19_Cognitive triad 6-8

You mainly feel the way you think. —Albert EllisBig Ideas For This Lesson Cognitive Triad: Thought Records At Home Resources Level: Middle School (6-8) Concepts: • Behaviors • Emotions • Thoughts • Negative/Positive Self Talk The cognitive triad is a model of change. The premise of the cognitive triad is simple: changing yourthoughts, your emotions, or your behaviors will in turn affect the other two. For instance, if you wantto change a difficult emotion like despair, you can focus your attention on changing a specific behavior.Changing your behavior will in turn affect your thoughts and emotions. Developing a basic understand-ing of the cognitive triad empowers students to take ownership over their emotions and provides aroadmap to creating change. The simplest route to changing an emotion is not necessarily direct; it isthrough small changes in our behaviors and thoughts. Essential VocabularyBehavior: Any observable action, or pattern of actions, in response to a thought, emotion or event.Cognitive: Relating to thoughts and thinking.Cognitive Triad: A conceptual model based on Cognitive Behavioral Theory that represents the interconnectivity be-tween thoughts, emotions, and behaviors.Emotions: Something you feel in response to an event, thought, or behavior. Emotions are complex reactions to eventsand thoughts that help us to understand and respond to situations in our life. They can be pleasant, unpleasant, or neu-tral and are usually accompanied by physical sensations.Mood: A passing state of mind that reflects a predominant feeling, emotion, or attitude and lasts longer than a singleemotional response.Negative Automatic Thoughts: Thoughts that occur without conscious awareness and that lead one to feeling un-pleasant or unwanted emotions. Also known as negative self-talk, or NATS.Reframing: The process of identifying negative thoughts and replacing them with positive thoughts.Thought: Interpretations (opinions) we form about others, our world, and ourselves. The result of processing and orga-nizing information. Thoughts inform our behaviors and emotions. One’s internal dialogue or something you tell yourselfthat you could put in quotes (e.g. “Everything will be okay.”)© 2017 Empowering Education, Inc. PAGE 1 of 2 All rights reserved.

COGNITIVE TRIAD | GRADES 6-8 PracticeThis week, your student practiced using a “Thought Record” to help reframe negative automatic thoughts. Re-view the thought record with your student and practice using it to work through a difficult situation. The steps tousing a thought record are:1. Describe the situation: What actually happened?2. Describe your automatic thought: What was I thinking at the time?3. Describe the emotion you felt: What was I feeling at the time?4. Describe evidence for your thought: What facts and events support my thought?5. Describe evidence against your thought: What facts and event do not support my thought?6. Describe an alternative thought: Based on the evidence, what is a new, positive thought I can have about the situation?7. Describe your new emotion: How am I feeling now? Student Resources• Fish in a Tree by Lynda Mullay Hunt (Grades 4 – 6)• Happy Kid! By Gail Gauthier (Grades 5 – 8)• Inside Out and Back Again by Thanhha Lai by (Grades 3 – 7)• My Side of the Mountain by Jean Craighead George (Grades 3 – 7)• Habits of Mind for the New Year: 10 Steps to Actually Accomplish Your Resolutions (Edutopia Article)• Integrating the 16 Habits of Mind (Edutopia Article)• What to Do When Good Enough Isn’t Good Enough: The Real Deal on Perfectionism: A Guide for Kids by Thomas S. Greenspon Ph.D. (Grades 4 – 8)• What to Do When It’s Not Fair: A Kid’s Guide to Handling Envy and Jealousy by Jacquelline B. Toner and Claire A.B. Freeland (Grades 1 – 4) Adult Resources• Breaking The Habit of Being Yourself: How to Lose Your Mind and Create a New One (Book) by Dr. Joe Dispenza• Habit Stacking: 97 Small Life Changes That Take Five Minutes or Less (Book) by S. J. Scott• Habits of a Happy Brain: Retrain Your Brain to Boost Your Serotonin, Dopamine, Oxytocin, & Endorphin Levels (Book) by Loretta Graziano Breuning, Ph.D.• Mini Habits: Smaller Habits, Bigger Results (Book) by Stephen Guise © 2017 Empowering Education, Inc. PAGE 2 of 2 All rights reserved.