of lasting change and make them think before acting when engaging in that behavior again. Restorative practices take more time and effort, but it is well worth it!

For more strategies and resources on how to create lasting change in your school and/or classroom, please check out our new book, HACKING SCHOOL DISCIPLINE: 9 Ways to Create a Culture of Empathy & Responsibility Using Restorative Justice. Also, be sure to check out our revolutionary behavior management system, BehaviorFlip, that combines the best of restorative practices, PBIS, & MTSS to help build a culture of empathy, responsibility, & growth mindset!

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Typically, schools and teachers know how to dish out consequences and punishments to students that misbehave. The challenge is finding an effective way of addressing recidivism.The same students seem to do the same behaviors time and time again. The students begin to either not fear punishment, not know how

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Much of the work I do with schools in the field of restorative approaches happens with the education staff (teachers, assistants, leadership). Some of the time I get to work with the students, either modeling/teaching the circle process or building student understanding and developing restorative skills. I spend the least amount of my working time educating parents about restorative approaches and I often ponder why this is. At nearly every workshop I run, dedicated staff ask how they might engage parents in this process and how they can convince parents of its merits.

Schools schedule a number of parent information sessions throughout the year, largely focused on academic curriculum such as Literacy and Numeracy.'Parents as partners' is often touted by schools because they know that students are happier at school and have greater achievement when parents are involved in school processes and programs, so I am left wondering why there is a lack of parent education on Restorative Practice?

Schools successfully implementing restorative approaches have clear, intentional plans that include training for all staff (some great schools even train administrative personnel) in both proactive relationship building (circle work) as well as responding to harm processes and dialogue (restorative chats & conferencing) and education for the community, which includes parents, carers and the students themselves. Parents are an ally for schools in this arena so long as they feel valued and knowledgeable about the process and possible outcomes. As far as the ' how' goes, an educational seminar or workshop with a trained professional usually does the trick followed up with supportive take home materials and a 'cheat-sheet' on the school web-page that outlines the basics of a restorative approach.

Schools can engage parents in a number of ways, here are three suggestions for consideration:
1. Create a restorative 'cheat-sheet' for your community which they can access online. Be sure to use the same language and processes used at school. Here are two basic examples that may provide inspiration: Carr Manor PS and Riverside PS.

2. Film a relationship building circle and give parents access on a secure network. Better yet, host an open morning where parents can participate in a circle with their children. They can experience the benefits of circles for themselves and have fun connecting with their kids!

3. Purchase some parent-friendly restorative resources and encourage parents to loan them out of the library or include particular chapters or information in school newsletters. Three of my favourites are: Raising Beaut Kids by Mark Le Messurier and Bill Hansberry; The Strength Switch by Dr Lea Waters; and The Whole-Brain Child by Daniel Siegel and Tina Payne Bryson. The last two are not specific to Restorative Practice however they enhance the development of skills required to participate in restorative approaches as well as developing restorative parenting skills.

Given the chance, parents can be a school's greatest advocate and supporter, all they need is the invitation. Be sure to head over to the Restorative Pathways Facebook page to share with our community the ways you engage with your parents on the journey of becoming a restorative school.

Have a great March everyone!

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Are Parents your Missing Link in Restorative Approaches?

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Much of the work I do with schools in the field of restorative approaches happens with the education staff (teachers, assistants, leadership). Some of the time I get to work with the students, either modeling/teaching the circle process or building student understanding and developing restorative skills.

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As children grow and develop, they experience a number of emotional reactions that they know are different or even negative feelings, but they haven't the experience to understand what they are dealing with. However, they will let us know when something is wrong even when they aren't entirely sure of what it is.

While children may look at things differently than we do, giving them a deeper insight into another outlook on any given situation- they aren't as educated or self-aware as an adult. To them, their feelings that are constantly changing and evolving can be confusing, and putting a definite prognosis on their health isn't likely. Instead, they will tell us their symptoms, awaiting our experience and wisdom for help.

However, up until recently, most adults were completely unaware of the prominence of childhood mental disorders, other than ADHD and the other run of the mill behavioral issues experienced by children. And even in adulthood, it seems that anxiety isn't taken as seriously as it should be, because most people think that anxiety is simply the occurrence of a normal fear taking hold of us.

But anxiety is much more than that and can be quite consuming for the person dealing with it.

What child doesn't have a moment in which they cower behind their parents because it is dark outside, or because they heard a loud noise? In these situations, the child is anxious, but rightfully so, leaving no cause for concern. But, in some cases, children can develop an anxiety disorder which will affect their relationships, their education, and their overall quality of life.

Recent statistics have shown us that at least 1 out of every 8 children develops an anxiety disorder. If left untreated, the initial anxiety disorder can transpire into difficulty maintaining and developing connections with their peers, severe sleep disturbance, and substance dependency.

Sadly, untreated anxiety can leave your child feeling as though they are worthless, and in turn they may not excel academically, leaving them short of reaching their full potential. Depression is often a result of an untreated childhood anxiety disorder as well. So, how can we make a difference in the outcome of this often tragic scenario?

Learn to pay attention to your child's cry for help. Sometimes, their expression of anxiety will be much different than you would expect, so it helps to stay in tune with their triggers.

-Constant stomach aches during stressful situations

- Agitation

- Restless behavior

- Avoiding people/situations that could even slightly stress them out

- Meltdowns over slight issues

- Difficulty transitioning

- Extreme perfectionism

- Strange coping mechanisms that could be considered as self-harm (biting, scratching, pinching or even the pulling of their own hair)

If you notice your child is constantly stressing, to the point of it intervening in their day to day activities, seek the help of a trusted therapist. Catching the symptoms early can mean a better probability for therapeutic intervention, meaning medicine may not even be necessary. Above all- listen to your child, within reason. Use your better judgment and stay tuned into your child's normal behaviors and habits. Doing these simple things can make all the difference in the world.

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Children Won't Say They Have Anxiety, They Say 'My Stomach Hurts!'

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As children grow and develop, they experience a number of emotional reactions that they know are different or even negative feelings, but they haven't the experience to understand what they are dealing with. However, they will let us know when something is wrong even when they aren't entirely sure of what it is.

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The health benefits of expressing gratitude are many, and some might surprise you.

Scholars, spiritual leaders, and scientist throughout history have deliberated on gratitude. More recently, the scientifically-validated benefits of gratitude are better understood.

Through the work of leading researchers like Robert Emmons and Martin Seligman, we know that this virtue is more than just saying, "thank you."

Numerous studies are demonstrating how gratitude journaling can increase one's happiness. Others show that inflammation in one's body can decrease. Each study offers insights into how a person can improve their overall health and well-being.

Throughout this article, you will discover that expressing gratitude reduces stress, increases optimism, and changes your brain.

What are the Benefits of Gratitude?

The Greater Good Science Center offers a plethora of information on this subject. In a white paper titled, "The Science of Gratitude" (2018), they outline several benefits to gratitude practice.

For the individual:

increased happiness and positive mood

more satisfaction with life

less materialistic

less likely to experience burnout

better physical health

better sleep

less fatigue

lower levels of cellular inflammation

greater resiliency

encourages the development of patience, humility, and wisdom

For groups:

increases prosocial behaviors

strengthens relationships

may help employees' effectiveness

may increase job satisfaction

Emmons & Mishra (2011) explored many of the above benefits in " Why gratitude enhances well-being: What we know, what we need to know." They concluded that there is " considerable evidence that gratitude builds social resources by strengthening relationships and promoting prosocial actions. " As you continue reading, you will discover more support for making gratitude a habit.

A Look at the Research on Showing Gratitude

Showing gratitude is not merely saying, "thank you." Wong and Brown (2017) asked how gratitude affects us mentally and physically. Their study involved assigning students into three groups:

Group one wrote a gratitude letter to another person every week for three weeks. Group two wrote about their thoughts and feelings about negative experiences. Group three didn't write anything. All three groups received counseling services. Group one reported "significantly better mental health four and 12 weeks" after the intervention ended. Their findings also suggest that a combined gratitude practice/counseling approach is more beneficial than counseling alone.

The researchers analyzed their findings to figure out how gratitude has these effects. They determined that gratitude does four things:

1. Gratitude disconnects us from toxic, negative emotions and the ruminating that often accompanies them. Writing a letter "shifts our attention" so that our focus is on positive emotions.

2. Expressing gratitude helps us even if we don't explicitly share it with someone. We're happier and more satisfied with life because we completed the exercise.

3. The positive effects of gratitude writing compound like interest. You might not notice the benefit of a daily or weekly practice, but after several weeks and months, you will.

4. A gratitude practice trains the brain to be more in tune with experiencing gratitude - a positive plus a positive, equal more positives.

Their findings echo research done by Emmons and many others.

Bartlett & DeSteno (2006) found there is a positive relationship between kind, helpful behavior, and feeling grateful. In, " Gratitude and prosocial behavior: Helping when it costs you, " they discuss this connection in great detail. Throughout three studies they determined,

Gratitude facilitates helping behavior,

Grateful people help the people who helped them (benefactors) and strangers similarly, and

Reminding people who helped them (a benefactor) still increased helping behavior exhibited toward strangers. The reciprocity norm wasn't a factor.

Dickens and DeSteno (2018) found an association between self-control (patience) and gratitude. Grateful people delay future rewards to a higher degree than ungrateful people. The researchers point out that this has implications for more than one's finances. Increasing levels of gratitude also could help people positively affect health-related behaviors.

