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Getting started!
building psychological flexibility asks parents and professionals to have an open and creative approach to using the cards.
In order build psychological flexibility Dr Sacha recognised that the resources themselves also need to used flexibly. Each deck of Action Heroes cards contain instruction cards to provide some general guidance on how to use them with children. In addition, we've put together a Tip Sheet with further ideas of how to get started.
The Role of Parents
Parents are always searching for answers to understand behaviour – the behaviour of their child and themselves.
To understand behaviour it is important to look at the function or purpose of behaviour.
- Why is the behaviour occurring?
- What does the person get out of doing the behaviour?
Knowing the purpose of the behaviour can help us to make changes to our actions.
It is also important to understand the context of a behaviour. Each action does not happen in a vacuum – it occurs in the context of:
- our history
- our environment, and
- at a point in time.
Building resilience for your child requires the involvement of the whole family. It is important to teach parents the language of resilience. This means discovering new ways to talk about our experiences.
For example, when a child says “I can’t do it”, the instinctual response is to reassure him/her and state that it is possible to do what you put your mind to.
Using ACT language a new response could be “so you’re mind is telling you that you can’t do it. How would you like to respond to that thought?” In this way we are learning how to change our relationship to our internal world and indirectly to our external world.
The Action Heroes cards provide a resource to help children and their families learn and practice the strategies to improve their resilience.
We've created a resource sheet for parents and carers to provide ideas for using the Action Heroes cards at home:
THE ROLE OF EDUCATORS
educators play an important role in building a child's resilience. the classroom offers a social environment to help guide and support a child in learning new strategies.
As part of bringing ACT concepts to the community, Dr Sacha provides professional development workshops and planning support for educators and school personnel. Engagement can be face-to-face or via Skype / webinar formats.
Email us today if you are interested in learning more about training workshops and how to build ACT strategies into the school community.
We've created a resource sheet for educators with ideas for using the Action Heroes cards in the classroom.
Action Heroes in the Classroom
In addition to the strategy cards, additional print media (e.g. posters) can be organised for classrooms to help bring the heroes to life. Please email us your interest and we will work with you to have images and print materials available for use.
using the heroes in clinical practice
the action heroes provide an engaging and playful therapy tool to help build a child's resilience.
Teaching ACT concepts and strategies in a clinical setting doesn't have to be complicated or boring. The Action Heroes cards were designed to be used flexibly in a clinical setting, where children can explore the heroes' powers and learn how to apply the powers to their own lives.
In addition to the strategy cards, Dr Sacha provides professional development workshops and planning support for clinicians. Engagement can be face-to-face or via Skype / webinar formats.
Email us today if you are interested in learning more about training workshops and how to use ACT with children.
In this presentation you will discover how to explain ACT concepts to children using the Action Heroes metaphor.
You will be introduced to the Action Heroes Strategy Cards, a therapeutic tool for doing ACT with primary school children and their parents. You will be encouraged to think creatively about how to have fun with the ACT concepts when working with children. You will also learn how to apply ACT to a variety of presenting issues in childhood.
