Sona's ‘Positive Best Self – Thriving Teens’ course aimed to increase emotional agility, promote a positive mindset & learn about strengths.
5- weeks
AIM: the objective of this course is to increase emotional awareness for the participants by teaching the tools and strategies that will enable them to cope with their emotions, in good and tough times. Also, to enable participants to develop a positive mindset and increase a sense of autonomy, helping them to see that little conscious, consistent changes can have huge powerful improvements for them. Ultimately, we can be responsible for our happiness and well-being. That our emotions come & go and what can help us to move from uncomfortable emotion zones.
The course will be aimed to be a ‘safe space’, where each participant can learn from and with their peers in a small, safe group setting. Each session will end with a mini grounding session which will develop every session. Even though the topics may seem heavy they will be translated into language and activities that the young person will understand.
Learning the following skills:
Emotional awareness & agility
• learning to decipher between actions, thoughts, and behaviours.
• developing the skill of ‘labelling emotions’ and learning to become mindfully aware of our emotional well-being
• understanding that certain emotions are compatible e.g., happiness and sadness can co-exist, while fear or anger dominate our emotional state
• adopting a more objective, less-judgemental approach to emotions
• learning to become mindfully aware and to ‘observe’ emotions, without wearing them as a straitjacket
• learning to ‘reframe’ and deal with negative emotions
• encouraging the participants to increase positive emotions actively
Positive Mindset
• we can choose what we focus on
• what we focus on grows
• the art of ‘reframing’ negative events and circumstances
• growth mindset versus fixed mindset
Strengths
• to focus on what we can do
• what we like doing
• what gives us energy
• spotting strengths in others
• learn to use our strengths in new ways and areas of life.
The emphasis will be on promoting positive coping mechanisms for dealing with the inevitable stresses of life and seeing that there are various ways to cope with our thoughts and emotions. The participant will be encouraged to try out various coping strategies and to explore when and how they are at their best and how to capitalise on that.
As the tagline of Sona is ‘Real life positivity’, it will be very realistic and practical with the main aim that the participant will feel empowered to deal with the realities and curve balls of real life. I would endeavour to make it interactive, safe, and fun. There will be a fun icebreaker at the beginning of each session.
The course must be seen as a golden opportunity, fun and practical. This is all the stuff; I wish I had known when I was their age. I believe they will each pick up what they need to hear, and the rest will be in their subconscious for later use.
This course is research-based and grounded in the science of positive psychology which is the science of happiness, well-being, and optimal living. It is based firmly on the research by eminent, highly qualified, thought leaders such as Barbara Fredrickson, Angela Duckworth, Carol Dweck, Todd Kashdan, Brene Brown, Susan Davis, Sonja Lyubomirsky, Shane Lopez, Paul T.P. Wong, Martin Seligman, Stephen Covey, Victor Frankl, Edith Eger, and others.