Counterpoints

Not all the research supports positive outcomes. Sansone & Sansone (2010) highlight four studies that " temper the association between gratitude and well-being. "

In, " Gratitude and hedonic and eudaimonic well-being in Vietnam war veterans," Kashdan and colleagues (2006) found that trait gratitude had a relationship with well-being, but only among participants with PTSD. Trait gratitude is defined as " an enduring personality characteristic that describes or determines an individual's behavior across a range of situations " (APA, n.d.).

Researcher Patricia Henrie (2006) explored the affects daily gratitude journaling has on well-being and adjusting to divorce. The study included middle-aged women, all of whom belonged to and practiced the beliefs of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS). In " The effects of gratitude on divorce adjustment and well-being of middle-aged divorced women," Henrie found that participants in her treatment groups experienced no improvement in life satisfaction.

Sansone and Sansone (2010) write that participants in Ozimkowski's 2007 study wrote and delivered a letter to someone in their lives whom they'd never thanked. The study titled, " The gratitude visit in children and adolescents: an investigation of gratitude and subjective well-being " revealed that writing and delivering a gratitude letter did not enhance well-being among children and adolescents. Ozimkowski's dissertation, cited by 14 other researchers, was unavailable at the time of this writing (Google Scholar, n.d.).

Gurel Kirgiz (2007) investigated whether experimentally-induced gratitude influences affect and temporary self-construal. The results, outlined in " Effects of gratitude on subjective well-being, self-construal, and memory " suggest that state gratitude does not have a relationship with well-being, but that trait gratitude does. State gratitude is defined as one's present or current level of gratitude.

Robert Emmons (2010), the preeminent scholar in this field, makes the argument that gratitude allows a person to:

celebrate the present

block toxic emotions (envy, resentment, regret, depression)

be more stress-resilient, and

strengthen social ties and self-worth.

Gratitude research is on-going by experts worldwide.

When gratitude fails

As easy as gratitude is to put into practice, there is one thing that can get in the way of it 'going viral:' Ingratitude. Emmons (2013) offers the following characteristics of ingratitude:

excessive sense of self-importance

arrogance

vanity

unquenchable need for admiration and approval

sense of entitlement

Some might recognize these as traits describing a narcissistic personality. Philosopher David Hume (1739) wrote, " Of all crimes that human creatures are capable of committing, the most horrid and unnatural is ingratitude."

Researcher Thomas Gilovich (2017) describes ingratitude as the result of " adaptation, dwelling on negatives, and skewed perceptions of hardships." In Enemies of Gratitude, Gilovich explains how and why these three experiences interfere with one's ability to express gratitude. In addition to this, he offers ways to combat these enemies.

The Effects Gratitude Has on Health

According to Julie Ray (2019) of the Gallup Organization, " The world took a negative turn in 2017, with global levels of stress, worry, sadness and pain hitting new highs. " How can this trend change for the better? Research demonstrates that one way is through practicing gratitude.

The following studies demonstrate the affect gratitude has on one's mental and physical health.

Writing a gratitude letter and counting blessings had "high utility scores and were associated with substantial improvements in optimism" (Huffman, Dubois, Healy, Boehm, Kashdan, Celano, Denninger, & Lyubomirsky, 2014).

Gratitude letter writing leads to better mental health in adult populations seeking psychotherapy (Wong, Owen, Brown, Mcinnis, Toth, & Gilman, 2016).

Gratitude buffers people from stress and depression (Wood, Maltby, Gillett, Linley, & Joseph, 2008).

Positive reframing underlies the relationship between trait gratitude and a sense of coherence. A sense of coherence is how confident a person feels about potential life outcomes. It is the degree to which a person feels optimistic and in control of future events (Lambert, Graham, Fincham, & Stillman, 2009).

Patients who expressed optimism/gratitude two weeks after an acute coronary event had healthier hearts (Huffman, Beale, Beach, Celano, Belcher, Moore, Suarez, Gandhi, Motiwala, Gaggin, & Januzzi 2015).

Gratitude and spiritual well-being are related to positive affect, sleep quality, energy, self-efficacy, and lower cellular inflammation (Mills, Redwine, Wilson, Pung, Chinh, Greenberg, Lunde, Maisel, & Raisinghani, 2015).

Gratitude may enhance peace of mind, reduce rumination, and have a negative effect on depressive symptoms (Liang, Chen, Li, Wu, Wang, Zheng, & Zeng, 2018).

If a person could do only one thing to increase their health and happiness, expressing gratitude might be it. Martin Seligman, a pioneer in the field of Positive Psychology, has remarked, " when we take time to notice the things that go right - it means we're getting a lot of little rewards throughout the day " (BrainyQuote, n.d.).

Every time a person expresses or receives gratitude, dopamine releases in the brain. Dopamine, a neurotransmitter, is produced in two areas of the brain: the substantia nigra and the ventral tegmental. The former has to do with movement and speech, the latter with reward (Carter, 2009). When a person expresses or receives gratitude, dopamine releases, thus making a connection between the behavior and feeling good. The more a person practices gratitude, the more often dopamine releases.

Proven Advantages of Keeping a Daily Gratitude Journal

One of the most popular gratitude exercises is the daily gratitude journal. One study found that materialism among adolescents decreased when they implemented this practice. Participants also donated 60% more money to charity (Chaplin, Roedder John, Rindfleisch, & Froh, 2019).

Fritz and colleagues (2019) learned that after completing a gratitude writing exercise, state gratitude predicted healthier eating behavior among undergraduate students. In a second study, they found that a weekly gratitude letter was associated with better eating habits. The teens in this study also experienced fewer negative emotions during the intervention period, which spanned four weeks.

Gratitude journaling might reduce inflammation in people who have experienced Stage B, asymptomatic heart failure (Redwine, Henry, Pung, Wilson, Chinh, Jain, Rutledge, Greenberg, Maisel, & Mills 2016). In a study titled " Gratitude journaling intervention in patients with Stage B heart failure," Redwine and colleagues (2016) piloted an 8-week gratitude journaling intervention. Compared to standard treatment, the intervention group also experienced an improvement in trait gratitude scores.

There is conflicting research about how often a person should journal. Sonja Lyubomirsky and colleagues (2010) found that once or twice per week is more beneficial than daily journaling.

The Benefits of Gratitude in the Workplace

People spend more time per week working than with their families (OECD, 2019). Since this is the case, it is vital that people work in healthy, supportive environments. Instilling and expressing gratitude is a simple way companies can increase employees' job satisfaction.

Some employers and employees are hesitant to engage in formal gratitude practices. In response, researcher Amie Gordon (2019) identified Four myths about being grateful at work. She outlined the truths about gratitude revealed through scientific inquiry.

The myths and truths are:

Myth #1: It's forced.
Truth: Participants assigned to "be more grateful" are more satisfied, healthier, and happier. People enjoy gratitude interventions even when told to practice it.

Myth #2: It's fake.
Truth: Expressing gratitude when it is felt matters. Being specific about what one is grateful for heightens the experience for both people.

Myth #3: It's fluffy.
Truth: Gratitude is about feeling valued by others and seeing value in others. The majority of employees will leave if they do not feel appreciated and recognized.

Myth #4: It undermines authority.
Truth: Grateful leaders inspire trust. They are perceived as having more integrity.

There is no denying that many workplaces or specific jobs induce stress. How can expressing gratitude help?

Focusing on events at work about which one is grateful reduces stress and depression (Cheng, Tsui, & Lam, 2015). In their study titled, "Improving mental health in health care practitioners," 102 practitioners were divided into three groups:

Group 1: Wrote a work-related gratitude journal 2x/week for four consecutive weeks
Group 2: Wrote about work-related hassles 2x/.week for four consecutive weeks
Group 3: No diary

The researchers collected information about depressive symptoms and perceived stress at baseline, posttreatment, and during a 3-month follow-up. Those who wrote a work-related gratitude journal experienced a decline in stress and depressive symptoms when compared to the other two groups. Groups two and three were nearly the same as each other.

How to implement gratitude company-wide

Cultivating gratefulness at work can be a challenging undertaking, but professor Ryan Fehr (2019) has Three research-backed tips for a grateful workplace. They are:

1. Build a gratitude habit (rituals, practices, etc.)

2. Draw from many resources (appreciation programs, interventions, helping others, others helping us, building skills, etc.)

3. Guard against negative emotions (envy, excessive pride, and anger)

Charles Schwab & Co. is an example of successfully implementing a company-wide gratitude program. Diana Jason explains how the company put gratitude to work. As you will hear, the leadership had already focused on employee recognition but wanted to take things further. They decided to shift from milestones and metrics to valuing people. Pay particular attention to her description of their appreciation portal.

Do gratitude programs really make a difference at work?

Cultural differences

Floyd and colleagues (2018) argue that much of the research around gratitude has two flaws:

1. It is focused on English-speaking and Western-European populations, and

2. Current research conflates gratitude as an emotion with it as a linguistic activity.

The researchers assert that social reciprocity still occurs despite cultural differences in expressed gratitude (saying 'thank you'). In other words, one need not say 'thank you' to have a sense of reciprocity. They conclude that:

" Despite the attitudes encountered in some cultures that emphasize saying 'thank you' often, such practices do not appear to be necessary for the maintenance of everyday social reciprocity." When conducting studies with English-speaking or Western European populations, researchers should " use caution when coming to species-wide conclusions based on such populations."

16 Things You Can Do to Realize These Benefits

These suggestions adapted from Sansone & Sansone (2010) and Emmons (2010) are easy to do daily or weekly.

1. Journal about things, people, or situations for which you are grateful. Consider including negative situations like avoiding an accident, for instance.

