Self Care Tips

Here's another handout I found on Pinterest, that includes self care tips from the American Red Cross- Important for both RT professionals and our patients!!

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Tic Tac Toe Frisbee

Here is an idea I found from Pinterest that looked like it would be lots of fun!  It is similar to the Tic Tac Toe Basketball game posted a while back.

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Get a large shower curtain, sheet, etc. and draw or tape a tic tac toe grid on it.  Set out several Frisbees. The players try to throw the Frisbee so that it lands on one of the squares.  The first player to get 3 in a row wins!!

To process, talk about how difficult this activity was.  What made it so challenging?  How did each player overcome these challenges?  Talk about how sometimes things don't go as planned, and how we can react to these situations. 

Floating on a Cloud

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This is another relaxation exercise I utilize in some of my groups.  You can find the script here.  It describes the experience of floating on a cloud and relaxing your body, calming your breathing, and controlling your thoughts.  Pair it with some peaceful, relaxing music and it makes for a really productive and meaningful group.  Enjoy!!

Bop It!

At my facility, we have what's called "Activity Night" with our adolescent unit each evening.  This is a chance for more of a recreation participation experience.  One of my go-to activities for this group is Bop It!  The kids really enjoy it and it usually provides just enough challenge to keep them interested without overwhelming and completely frustrating them.

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This is also a great game for a stress management group!  You can process how they handled the stress and then apply it to current stresses in their lives.

The Glad Game

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Here is an activity taken from this website.  It is based on a game Pollyanna plays called "The Glad Game."  The purpose is to help increase positive thinking habits.

One person identifies a negative event, such as losing a job, and says "I've just lost my job and am trying not to panic."  Other players try to get the first player to think positively, by coming up with as many positive things about the event as possible.  For example, "I lost my job but now I get to eat lunch with my family every day" or "I lost my job but now I don't have to get up at 4:30am every morning!"

Continue until you have no more ideas and then move onto another negative situation.

Talk about how finding the positive things can help us cope with negative events in life.

Body Image Handout

This week's handout focuses on improving body image... Enjoy!!

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Depression Trees

This is an activity created by one of my coworkers, Adrianna Markley, CTRS.  It's an awesome intervention!!

Sorry about the poor quality of this picture -
I took it quickly at work one day!

Have the patients draw a "depression tree."

The base of the tree is to represent them and their personality.  Write character traits on the tree trunk.
  *If they saw a weak base, they could make the tree thin or broken looking
  *If they felt they had a strong base, the tree could be wide and healthy
  *If they felt complicated, the base could be twisted or have multiple trunks

The leaves of the tree are to be references to their depression and things they feel when they are depressed (i.e. isolates, stays in bed, insomnia, no appetite, etc.)

Lead a discussion on how depression, like tree leaves, go away at different times but can come back.  How do we continue to cope with it?

Have patients write their coping skills around the tree, both things they have done in the past and new ideas they want to try.