As we can see, in the psycho-educational classroom we can use RET techniques for socioemotional growth, for personal help and therapeutic intervention, and for problem solving. Therapeutic teachers help students develop emotional insight by teaching children to react to troublesome events in a way that is compatible with rational thinking. Some strategies derived from the rational-emotive approach that we can use in our classrooms are:
Cognitive MediationYou are teaching cognitive mediation when you ask students who are talking, out of task, or out of their seats, What you should be doing at this moment?
Beliefs Manipulation
Manipulate the student’s belief about her performance in a given situation, making the child believe that she handled the situation better than she actually did.
Attribution Retraining
Tell the child that she succeeded in the task because she tried harder, and when she fails, tell her that she needs to try harder.
Cognitive Rehearsal Have the child mentally review or visualize each step in the disputation or problem-solving sequence until the child visualizes himself successfully doing all the steps.
Expanding Alternative Thinking
It is very common in children to answer, I can tell my teacher or I can tell an adult when asked how they would deal with another child’s taunt. We can reinforce alternative thinking by adding, That is one thing you can do, but what else you can think or say to yourself to deal with this situation?
Rational Role Reversal (RRR)Switch roles with the child. For example, in the student’s role, you talk about why other children have no right to _____ (e.g., call you names, talk behind your back, or refuse to play with you). In the teacher’s role, the child tries to get you analyze the rationality of these beliefs.
The Flat Tire TechniqueWilde (1996) uses this technique to stop student’s negative and self -defeating generalizations like, I am stupid, I am dumb, or I never do anything right.Ask the child if he would throw a brand new car on a junk heap because it has a flat tire. (No, you fix the flat tire.) Using the same logic, help the student realize that you do not throw yourself into a junk pile because you make mistakes, or because you do not know how to do something.
Nothing Worse than 100% Bad TechniqueTo stop children’s catastrophic thinking, Wilde suggests asking the student to identify the worst event that she can imagine. Then, challenge the child to see if she can make this event even worse; then to make it worse than worse, etc.
Using Funny ExaggerationsTo stop the child’s catastrophic thinking, and help the child dispute the irrationality of the belief, we can use exaggeration combined with humor (the funnier the better). For example, If you are not invited to Nelly’s party, do you think your parents will still let you live in their house? So, I heard your parents are not going tobuy you a cellular… What a terrible and awful catastrophe! I bet tomorrow morning you are coming to school totally bald and missing twenty teeth.Alternatively, Well, you have been (worried or upset) millions and zillions of times before, and you never died because of it.
The Time ProjectionIn a time projection, you ha ve the child imagine his life after the awful and terrible catastrophe (after the feared outcome or consequence). For example,how the child’s life would be after losing the basketball game. The student imagines his life one month, six months, or one year into the future.
Help the Student Understand that Her Belief System is UniqueAnother cognitive technique that we can use to minimize a perceived terrible and awful event is to help children see that every person’s belief system is unique. Ask, How would 100 people react if they failed this test? Would they all be equally upset? When the student acknowledges that each individual reacts differently, we can make apparent that it is the child’s individual reaction to the event what is causing her feel upset or angry (Zionts, 1996).
The Search for Control TechniqueWhen the student claims that another child made him angry, look around on the floor pretending that you lost something. When the student asks, you answer, Yes, your control… Somehow, you have lost your control over your feelings. We all have the ability to control how we feel, but somehow you have lost yours. How else could someone make you angry? (Wilde, 1996, p. 62)
Help Anger-Prone Students Understand that Anger Control is a Source of PowerDevelop in the student the belief that anger control is a source of personal power. Tell the child that, when we get angry with another person, we give control of our feelings to that person, making that person powerful. On the other hand, when we keep our self-control, and we do not let an external event or another person dictate how we are going to feel, we become the powerful person. Self-control means that we are in control of our own anger, and that we only experience the feelings that we choose to experience.
The Trust Me TechniqueUse this technique to bring out to students’ attention that they are the ones deciding who influence their thinking. In the following example, Maria is upset because Dennis called her retarded (adapted from Zionts, 1996):
Teacher: What if I say you are a smart girl. Would you believe Dennis or me?
Maria: No way! That is no magic eraser!
Teacher: What if Dennis agreed this eraser makes magic?
Maria: I would not believe him either!
Teacher: Then, why did you believe Dennis when he said that you are retarded?
Using RET Self-Statements
Teach students to use RET selfstatements (e.g., I upset myself about _____) and self- questions; for example, What am I thinking (or saying to myself) that is causing me to feel angry? and What can I say to myself to change my thinking?
Reciting Rational BeliefsHave the child recite a rational belief that he can use when feeling angry or upset. For instance, we can teach the child to use one of these rational beliefs when other children call him names: Just because they call me a name does not make it true or I do not like when they call me names, but is not terrible and I can stand it.
The Key Words TechniqueTeach the student to recast the way he talks about a problem by changing one key word in the sentence with the word choose; for example, changing She made me angry to I choose to be angry or I must yell to I choose to yell.
Teach students to say, I feel angry about this situation rather than This situation makes me feel angry.Teach students to say, I failed in this particular situation instead of I am a total failure. Approach Negative and Self-Defeating Beliefs from an Empirical Standpoint
Do not counter an irrational belief by taking the opposite stance; for example, Yes, you can do it if you try. Approach negative and self-defeating beliefs from an empirical standpoint,Would you be willing to test your belief? (Shaw and Beck in Ellis and Grieger, 1977)
Teach Cognitive ExercisesTeach students to discriminate between positive (rational or helpful) thinking and negative (irrational or hurtful) thinking. Have children complete and discuss Positive and Negative (or Rational and Irrational) exercises such as:
Scenario 1: Your social studies project is due the 21st of the month. That gives you two weeks to research and complete the project.Positive Mind: __________________________________________________________ Negative Mind: __________________________________________________________ Scenario 2: Your grandparents invite you to go on vacation to Disney World for one week.
Rational Mind: __________________________________________________________ Irrational Mind: _________________________________________________________ Teach How to Change Irrational Thinking into Rational Thinking
Teach children how to change irrational thinking into rational thinking. Some examples: Irrational: My life is ruined forever.
Rational: I do not need this video game. I will be sorry if I do not get it, but I am not going to die. I can stand to live without it.
Using Rational-Emotive Imagery
Train children in using rational-emotive imagery. For instance, have the student picture a scene that angers her. After a few minutes, tell the child that she will work in calming herself down. The student keeps imagining the scene, but this time, she uses rational self-statements and visualizations to reduce the anger to annoyance and to disengage herself from the situation. Explain to the student that she can use this same technique to calm herself down when she feels troubled.
The Stoplight SystemImplement in your classroom a stoplight system. This is a comprehensive procedure where children use cognitive techniques, problem-solving, and self-statements to deal with problems. You will need three areas in the classroom clearly labeled Red, Yellow, and Green. When a student knows he is feeling angry or troubled, the child goes to the Red light area. In this area, the child uses relaxation and self-calming strategies (e.g., deep breaths, counts to one hundred, or self-statements). The child also says what is troubling him, so that he learns to verbalize his feelings. Next, the student moves to the Yellow light area to think about what he needs to do. In the Yellow area, the student practices his problem-solving skills. When the child feels ready, he goes to the Green light area to try out a solution and to check how the solution worked. As the last step, the teacher helps the student evaluate the solution (Dodge, 1994).
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