2. Think about someone for whom you are grateful

3. Write a gratitude letter to someone for whom you are thankful. Consider sending it or giving it to them in person.

4. Meditate on gratitude (present moment awareness).

5. Do the "Count Your Blessings" exercise (at the end of the day, write down three things for which you were grateful)

6. Practice saying "thank you" in a real and meaningful way. Be specific. For example, "Thank you for taking the time to read this article and leave a comment. I enjoy reading your contributions because they broaden my understanding of this subject."

7. Write thank you notes. Some might say this is a lost art. Challenge yourself to write one hand-written note every week for one month.

8. If religious, pray about your gratitude or use specific prayers of gratitude. Interfaith Worker Justice offers Muslim, Jewish, and Christian examples. Secular Seasons has several graces and invocations. You also can find a collection of secular gratitude approaches on Be. Orlando Humanist Fellowship.

9. Recall a negative event. Doing this helps you appreciate your current situation.

10. Be mindful of your five senses. How does each enhance your life?

11. Create visual reminders to practice gratitude. Sticky notes, notifications, and people are great for this.

12. Focus on the good that others have done on your behalf.

13. Actions lead to gratitude. Smile, say thank you, and write gratitude letters.

14. Be grateful gazer. Be on the lookout for opportunities to feel grateful.

15. Give something up. We tend to adapt to newness; sometimes it's a good idea to give something up so that we can increase our appreciation of it.

16. Think about what your life would be like if a specific positive event wouldn't have happened. Write all the decisions and events that would have been different in your life. For instance, what if you didn't meet your spouse? What if you didn't get the dream job you have now? What if you hadn't stopped a particular bad habit?

Below are two exercises you can use to realize the benefits of gratitude further.

The Naikan Reflection Exercise

The Naikan Reflection is a self-reflection method initially developed in Japan. The entire exercise takes about 10 minutes to complete. Naikan means "looking within." Anyone, with or without religious affiliations, can do this activity. The process involves reflecting on the following three questions while focusing one's attention on a particular person and time.

1. What did this person give to me? (giving)

2. What did I return to this person? (receiving)

3. What trouble did I cause this person? (hurting)

Doing this reflection helps to grow feelings of gratitude and appreciation for others. It also allows people to discover how much they take versus give in personal relationships.

The Silent Gratitude Mapping Exercise

In the workplace, groups can use Silent Gratitude Mapping to connect and create stronger bonds. This exercise takes about 15 minutes. Participants divide into small groups of 3-5. A large sheet of paper and colored markers for each group, or a whiteboard is used.

First, group members reflect on things in their life for which they are grateful. Then, they write them onto the sheet placing a circle around the item. Next, each person draws a line from the circled items and writes a reason why they are grateful for it. For example, if someone writes, 'my home,' she will draw a line connected to it that reads, 'I can relax.' Then, participants take a few minutes to read the various responses and add their lines and reasons.

For example, if a participant also feels grateful for his home, then he would draw a line from that circle to his own reason. During the evaluation phase, the instructor asks the smaller groups to discuss what was learned, and then share with the larger group.

A Take Home Message

Regardless of who you are, or the circumstances of your life, the health benefits of gratitude are undeniable. There are numerous gratitude books, workbooks, apps, and premade journals available, making it easier for everyone to increase their practice of this virtue every day.

What activities will you commit to implementing so that you can realize the health benefits of gratitude?

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Huffman, J.C., Beale, E.E., Beach, S.R., Celano, C.M., Belcher, A.M., Moore, S.V., Suarez, L. Gandhi, P.U., Motiwala, S.R., Gaggin, H., & Januzzi, J.L. (2015). Design and baseline data from the Gratitude Research in Acute Coronary Events (GRACE) study. Contemporary Clinical Trials, 44, 11-19.

Hume, D. (1739, 2015 July 3). A treatise of human nature: Being an attempt to introduce the experimental method of reasoning into moral subjects. The University of Adelaide. Retrieved May 28, 2019, from https://ebooks.adelaide.edu.au/h/hume/david/treatise-of-human-nature/complete.html

Jason, D. (2019 February 7). Do gratitude programs really make a difference at work? Retrieved May 22, 2019, from https://youtu.be/8ApQd0zUQvA

Kashdan, T.B., Uswatte, G., & Julian, T. (2006). Gratitude and hedonic and eudaimonic well-being in Vietnam War veterans. Behaviour Research and Therapy, 44, 177-199.

Kirgiz O. G. (2007). Effects of gratitude on subjective well-being, self-construal, and memory. Diss Abstr Int. 2008;68:4825B. Retrieved May 21, 2019 from https://auislandora-stage.wrlc.org/islandora/object/thesesdissertations%3A3277/datastream/PDF/view

Lambert, N.M., Graham, S.M., Fincham, F.D., & Stillman, T.F. (2009 November). A changed perspective: How gratitude can affect sense of coherence through positive reframing. The Journal of Positive Psychology, 4(6), p. 461-470. DOI: 10.1080/17439760903157182.

Liang, H., Chen, C., Li, F., Wu, S., Wang, L., Zheng, X., & Zeng, B. (2018). Mediating effects of peace of mind and rumination on the relationship between gratitude and depression among Chinese university students. Current Psychology, p. 1-8. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12144-018-9847-1. Retrieved May 28, 2019, from https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s12144-018-9847-1#citeas

Lyubomirsky, S., & Della Porta, M. D. (2010). Boosting happiness, buttressing resilience: Results from cognitive and behavioral interventions. In J. W. Reich, A. J. Zautra, & J. S. Hall (Eds.), Handbook of adult resilience (pp. 450-464). New York, NY, US: The Guilford Press.

Mills, P.J., Redwine, L., Wilson, K., Pung, M.A., Chinh, K., Greenberg, B.H., Lunde, O., Maisel, A., Raisinghani, A. (2015). The role of gratitude in spiritual well-being in Asymptomatic heart failure patients. Spirituality in Clinical Practice, 2(1), p. 5-17. DOI 10.1037/scp0000050. Retrieved May 28, 2019, from https://www.apa.org/pubs/journals/releases/scp-0000050.pdf

Nguyen Chaplin, L., Roedder John, D. Rindfleisch, A., & Froh, J.J. (2019). The impact of gratitude on adolescent materialism and generosity. The Journal of Positive Psychology, 14(4), p. 502-511. https://doi.org/10.1080/17439760.2018.1497688. Retrieved May 28, 2019, from https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/17439760.2018.1497688?journalCode=rpos20

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Ray, J. (2019 April 25). Americans' stress, worry, and anger intensified in 2018. Gallup. Retrieved May 21, 2019, from https://news.gallup.com/poll/249098/americans-stress-worry-anger-intensified-2018.aspx?g_source=link_NEWSV9&g_medium=LEAD&g_campaign=item_&g_content=Americans%27%2520Stress%2c%2520Worry%2520and%2520Anger%2520Intensified%2520in%25202018

Redwine, L.S., Henry, B.L., Pung, M.A., Wilson, K., Chinh, K., Knight, B., Jain, S., Rutledge, T., Greenberg, B., Maisel, A., Mills, P.J. (2016). Pilot randomized study of a gratitude journaling intervention on heart rate variability and inflammatory biomarkers in patients with Stage B heart failure. Psychosomatic Medicine, 78(6), 667-76.

Sansone, R.A. & Sansone, L.A. (2010). Gratitude and well-being: The benefits of appreciation. Psychiatry (Edgmont), 7(11), p. 18-22. Retrieved May 21, 2019, from https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3010965/

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Wong, Y.J., Owen, J., Gabana, N.T., Brown, J.W., Mcinnis, S., Toth, P., & Gilman, L. (2016). Does gratitude writing improve the mental health of psychotherapy clients? Evidence from a Randomized Controlled Trial. Psychotherapy Research, May 3, 1-11.

Wong, J. & Brown, J. (2017 June 6). How gratitude changes you and your brain. Greater Good Magazine. Retrieved May 21, 2019, from https://greatergood.berkeley.edu/article/item/how_gratitude_changes_you_and_your_brain

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14 Health Benefits of Practicing Gratitude According to Science

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The health benefits of expressing gratitude are many, and some might surprise you. Scholars, spiritual leaders, and scientist throughout history have deliberated on gratitude. More recently, the scientifically-validated benefits of gratitude are better understood. Through the work of leading researchers like Robert Emmons and Martin Seligman, we know that this virtue is more than just saying, "thank you."

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Podcast with Ryan Niemic

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Have you ever wondered what makes some people achieve more than others? Or, what are the real building blocks to well being? Maybe even...what contributes to the success of romantic relationships? Finally, what might the research be telling us about the political polarization in the US?

Dr. Ryan Niemiec, Director of Education for the Values in Action Institute has been working on these questions (and others) for years. Niemiec's answer is interesting AND practical - find ways to apply your psychological strengths. In this episode we'll talk about how strengths represent the potential for goodness in the world, why it may be important to appreciate the strengths of your partner and how you can apply your strengths at work in 3, simple steps.

If you want to take the free strengths survey, go to www.VIAcharacter.org. If you want to read a really good book on the subject AND apply your strengths more effectively, check out The Power of Character Strengths - Appreciate and Ignite Your Positive Personality .
Check out this episode!

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Episode 20 - Ryan Niemiec - The Power of Character Strengths

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Have you ever wondered what makes some people achieve more than others? Or, what are the real building blocks to well being? Maybe even...what contributes to the success of romantic relationships? Finally, what might the research be telling us about the political polarization in the US?

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Your life literally shapes your brain.

The more often you perform an action or behave a certain way, the more it gets physically wired into your brain. This amazing adaptive quality of your brain is known as neuroplasticity.

Neuroplasticity can work both for and against you.

