STRESS BUSTERS: CBT-Based Coping Skills

A search of the CBT literature will turn up dozens of CB strategies. We simplified them into four categories that are easy for children to understand and remember:

1. CHOOSE the best way of thinking.(Includes interventions related to cognitive flexibility, cognitive restructuring)

2. STOP doing things that aren’t helpful.(Includes interventions related to response inhibition, recognizing and stopping automatic negative thoughts/behaviors)

3. CALM your body.(Includes interventions related to physiological self-monitoring, relaxation, self-calming.)

4. Make a good PLAN.(Includes interventions related to problem-solving, planning and collaborating)

This volume, Stress-Busters: CBT-Based Coping Skills, teaches children basic strategies for each of these four categories. Emphasis is placed on scaffolding the child's knowledge so that they will be able to use these strategies at the "point of performance" ---the occasions in their daily lives where they are having difficulty.