Neuroplasticity is the ability of the brain to change its physical structure and function based on input from your experiences, behaviors, emotions, and even thoughts. It used to be believed that except for a few specific growth periods in childhood, the brain was pretty much fixed. Now, we know that's not true. Your brain is capable of change until the day you die.

Neuroplasticity gained scientific validation in the later half of the twentieth century and has far-reaching implications for almost every aspect of human life and culture from education and medicine to relationships and happiness. This morphing capability renders your brain extremely resilient, but also makes it very vulnerable to outside and internal, usually unconscious, influences.

Your brain forms neuronal connections based on what you do repeatedly in your life - both good and bad. Worrying about every little thing. Cruising online pornography. Picking at your fingernails. Hitting the gym. Meditating. Your repeated mental states, responses, and behaviors become neural traits.

Making or breaking a habit involves neuroplastic change in your brain. A person desires something because their plastic brain has become sensitized to the substance or experience and craves it. When an urge is satisfied, dopamine, a feel-good neurotransmitter, is released. The same shot of dopamine that gives pleasure is also an essential component of neuroplastic change. Dopamine assists in building neuronal connections that reinforce the habit.

The first time you do something, the dopamine reward comes after the event. Each time thereafter, dopamine gets released earlier and earlier until just thinking about something causes an anticipatory dopamine surge. The dopamine preceding the action motivates you to perform the behavior in the future.

Every time you act in the same way, a specific neuronal pattern is stimulated and becomes strengthened in your brain. We know that neurons that fire together wire together. Your brain, being the efficient entity that it is, takes the path of least resistance each time and a habit or full-blown addiction is born.

To break bad habits, you really have to change your brain. When it comes to changing your behavior - and in life, in general, you'll have more success if you make friends with your mind and brain and put them to work for you. You can change your behavior - even those hard-to-break habits - by building alternate pathways in your brain.

When you first try to adopt a new behavior, you have to enlist your prefrontal cortex, the thinking brain, and insert conscious effort, intention, and thought into the process. When you've performed the new routine enough times for connections to be made and strengthened in your brain, the behavior will require less effort as it becomes the default pattern.

You've probably heard that it takes 21 days to form a new habit. Unfortunately, that's false. The amount of time it takes to modify behavior depends on what you're trying to do and can range anywhere from 3 weeks to months or even longer. The relationship between adopting a new behavior and automaticity (acting without having to think about it) is much like climbing a hill that starts out steep and gradually levels off. In the beginning, you make some really impressive progress, but the gains diminish over time.

Changing your behavior isn't easy, but it can be done, and your brain can help you. Here's how:

Know Your Triggers - Determine what causes the anticipatory dopamine release to motivate you towards a behavior or habit and avoid it. If at all possible, remove the triggers from your life. This could mean changing your environment completely or in small ways. If you want to make a change, whether it's breaking a bad habit or creating a healthy one, you need to make sure your environment supports it.

Find Ways To Reduce Stress - Bad habits or unwanted behaviors are usually coping mechanisms. If you don't engage in them, you'll stay stressed and will get even more stressed because you can't release it in your usual way. You will benefit by finding alternate ways blow off steam, such as exercise, yoga, meditation, mindfulness, gratitude, sleep, and social interaction.

Pay Attention - You'll modify your behavior more easily if you engage your prefrontal cortex by actively paying attention. Your brain has limited resources. When you stop paying attention because you're distracted or stressed, your brain reverts back to old patterns, and you end up eating a pint of ice cream. Every time you perform the new behavior or override an urge, you're making the old habit weaker in your brain.

Start small - Changing your behavior requires willpower, which uses serotonin. Willpower is a lot like a muscle. It gets tired and depleted. Start out making small changes one at a time that don't need much willpower. Instead of drastically overhauling your diet all at once, just cut out one thing. A couple of weeks later when the first change is established, make another modification for the better.

Increase Your Serotonin - Increasing serotonin helps your prefrontal cortex function properly and increases your willpower. There are many ways to raise serotonin levels naturally, including getting more sunlight, getting a massage, exercising, and recalling happy memories.

Enlist Your Thinking Brain - Cultivating awareness will help your prefrontal cortex override default patterns. Consciously think about how your life would improve by changing your behavior. Remind and motivate yourself with affirmations, visualization, and positive self-talk. Science shows that using positive self-reflection helps significantly in establishing new habits.

Celebrate the small victories - Focusing on minor achievements and accomplishments along the way keeps the dopamine flowing and helps you stay motivated. In fact, science shows that shifting your attention away from the long-term goal and just focusing on showing up and getting your new habit done every single day is more successful.

Surround Yourself With The Right People - Research shows that behavior and feelings are contagious in our relationships up to three degrees. This was first found to be true with obesity and then with loneliness and happiness. Whatever behavioral change you want to make or break, it will be easier for you to do if you find people who encourage you and want to change too.

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The Neuroscience of Changing Your Behavior - The Best Brain Possible

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Your life literally shapes your brain. The more often you perform an action or behave a certain way, the more it gets physically wired into your brain. This amazing adaptive quality of your brain is known as neuroplasticity. Neuroplasticity can work both for and against you.

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The Myths of Happiness

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-I'll be happy when...I'm married to the right person.
-I can't be happy when...I'm single.
-I'll be happy when...I'm rich.
-I can't be happy when...the best years of my life are over.

Many of us buy into the myths of happiness. We fervently believe that, if we're not happy now, we'll be happy when that perfect job and romantic partner come along, when we are well-to-do, with a grand house and kids. When fulfilling these goals doesn't make us as happy as we expected, we feel there must be something wrong with us or we must be the only ones to feel this way. Others, by contrast, are dreading turning points that we are sure will usher great misery - finding the wrong partner or no partner at all, losing our money or our jobs, enduring a worrisome health condition, or getting old. In this book, I draw on the latest scientific research to show that believing in these happiness myths can have toxic consequences. Not only do our false expectations turn foreseeable life transitions into full-blown crisis points, but, worse, they also steer us to make poor decisions and impair our mental health. If we are convinced, for example, that a certain kind of marriage, job, and prosperity would make us happy (and it doesn't), then misunderstanding the power of "hedonic adaptation" may compel us to jettison perfectly good marriages and jobs, harm our relationships with our children, and squander our money. If we are positive that divorce or singlehood or old age would make us miserable forever, then not recognizing the power of resilience and the rewards of singlehood and aging may lead us to remain in a bad marriage, settle for a poor romantic match, or undergo unnecessary cosmetic surgery. The good news is that by practicing the recommendations in this book - how to slow hedonic adaptation, cope with adversity, pursue new goals, and grow and flourish- we can transform our crisis points into straightforward passages of life and forge our way to a happy and fulfilling life.

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Official Site for the How of Happiness, by Sonja Lyubomirsky

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The Power of Character Strengths

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Character is the part of your personality that people tend to admire, respect and cherish.

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Created by Leanne Sercombe and Trish Oliver

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RAS- brain video (reticular activating system)

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RAS- brain video (reticular activating system)

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by Karen Young

Knowledge is power. When children understand what's happening in the brain, it can be the first step to having the power to make choices. Knowledge can be equally powerful to parents too. Knowing how the brain works means we can also understand how to respond when our children need our help.

Sometimes our brains can become overwhelmed with feelings of fear, sadness or anger, and when this happens, it's confusing - especially to children. So giving children ways to make sense of what's happening in their brain is important. It's also helpful for children to have a vocabulary for their emotional experiences that others can understand. Think of it like a foreign language; if the other people in your family speak that language too, then it's easier to communicate with them.

So how do you start these conversations with your children, make it playful enough to keep them engaged, and simple enough for them to understand?

Here is how I teach children (and parents) how to understand the brain.

Introducing the brain house: the upstairs and the downstairs

I tell children that their brains are like a house, with an upstairs and a downstairs. This idea comes from Dr Dan Siegel and Tina Payne Bryson's book 'The Whole Brain Child', and it's a really simple way to help kids to think about what's going on inside their head. I've taken this analogy one step further by talking about who lives in the house. I tell them stories about the characters who live upstairs, and the ones who live downstairs. Really, what I'm talking about are the functions of the neocortex (our thinking brain - the upstairs), and the limbic system (our feeling brain - the downstairs).

Who lives upstairs and who lives downstairs.

Typically, the upstairs characters are thinkers, problem solvers, planners, emotion regulators, creatives, flexible and empathic types. I give them names like Calming Carl, Problem Solving Pete, Creative Craig and Flexible Felix

The downstairs folk are the feelers. They are very focused on keeping us safe and making sure our needs are met. Our instinct for survival originates here. These characters look out for danger, sound the alarm and make sure we are ready to fight, run or hide when we are faced with a threat. Downstairs we've got characters like Alerting Allie, Frightened Fred, and Big Boss Bootsy.

It doesn't really matter what you call them, as long as you and your child know who (and what) you are talking about. You could have a go at coming up with your own names: try boys/girls names, animal names, cartoon names or completely make-up names. You might like to find characters from films or books they love, to find your unique shared language for these brain functions.

Flipping our lids: When 'downstairs' takes over.

Our brains work best when the upstairs and the downstairs work together. Imagine that the stairs connecting upstairs and downstairs are very busy with characters carrying messages up and down to each other. This is what helps us make good choices, make friends and get along with other people, come up with exciting games to play, calm ourselves down and get ourselves out of sticky situations.

Sometimes, in the downstairs brain, Alerting Allie spots some danger, Frightened Fred panics and before we know where we are, Big Boss Bootsy has sounded the alarm telling your body to be prepared for danger. Big Boss Bootsy is a bossy fellow, and he shouts 'the downstairs brain is taking over now. Upstairs gang can work properly again when we are out of danger'. The downstairs brain "flips the lid" (to borrow Dan Siegel's phrase) on the upstairs brain. This means that the stairs that normally allow the upstairs and downstairs to work together are no longer connected.

Sometimes, flipping our lids is the safest thing to do.

When everybody in the brain house is making noise, it's hard for anyone to be heard. Bootsy is keeping the upstairs brain quiet so the downstairs folk can get our body ready for the danger. Boots can signal other parts of our body that need to switch on (or off). He can make our heart beat faster so we are ready to run very fast, or our muscles ready to fight as hard as we can. He can also tell parts of our body to stay very very still so we can hide from the danger. Bootsy is doing this to keep us safe.

Try asking your child to imagine when these reactions would be safest. I often try to use examples that wouldn't actually happen (again so that children can imagine these ideas in a playful way without becoming too frightened by them). For example, what would your downstairs brain do if you met a dinosaur in the playground?

Everyone flips their lids.

Think of some examples to share with your child about how we can all flip our lids. Choose examples that aren't too stressful because if you make your kids feel too anxious they may flip their lids then and there!

Here's an example I might use: Remember when Mummy couldn't find the car keys and we were already late for school. Remember how I kept looking in the same place over and over again. That's because the downstairs brain had taken over, I had flipped my lid and the upstairs, thinking part of my brain, wasn't working properly.

When the downstairs brain gets it wrong.

There might be times when we flips our lids but really we still need the upstairs gang like Problem Solving Pete, and Calming Carl to help us.

We all flip our lids, but often children flip their lids more than adults. In children's brains, Big Boss Bootsy can get a bit over excited and press the panic button to trigger meltdowns and tantrums over very small things and that's because the upstairs part of your child's brain is still being built. In fact, it won't be finished being built until the mid twenties. Sometimes, when I want to emphasise this point, I ask kids this question:

Have you ever seen your Dad or Mum lay on the floor in the supermarket screaming that they want chocolate buttons?

They often giggle, and giggling is good because it means it's still playful, so they are still engaged and learning. I tell them parents actually like chocolate just as much as children, but adults have practiced getting Calming Carl and Problem Solving Pete to work with Big Boss Bootsy and can (sometimes) stop him from sounding the danger alarm when he doesn't need to. It does take practice and I remind children that their brains are still building and learning from experience.

From a shared language to emotional regulation

Once you've got all the characters in the brain house, you have a shared language that you can use to help your child learn how to regulate (manage) their emotions. For example, 'it looks like Big Boss Bootsy might be getting ready to sound the alarm, how about seeing if Calming Carl can send a message saying 'take some deep breaths' '' .

The language of the brain house also allows kids to talk more freely about their own mistakes, it's non judgemental, playful and can be talked about as being separate (psychologists also call this 'externalised') from them. Imagine how hard it might be to say 'I hit Jenny today at school' versus 'Big Boss Bootsy really flipped the lid today'. When I say this to parents, some worry that I'm giving children a 'get out clause' - 'can't they just blame Bootsy for their misbehaviour?'. Ultimately what this is about is enabling children to learn functional ways to manage big feelings, and some of that will happen from conversations about the things that went wrong. If children feel able to talk about their mistakes with you, then you have an opportunity to join your upstairs brain folk with theirs, and problem solve together. It doesn't mean they escape consequences or shirk responsibility. It means you can ask questions like 'do you think there is anything you could do to help Bootsy keep the lid on?'.

Knowing about the brain house also helps parents to think about how to respond when their child is flooded with fear, anger or sadness. Have you ever told you child to 'calm down' when they have flipped their lid? I have. Yet what we know about the brain house is Calming Carl lives upstairs and when Bootsy's flipped the lid, Calming Carl can't do much to help until the lid is back on. Your child may have gone beyond the point where they can help themselves to calm down. Sometimes, parents (teachers or carers) have to help kids to get their lids back on, and we can do this with empathy, patience and often taking a great deal of deep breaths ourselves!

Where to go from here?

Don't expect to move all the characters into the brain house and unpack on the same day; moving house takes time, and so does learning about brains. Start the conversation and revisit it. You might want to find creative ways to explore the brain house with your child. Here are a few ideas to get you started:

1. draw the brain house and all the characters

2. draw a picture of what it looks like in the house when the downstairs flips their lid

3. find a comic, cut out and stick characters into the downstairs and the upstairs

4. write stories about the adventures of the characters in the brain house

5. use a doll's house (or if you don't have a dolls house, two shoe boxes, one on top of the other works just as well) and fill it with the downstairs and upstairs characters.

If you find other creative ways to explore the brain house, I would love to hear about them. Make it fun, make it lively and kids won't even realise they are learning the foundations of emotional intelligence.

About the Author: Dr Hazel Harrison

Dr Hazel Harrison works as a clinical psychologist in the United Kingdom. She founded ThinkAvellana to bring psychology out of the clinic and into everyday life. Her website is www.thinkavellana.com and you can also follow her on Twitter at @thinkavellana and on Facebook at www.facebook.com/thinkavellana

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How to Teach Kids About the Brain: Laying Strong Foundations for Emotional Intelligence (by Dr Hazel Harrison) - Hey Sigmund

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When children understand what's happening in the brain, it can be the first step to having the power to make choices and build their emotional intelligence.

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Includes 'chillax corner'

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At Lakewood Elementary, fourth- and fifth-grade students are reading a book and discussing the plot. One of the students suddenly raises a flag: He is keeping track of how long kids have been sitting (45 minutes). Teacher Kevin Davis says, "Time for a break! That sounds like a good idea." He projects a video on the whiteboard, and students jog in place while shouting out answers to quiz questions. Once the activity is done, students celebrate: "We did it!"

These types of activities, called "brain breaks" or "energy boosters," last from one to five minutes and incorporate movement. Since our brains are wired for novelty, these short activities refresh students' thinking by breaking up predictable, repetitive processes and information. Studies suggest that regular physical activity like this supports healthy child development by improving memory, concentration, and positive outlook-making students less fidgety and better able to focus on learning.

Brain breaks are among the many innovative classroom activities going on at Lakewood Elementary. Located in a small, ethnically and socioeconomically diverse school district in California, Lakewood is one of thousands of American schools that offer social and emotional learning (SEL) alongside academic instruction. Over 90 percent of educators around the country show strong support for focusing on SEL competencies like self-management, relationship skills, and responsible decision-making, embracing their role in educating the " whole child."

But focusing on SEL doesn't only mean adding separate, isolated lessons. Students need opportunities to develop social and emotional skills throughout their school day, emphasizes the National Commission for Social, Emotional, and Academic Development. Lakewood's example can offer some much-needed inspiration for how educators-facing time constraints and increased academic pressure-can integrate SEL into their daily work in the classroom.

A tool for self-regulation: The Chillax Corner

Twenty children shuffle into their brightly decorated classroom after recess. Most go straight to a rug and form a circle-while one boy, Marco, quietly settles himself at a small table in the corner of the room. Marco got upset during recess because he had a conflict with his classmates. Kindergarten students in this class know that when they are upset, they can visit the Chillax Corner.

The Chillax Corner is a quiet area in the classroom with a table, a chair, and objects such as stress balls, pictures, and "fidget spinners" that students can use to calm down and prepare to return to classroom activities productively. The Chillax Corner helps to foster self-awareness by providing a space where students can connect with their emotions, away from the situation that generated them; it also encourages students to independently use self-regulation skills, such as taking a break or focusing on their breath, that the teacher had previously taught. In the long run, research suggests that these SEL skills of self-awareness and self-management can improve kindergarteners' long-term academic success and productivity in the classroom.

Jennifer Concepcion, the classroom teacher, then begins a community circle activity in which children share how they helped others at recess. After a few minutes, Marco rejoins the group. He briefly explains that he had a conflict with his peers at recess but is feeling calmer now. "Remember to keep hands and feet to ourselves," Concepcion reminds the class. "We don't want to be the reason someone needs to go to the calming corner."

Creating the Chillax Corner is one of several strategies that Concepcion employed to meet students' social and emotional needs. Another is teaching the importance of a growth mindset, the belief that one can succeed in most situations with hard work and persistence-versus a fixed mindset, or the belief that one's intelligence and abilities will not change. Kindergarteners in her class practice using positive statements such as "I can always improve" or "Mistakes help me learn," simple practices that in some circumstances can increase achievement. She uses these positive statements during academic lessons and reminds students to apply them while they are working with their partners.

Throughout the school year, and especially in the first six weeks of school, Concepcion spends time directly teaching social and emotional skills using separate lessons. She then reinforces the strategies children learn, including self-regulation techniques, throughout the day.

"These strategies help things go smoothly in my classroom," she explains. She points out that Marco only needed a few minutes of class time before he was ready to reengage-which was not always the case for students. "In the past, I used to pull students aside to discuss an issue, while trying to keep the rest of the classroom engaged. Now students try to figure out things by themselves, which frees me up to focus on academic teaching."

Building relationships through collaborative academic work

Cooperative learning is an important part of teacher Allyson Guida's fifth-grade classroom. At the beginning of the year, she focuses on helping students get to know each other during morning meetings and creating a sense of class community through different team-building exercises. These activities prepare students to form positive relationships in the classroom and to work in teams. Once students are able to work together, Guida introduces collaborative academic work.

In one lesson, for example, students are concluding a class project on regions of the world that allows for both self-assessment and cooperative learning. Each group was assigned an article, and students worked together to determine the main idea and most important details, which they later presented to the class. These presentations were videotaped, and students are going to watch the videos to assess themselves. For this class, Guida explains, they will grade their whole team's presentation on a rubric. "When you're using the rubric, you want to be thinking of the whole group. Think of yourselves as a unit," she says. "Just because one person moved and had gestures doesn't mean you get a five [out of five], right?"

After receiving a hand signal from Guida, students quickly pick up their laptops and rubrics, find their groups of three, and settle into different corners of the room: some at desks, others huddled together on the carpet. The room is soon abuzz with conversation, while some groups listen quietly to videos of their presentations on laptops using earphones.

Three boys discuss their presentation at a cluster of desks. "I probably got like a 3," one student tells his partner. "No, I think a 4," says another. "We demonstrated some knowledge, but we didn't demonstrate a lot of knowledge. I think it was in the middle." His partners agree. But, he adds, "We got a 4 on speaking and making eye contact with the audience." This kind of peer group self-assessment develops students' reflective skills and encourages them to take ownership of their learning.

One student asks Guida if it would be okay to continue to revise the group's PowerPoint slides. "That's definitely a conversation I want you to have in your group," she responds. Opportunities to revise work are common in her class: a chance to learn from their mistakes and develop a growth mindset. Explaining what happens if she doesn't get a good grade on her presentation, one student says, "We write it on a Post-it: We have to put what we should do next, and that will help us for the rest of the year ... as long as we learn from it."

The kind of learning experiences that Guida creates in her classroom, such as collaborative academic work, allow students to put into practice a wide array of social and emotional competencies-from active listening and trying to understand others' perspectives when working in groups, to solving disagreements and making a responsible choice when deciding the group's scores. These competencies are not only important in the classroom-the World Economic Forum has found them essential to success in the workplace.

SEL is not "another thing to do"

The biggest concern that teachers express when it comes to integrating SEL in their classroom, Lakewood instructional coach Shana Riehl reports, is a lack of time. But a little investment goes a long way. Educators can explicitly teach SEL competencies at the beginning of the year, establishing expectations and routines in the classroom and laying the foundation for a productive term. Then, teachers can focus on reinforcing these competencies during the day and integrating them in their regular teaching practices, without spending significantly more instructional time.

As Riehl tells her teachers:

It's not another thing, it's not another curriculum. It can be throughout your entire day. It's how we talk to students, how we present information, how we allow students to think, how we allow students to work and trying to get them to start.

Integrating SEL in the classroom ensures that students get plenty of opportunities to learn and practice these important social and emotional skills, so they are reinforced and not forgotten. Over time, SEL becomes the "lens" through which teachers understand teaching and learning. And for students, these skills are the door to becoming caring, contributing, and resilient adults.

Greater Good wants to know: Do you think this article will influence your opinions or behavior?

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How One Elementary School Integrates Social-Emotional Skills in the Classroom

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Teachers at Lakewood Elementary find innovative ways to incorporate social-emotional learning (SEL) into regular lessons.

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Attention and Awareness: 3 minute mindfulness of Sounds

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Attention and Awareness: 3 minute mindfulness of Sounds

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Attention and Awareness: 3 minute breathing

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Attention and Awareness: 3 minute breathing

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Attention and Awareness: 4 minute body scan

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Attention and Awareness: 4 minute body scan

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Attention and Awareness: 3 minute breathing exercise

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Attention and Awareness: 3 minute breathing exercise

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Before beginning a meeting - identify a specific emotion you are feeling. Rate the intensity of that feeling out of 10.

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Share (to a partner or to a table group)
What are you grateful for today?

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Options for turn and talk to a partner or share at the table.
Share one thing each that went well today.

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Materials needed: Strengths cards/ page of Strengths or none.
Activity: Options for turn and talk to a partner or share at the table -
'What Strength did you use today?'
'What Strength could you have dialled up today?'

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Copyright 2016 Think Social Publishing, Inc.

Feelings are innate; they make us human and are part of the fabric of life. Our feelings are windows into the thoughts and perspectives we hold toward a situation, a person, or an event. As a mom and therapist, I catch myself from time to time telling someone, "Don't worry..." or "Don't be sad..." only to remind myself "It's too late, the other person is already worried or sad." Rather than offering support in the form of telling others not to feel this way or that, we can help people manage the feelings they are experiencing in an adaptive and prosocial way.

I created The Zones of Regulation (The Zones) to help us do just that: support people in managing all the feelings they experience, without passing judgment on what people are feeling or how they are behaving. The Zones framework was turned into a curriculum and published by Social Thinking in 2011, titled The Zones of Regulation: A Curriculum Designed to Foster Self-Regulation and Emotional Control. Since that time I have expanded it into two apps, The Zones of Regulation and The Zones of Regulation: Exploring Emotions (Kuypers, 2013/2015, Selosoft, Inc. www.zonesofregulation.com).

The core focus of Zones is to positively support the acquisition of self-regulation skills, especially in school-age children as they learn to work together as a group. Yet, some people are using The Zones in a way that may appear as a disciplinary tool or to project shame on others for their lack of regulation skills. This is not how The Zones is designed to be taught! It is vital to understand ALL THE ZONES ARE OK! There are no good or bad Zones. The Zone we are in is determined by how we feel on the inside, not the behavior on the outside.

When self-evaluating what Zone we are in, we consider our emotions as well as our sensory state (e.g., "Is our arousal level low or high?"). Given the internal fluctuations in our feelings and states we experience over the course of a day, it is natural and quite possible that we are going to experience all of the Zones. At some point we may feel tired in the Blue Zone, calm in the Green Zone, worried in the Yellow Zone and possibly furious or elated in the Red Zone. Our brains are wired to send out internal messages that spark the feelings and shifts in arousal levels that we experience. That's all happening on the inside. And, we can work to regulate those internal feelings and states so they are expressed in ways (on the outside) that meet our personal goals as well as the social demands of the context we are in. We all feel angry or sad or lethargic from time to time; it's just part of being human. Likewise, we will all be in each of the four Zones from time to time. That's to be expected. Let's consider the following scenario.

You get a text message that makes you feel irate and in an instant you're in the Red Zone while in a classroom full of people. Your instinct is to slam down the phone and grunt but you're aware of the social context (i.e., you're using your social thinking). You understand that this behavior would be unexpected (Winner & Crooke, 2008) in the classroom and will likely create uncomfortable feelings in the people around you. In addition, you realize fueling the emotion may distract you from the learning you are motivated to do. Therefore, you manage your zone using your self-regulation tools. For instance, you might take a deep breath and use your inner coach (positive self-talk) to figure out the size of the problem and tell yourself this is a small problem and you can handle it. Inside you are boiling in the Red Zone, but on the outside, others see you as in control and possibly a slight bit distracted. Some others may even still see you as being in the Green Zone.

Let's take that same scenario of receiving a text message that makes you irate and change the context by having you be home alone in your kitchen. In both scenarios, the text triggers you into the Red Zone and you're feeling irate. However, in this context, you manage your Red Zone differently and vocalize your frustration by grunting and slamming your phone down. You may use less effort to control your Red Zone when alone (the social demands are low) and there is not a high-stakes task you are trying to accomplish.

It seems that some people can get confused in using The Zones when they mistakenly classify someone in a Zone based on his or her external behavior rather than the person's internal feelings. It's worth repeating: our behavior DOES NOT determine the Zone! Our behavior is a by-product of how we manage our Zone. The Zones curriculum teaches individuals to become aware of their feelings and provides tools people can use to regulate those feelings rather than being at the mercy of their feelings. When we MANAGE our Zone, it is expressed in a way (our behaviors) that is adaptive and prosocial given the current situation.

To help us (as well as our students and clients) figure out how to manage a Zone, context comes into play. Context is all around us and is ever changing. Peter Vermeulen, an international author, expert, and speaker in the area of context and autism explains, "Context helps us to understand what we see, hear, feel, smell, etc...." (pg. 29, Autism as Context Blindness, 2012). Some people mistakenly consider the context of the environment and assume that a behavior(s) consistent with one of the Zones is the norm and that a certain Zone is expected in that context; for instance "the Green Zone is expected in the classroom." This assumption may be based on the overall behaviors of the majority of people in that environment (students are remaining quiet and listening) or it may stem from considering the internal state that allows us to efficiently execute the tasks that are required of us in that context. But again, those are behavioral expectations and The Zones is about regulating what goes on inside - our feeling states. Viewing context this way becomes a problem when we set an expectation for the context that includes not just behaviors but feelings too, such as "We need to be in the Green Zone in the classroom" and some of our students are not feeling calm, organized or happy in that context.

Rather than pressuring our students or clients to be in a certain Zone based on the behavior expectations of a context, we need to be using context to help us determine how to help them manage whatever Zone they are in at the moment. Context does not define what we should feel or the Zone we should be in. As Peter Vermeulen suggests, context gives us more understanding of our feelings. Let's look at the following situation to illustrate this idea further.

Theo witnesses his parents fighting during breakfast and hears his father threaten to move out (the trigger to his feelings). Theo is feeling sad (feeling) and has a low level of arousal (his state), which puts him in the Blue Zone. This feeling and state stays with him as he enters his classroom that morning (context changes). It's not as if we can tell Theo he can't feel that way because "it's expected to be in the Green Zone in the classroom." Rather, we need to allow Theo his feelings and meet him where he is to help him self-regulate within the context he is now in. For instance, the teacher might check-in with Theo, empathize, and support him in thinking about what Zone he is in, whether he needs to manage his Zone, and reviewing tool options to help him care for his Blue Zone. This is in stark contrast to a teacher who is incorrectly teaching Zones by making a threat and expecting a student to be in the Green Zone or incur a consequence. Not only does this approach dismisses Theo's feelings, it also projects shame and is a missed opportunity to build a relationship, establish trust and support Theo in developing self-regulation skills. Helping Theo find a tool such as talk to an adult or look at his Book of Joy (a homemade book filled with images/text of things that bring him joy) allows him to manage his Blue Zone so he can meet the classroom demands.

We have an incredible responsibility and opportunity to foster self-regulation skills in the populations we serve in a positive and prosocial way and The Zones of Regulation can help do just that. When implementing The Zones, it is important to keep these four basic principles in mind:

1. It is natural to experience all of the Zones; there is no bad zone.

2. Our Zone is defined by the feelings and internal states we experience on the inside.

3. Our behavior is a byproduct of how we manage our Zone; therefore, consequences should not be tied to a Zone.

4. The context we are in helps us figure out how to manage our Zone so our behavior meets the demands of the social environment, and in doing so we are able to achieve the tasks we are trying to accomplish and/or the social goals we've set for ourselves in that situation.

When we respect our students and the feelings they have, we can approach teaching self-regulation through the perspective of understanding, compassion, and assistance, rather than behavior expectations, rewards, and consequences. In the end, we'll do more to help them learn to self-regulate their thoughts, feelings, and internal states so they can co-exist with others and accomplish the goals, both big and small, they hope to achieve no matter what Zone they are in and whatever context they find themselves.

About the Author

Leah Kuypers earned a Bachelor of Science in Occupational Therapy from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, and a Master of Arts in Education with a Graduate Certificate in Autism from Hamline University in St. Paul, MN. She is an OT/autism specialist in school and clinical settings, specializing in self-regulation and social learning, and has worked with students of all ages and challenges, including anxiety, ADHD, and ASD. Leah created The Zones of Regulation®, a framework designed to teach self-regulation, and is the author of a book and two apps by same name (2011, Social Thinking Publishing, Inc.; 2013, 2016, Selosoft, Inc.). In addition to working with students, she provides trainings and consultation to parents and professionals on self-regulation and challenging behavior, and conducts workshops on the Zones to groups across North America. She resides in Minneapolis, MN, with her husband, son, daughter, and dog.

References

Kuypers, L. (2011). The Zones of Regulation: A Curriculum Designed to Foster Self-Regulation and Emotional Control. San Jose, CA: Think Social Publishing, Inc.

Vermeulen, P. (2012). Autism as Context Blindness. Shawnee Mission, KS: Autism Asperger's Publishing Company.

Winner, M.G. & Crooke, P. (2008). You are a Social Detective: Explaining Social Thinking to Kids. San Jose, CA: Think Social Publishing, Inc.

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All the Zones are OK! Tips for Managing the Zones You're In

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The Zones of Regulation was created to help individuals manage the feelings they experience by identifying their shifting emotional states as existing in different "Zones". It is important not to label one Zone as "good" and another "bad", rather that ALL Zones are OK as long as we MANAGE our Zone and express ourselves through behavior that is as adaptive and pro-social as possible given the situation and the student's self-regulation abilities.

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This is one reason why we need mindfulness with our strengths. Mindfulness serves as a process for us to notice these moments of strengths. It opens the door to further action we might take-perhaps after a moment of strengths, we will cultivate more moments of strengths, attempt to elongate the positive emotion of a strength (called savoring), or stay on close lookout for the next opportunity to see a strength, which is only seconds away.

Despite calling myself a "strengths-based" practitioner, educator, writer, and researcher-hence occupying much of my day with strengths work-there are plenty of times when lapses of strengths pile up. To be honest (one of my signature strengths), I have far more lapses than uses of strengths. One example: I might have a client's character strengths profile on my computer screen, right next to their live image using Skype as I coach them, and in the conversation I quickly habituate to the strengths profile that rests in my vision and lose sight of strengths.

When we embody a strength-based approach, how long does it last? Phenomenological research on mindfulness indicates that a true present moment only lasts a few seconds, on average. How long do those moments of strengths-spotting or strengths use truly last? I don't know. What I do know is that they are always temporary. Always moments. Remember the philosophical principle of impermanence? Everything is always changing and temporary, nothing lasts forever-that goes for our bodies, elements of our environment, the products we purchase, thoughts in our mind, and so on.

Sometimes our strengths blindness is obvious and blatant and other times it is subtle. I won't go through all the types of strengths blindness here but I'll offer another personal example on how strengths blindness operates fluidly in life. One of my children is having some developmental delays and is well-behind his peers in crawling and walking. He has gone to a variety of specialists and early intervention practitioners to assist him. I've spent plenty of time speaking with these helpers, with family members, and others about what he should be doing and strategies to getting there. I routinely expressed concern about the developmental delays and the potential impact on his brain development and social relating.

In one of my discussions with a daycare worker about my wanting my son to keep doing different strategies to try to get him to crawl, she made a comment: "He is scooting all over the place. He's getting to where he needs to go. He is scooting really well instead of crawling. He sees a toy or a group of kids on the other side of the room that he wants to get to, and he scoots there." Thus, my son was meeting developmental needs relating to exploring, curiosity, and cause-effect mobility going from point A to point B.

I had been missing - or at least not appreciating - this fact, which was right under my nose! I was entrenched in a more deficit-minded approach, spending my time and resources focusing on what he wasn't doing or should be doing rather than what he was doing (and doing quite well actually). His scooting - although far less traditional from what most kids do - was something to build upon. Now, I savor watching him scoot, I set up opportunities for him to practice scooting, and I'm filled with joy (and my phone is filled with videos) as I see his progress with scooting. I don't ignore the problem-based aspects. I've built upon them.

This worker helped me break my strengths blindness with my son....in that moment.

Concluding insights:

1. We need both a problem-focus and a strengths-focus, not one or the other.

2. We are constantly popping back and forth between these two processes (especially those who are strengths-based).

3. A strengths-based approach is not static. It is not permanent. It is a process to engage in and return to when we forget.

4. We will forget or neglect strengths countless more times in our life. Knowing this builds humility.

5. Strength blindness is complex, pervasive, and subtle.

6. We need mindfulness to help break through the subtleties of strengths blindness.

7. People who are strengths-based are collecting moments of mindfulness and strengths. As this "collection" builds, so does personal and relational meaning.

8. Mindful awareness of strengths is temporary. There are other blind spots persistently operating, awaiting for the light of mindfulness and strengths.

9. We need honest feedback and support from others to help break through the varieties of strength blindness.

10. We can create habits of virtue and build upon our strengths. But, we are always moving toward this thing called a "strengths-based approach." If you think "I've got it!" or "I've figured it out," you are demonstrating, ironically, strengths blindness. Consider the underuse of perspective, judgment/critical thinking, and other strengths of character. (I say the same thing about people who call themselves "experts in mindfulness.")

Reference
Niemiec, R. M. (2014). Mindfulness and character strengths: A practical guide to flourishing (link is external) . Cambridge, MA: Hogrefe.

10 Things to Know about Strengths Blindness and Negativity Bias

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10 Things to Know about Strengths Blindness and Negativity Bias

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When I ask large audiences of practitioners and helpers: Who believes that they are "strengths-based" in their work? Most hands shoot up. But, there is little consistency in what each person means by strengths-based. Is there even such a thing...to...

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I love my job. Love it. There are, of course, days like this one, when the 100-degree weather makes me want to bypass my office and head straight for the beach. For the most part, though, a day spent doing therapy is a day that fills me with deep satisfaction and a sense of accomplishment.

I haven't always loved my job. In fact, for some time in college, I honestly hated it. A favorite professor recommended me for a coveted position as a psychological research assistant on a study being done at the world-renowned National Children's Hospital. This particular study focused on how the quality of life for chronically medically ill adolescents may be improved by a part-time job at a fast-food restaurant. The position was a huge deal for an undergrad, and I was thrilled just to land a gig in my field instead of toiling at a children's boutique, where I had been (I didn't much love working there, either.)

This was going to look fantastic on my résumé; it was the kind of thing that would provide relevant experience and help usher me into grad school. I should have been overjoyed, and started out that way. But that soon fizzled, and instead I found myself downright miserable. The "gig" was not at all what I thought or hoped it would be. I had little to no interaction with the research participants. Instead, I spent every day hunched at the computer, matching subjects to controls, inputting boring data, and counting the slow minutes until I could head home.

According to positive psychology, we are happiest when the work we do, whether at home or on the job, allows us to use our signature strengths. Martin Seligman, the psychologist at University of Pennsylvania who pioneered the positive psychology movement, defines signature strengths as "strengths of character that a person owns, celebrates, and frequently exercises." These are the personal traits and skills that come naturally, and that give us a sense of fulfillment and purpose when we use them.

Seligman has identified 24 unique character strengths, including fairness, curiosity, creativity, and humor. My VIA Signature Strengths survey results-which identified my top five strengths-help explain why, between my two jobs in psychology, I was woefully unhappy as a research assistant but have been blissfully content as a clinician.

My top three signature strengths are curiosity, love of learning, and perspective. Seligman and Christopher Peterson define these traits this way:

Curiosity: Taking an interest in ongoing experience for its own sake, exploring and discovering.

Love of learning: Mastering new skills, topics and bodies of knowledge, whether on one's own or formally.

Perspective (wisdom): Being able to provide wise counsel to others, having ways of looking at the work that make sense to oneself and other people.

Doing therapy, I get to utilize all three of these strengths in my work. My sense of curiosity makes me truly interested in my clients and their personal stories. Because I love learning, I eat psych books like they are candy and very much enjoy attending conferences about new methods and ideas in my field, then immediately use what I learn in therapy sessions. Perspective (or wisdom) is a strength I try to employ daily by helping others look at themselves and their situations in healthy, encouraging ways.

A look at my relative weaknesses on the signature strengths survey also explains why my research assistant job didn't work for me. The traits I seem to value least, and engage least frequently, are persistence, self-regulation, and prudence.

Persistence: Finishing what one starts, persisting in a course of action in spite of obstacles.

Self-regulation: Regulating what one feels and does, being disciplined, controlling one's appetites and emotions.

Prudence: Being careful about one's choice, not taking undue risks, not saying or doing things that might later be regretted.

The research assistant job required hours of monotonous sifting through surveys and entering numbers into a statistical analysis program. This task required perseverance and discipline, two of my weaknesses. I was bored, edgy, and unfulfilled. I was impatient to learn the results of the findings, but it would be months until they were revealed. Day after day was the same-columns of numbers and the click-click-clack of computer keys. My curiosity was not satisfied, and my self-control was tested. I made regular trips to the vending machine, where in my careful scientific process I learned that I preferred Cheez-Its to Cheese Nips. I explored the wings of the hospital, discovering that the interns in the cardiology unit were better looking than those in rheumatology. I found myself daydreaming constantly.

Moreover, I became an unpopular, dissonant voice at the Adolescent Employment Readiness Center, as my unit was called. Since prudence was not one of my strengths, especially as a 20-year-old student, I made it all too clear that I did not believe that working at McDonald's was the best use of time for a teen in remission who may not live to see his 20th birthday. As a passionate, wide-eyed kid myself, I thought our teenage subjects should be celebrating their periods of remission by sailing, surfing, seeing the world-anything but flipping burgers.

I am incredibly lucky. I was able to find a career that is in alignment with my signature strengths. Not all of us are as fortunate. Nonetheless, even in less-than-ideal situations, you can work toward finding opportunities to utilize your personal character strengths as often as possible. Research shows we are happiest when we are using our strengths regularly and in novel ways. By exploring the hospital and comparing the nuances of cheese-flavored snack foods, I engaged my curiosity and love of learning at my boring research job.

If your job or life circumstances don't naturally engage your strengths, you can and should look for creative outlets for their expression. For example, if your strength happens to be my weakness of self-regulation, and you are in an unstructured environment, use your skills to bring order to the chaos. Help your coworkers organize their desk drawers or create a method for arranging their daily to-do list. If humor is one of your strengths, find ways to bring laughter to the board room or break room.

The most important point from the research on signature strengths is that we are happiest and most productive when we are living as an expression of our strengths rather than frantically trying to develop our weaknesses. I might look at my weaknesses and berate myself for being flighty, undisciplined, and impulsive. I could focus on these shortcomings and spend a bulk of time and energy making efforts to overcome them. To do so, according to positive psychology, is to expend precious energy swimming against the current of our most authentic selves.

It is worth investing a bit of effort to improve upon the weaknesses that handicap us and hold us back. Truth is, I do have a bit more stick-to-it-iveness and self-control now than I did in my college days. My mindfulness practice has helped me with that. Still, I am bored easily, relatively impatient, and I tend to speak my mind, so it doesn't surprise me that persistence, self-discipline, and prudence remain my weaknesses.

Three times today I've abandoned writing this article to do something else. Because I'm curious and love to learn, I went to find the reference for another article, and found myself distracted by another couple of pages that popped up in my Google search. When I set out to write, I know that this will be the way things go, so I give myself the time for what will inevitably be my process. I allow and engage my strengths, and don't beat myself up for my weaknesses. By permitting myself to work at a comfortable pace, I am able to eventually accomplish what I set out to do in a way that feels genuine to me.

Finally, I return to my signature strength of perspective/wisdom. I always enjoy sharing what I know with others, and helping them potentially gain insight, which happily propelled me to continue writing and to finish this article. I close by encouraging you to discover your own signature strengths and align your life with their expression. Become aware of your weaknesses, too, if only to learn forgiveness and a better understanding of where you may be challenged. By using your strengths creatively and consistently, you will create for yourself what positive psychologists call "the good life," and be happier for doing so.

© Copyright 2013 GoodTherapy.org. All rights reserved. Permission to publish granted by Marla B. Cohen, Psy.D., P.C., therapist in Cherry Hill, New Jersey

The preceding article was solely written by the author named above. Any views and opinions expressed are not necessarily shared by GoodTherapy.org. Questions or concerns about the preceding article can be directed to the author or posted as a comment below.

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I love my job. Love it. There are, of course, days like this one, when the 100-degree weather makes me want to bypass my office and head straight for the beach. For the most part, though, a day spent doing therapy is a day that fills me with deep satisfaction and a sense of accomplishment.

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What do we know about Signature Strengths?

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What do we know about Signature Strengths?

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When it comes to deciding whether strengths are signature strengths, if you have only one question to ask someone, make it:

"What strengths are most essential to who you are and define you as a person?

This appears to be the single most important criterion in determining whether character strengths are "signature," or not. Other questions such as, "Is the strength energizing?" "Is it easy to use? and "Is it used across settings?" are important, but are subsumed under this more important question. If you want to get to the heart of the matter, ask about identity.
How Do People Experience Signature Strengths?
When I lead workshops, groups, or guest lectures, I have participants take the VIA Survey of strengths prior to the event. I then ask the participants about their experiences with this activity. A 17-year-old adolescent in one of my lectures characterized the importance of one of his signature strengths when he stood up and exclaimed the following:

"I learned that appreciation of beauty is one of my signature strengths. I never would have framed it that way, but that is exactly how I have approached everything in my life. When I'm studying, I try to spend time in nature. When I'm with my friends and they're complaining, I look for the truth in what they're saying - and I see that truth as beautiful. I see beauty in new technologies, old technologies, TV shows, and people. I look for it in colors and patterns, dimensions and sounds. I see things that others seem to walk right on by. It seems to occupy a foreground in my mind and heart as I go about my day. Wonder and awe are always there for me."

This young man speaks to how his signature strength describes who he is (identity) and also how he approaches life (action).

Our signature strengths say something about our positive identity and about the way in which we take action in this world.
How Frequently do Different Strengths Appear as Signature Strengths?
Table 1 offers a description of the essence of each character strength and the frequency in which each appears in the top 5 of an individual's profile on the VIA Survey of strengths. While an individual's top 5 are not necessarily all signature strengths, this is a good proxy or starting point.

Table 1: VIA Classification strengths and frequency of appearance in respondents' top 5.
© Copyright 2009-2015, VIA Institute on Character. All rights reserved. Used with permission.

Research on Signature Strengths

In the field of positive psychology, one would be hard-pressed to find an intervention with more specific and successful intervention studies than helping people deploy their signature strengths. In a recent study of older adults, signature strengths used in new ways even beat out the other common positive intervention of counting blessings.

This intervention has three steps: take the VIA Survey, identify one of your signature strengths, and use it in a new way each day.

In randomized, controlled trials, this intervention consistently leads to increases in happiness and decreases in depression, sometimes with effects lasting six months.

This exercise has been further validated by revealing benefits across a number of populations, including youth, older adults, employees, people with traumatic brain injuries, suicidal people, as well as in various locations such as China, Australia, UK, USA, Canada, and Europe.

Here are a few examples of additional research outcomes specific to signature strengths and character strengths. Go to The VIA Site for a review of over 200 peer-reviewed studies.

The use of 4 or more signature strengths at work is a cutoff for more positive work experience and work-as-a-calling.

The use of signature strengths is connected with work engagement and work satisfaction.

In many cases, knowing your strengths is not enough. you must deploy them in your life too.

Character strengths are linked with a better workplace climate.

Character strengths are connected with the various elements of well-being such as engagement, meaning, positive emotions, and positive relationships.

Character strengths are linked with improved achievement and performance.

Character strengths help to buffer stress and improve coping ability.

Come back tomorrow for a follow-on article about translating this research into practice.

Andrewes, H. E., Walker, V., & O'Neill, B. (2014). Exploring the use of positive psychology interventions in brain injury survivors with challenging behavior. Brain Injury, 28, 965-971. Abstract.

Duan, W., Ho, S. M. Y., Tang, X., Li, T., & Zhang, Y. (2013). Character strength-based intervention to promote satisfaction with life in the Chinese university context. Journal of Happiness Studies, 15, 1347-1361. Abstract.

Forest, J., Mageau, G. V. A., Crevier-Braud, L., Bergeron, L., Dubreuil, P., & Lavigne, G. V. L. (2012). Harmonious passion as an explanation of the relation between signature strengths' use and well-being at work: Test of an intervention program. Human Relations, 65, 1233-1252. Abstract.

Gander, F., Proyer, R. T., Ruch, W., & Wyss, T. (2012). Strength-based positive interventions: Further evidence for their potential in enhancing well-being. Journal of Happiness Studies, 14, 1241-1259. doi: 10.1007/s10902-012-9380-0

Harzer, C., & Ruch, W. (2012). When the job is a calling: The role of applying one's signature strengths at work. Journal of Positive Psychology. Abstract.

Harzer, C., & Ruch, W. (2014). The role of character strengths for task performance, job dedication, interpersonal facilitation, and organizational support. Human Performance, 27(3), 183-205. doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/08959285.2014.913592. Abstract.

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Photo Credit: via Compfight with Creative Commons licenses
Beauty in nature courtesy of Allie's.Dad
Through a strengths lens courtesy of Winnie Liu // photography + art

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What Do We Know about Signature Strengths?

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When it comes to deciding whether strengths are signature strengths, if you have only one question to ask someone, make it: "What strengths are most essential to who you are and define you as a person? This appears to be the single most important criterion in determining whether character strengths are "signature," or not.

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https://www.mindfulschools.org/inspiration/tip-the-scale-of-negativity-bias-3-kindness-practices-for-your-school