Shuffling Cards
☼ Resilience means having free thoughts, feelings and behaviors. ☼
Items needed:
3x5 Cards (of different colors if possible)
Pens/pencils
Instructions: This is a version of an old exercise actors do to try out new ways to express a feeling or behavior. Decide on an issue that concerns you. Think about the issue in three ways: First, thoughts you could have about it. Second, feelings you could have about it. Third, possible actions or behaviors you could have about it. (you can substitute: assumptions about other’s feelings and motives, assumptions about causes and effects of a traumatic event, level of control over a situation, the meaning of an event.) Here are some examples to write on a board or flip chart:
Thoughts: / Feelings: / Behaviors:“He messed up!” (blame) / “I’m Angry.” / Scream “What’s wrong with you?”
“This is a terrible thing.” / “I’m Scared.” / Sulk
“They did that on purpose to hurt me!” / “I’m Hurt.” / Bad mouth behind their back.
“They did the best they could.” / “I’m Concerned.” / Offer your help.
“I must be a horrible person for this to happen!” / “I’m Confused.” / Ask questions.
“We can solve this.” / “I’m Understanding.” / Call a friend to get some help.
Brainstorm other thoughts, feelings, and behaviors and add them to the columns as well. Now, write each one of the thoughts, feelings, and behaviors on a separate 3x5 card. Each thought, feeling, or behavior will have its own card. Be sure to keep all the thought cards, feeling cards, and behavior cards in their own separate stacks.
The therapist and client each take turns picking one card from each of the stacks and call out one thought, one feeling, and one behavior. Now, call out three cards for the other person. The client and therapist now role play about the issue expressing the thoughts, feelings, and behaviors on the cards. Then, switch and enact the other person’s cards. Next, mix it up a bit. Keep the thought card and get new feeling and action cards. Enact this scenario. Then, keep the feeling cards, and change the thought and action cards. Then, do the same with the action card. Like charades, act out three cards and have the other guess which thoughts, feelings and actions you are acting.
Although it seems like we don’t have choice, the fact is that with everything that happens to us we have a choice about our thoughts, feelings and behaviors in response to it.
Key Words: Choice, Empathic, Flexible, Objective, Creative
Group Discussion:
- What effect did being stuck in only one set of thoughts have on the conversation?
- What effect did being stuck in only one set of feelings have?
- One set of behaviors?
- What makes it hard to not fall into the habits of thoughts, feelings, and behaviors?
- What would you have to do to be free of these habits?
How Many “E’s?”
☼ The way we put information into categories can cause us to miss important details ☼
Instructions: How many times does the letter “e” appear in the text below? Go through the text only once without re-checking. Everyone report. After everyone has reported, count again. This time you can re-check.
Everyone knows the alphabet. Some can even say it backwards. With the advent of the typewriter and computers, more and more people are also able to type the alphabet. There are those who type with two fingers. There are those who type with eight fingers. The point is that with the rising number of typists in the world, some consequences can be seen. First, the indisputable fact is that fewer and fewer people are writing letters with simple pen and paper. Second, the number of people with carpal tunnel syndrome, the nasty pain in the wrist that comes from too much bending back and forth, is on the rise. In the not-too-distant future, we might see the end of that age old art of letter writing. It may be the doctors who make out the best in the end.
Key Words: False Confidence, Effort, Hidden Assumptions, Prejudice
Discussion:
- How different were the group’s answers?
- How carefully did you have to check and re-check to get the right
answer?
- Is this how careful you usually are in investigating before you state a
“fact?”
- How many things do we assume about others with nowhere near as much time and care used to investigate the facts?
Tihs Smees Issmpobile:
☼ We need to be able to lump ideas together in categories to learn. ☼
Raed Tihs:
Tihs iusllrtatoin of bais is ralely qitue aamzgnig. The fcat taht you can raed tihs jmulbe of cnolvnuetd ltetres swohs how fanscitanig the biarn is. To mkae snsee of the wlrod, we hvae to be albe to put tinhgs itno caegtoreis. Otrehsiwe, we wluod hvee to laren eervytnig oevr and oevr aaign form sraccth. You nticoe taht you olny need the frsit and lsat lteters to be acutcare in odrre to udsnretand the mnaenig of this msegase. The oheter lteretrs can be in any oderr and you slitl can pceie it tgotheer. Pterty nftiy, huh? It’s a pterty vaubllae slikl of the bairn. Pobrelms biegn, of cuosre, wehn we oevlorok iprotmnat dteials taht cmpoletley atelr the maneing.
Key Wrdos: Ctareeigos, Gneelraizaoitn, Larennig, Bais, Pjreduice
Dcssuoisn:
- Can you tnihk of a suatition wehre pttunig inrfmoaoitn into caegtoreis is hpleufl?
- Wehn can pttunig infromaoitn itno ceatgroeis cuase errros in jdguenmt?
- Waht do we hvee to do to graud aaigsnt tihs tpye of eorrr?
- Do we put tnihgs in ctareeigos beausce we are maen, or deos it just happen beausce that is how our nreouvs sstyem wroks?
- Waht deos tihs say aoubt our bais twroad ohter popele? Is it awlyas maen sipirted?
- If we are not maen spriited, deos that maen we are not baiesd?
In the nxet erxcesie, we wlil osbrvee how tihs ailbtiy to caegtrozie can laed to mssniig ipmroatnt daietls.
Anisa Oranges
Memo to: The Ambassador of Freedonia
Your Mission: You are the Ambassador of Freedonia. Yours is a developing country of proud people with a rich culture dating back thousands of years. In recent months, an outbreak of a terrible disease has struck Freedonia. So far, few have died. But, your doctors tell you that unless this disease is stopped quickly, it will spread and many tens of thousands will die.
Fortunately, one of your top scientists has discovered a cure for this disease. It is made from the juice of the Anisa orange that only grows in one place in Nicaragua. There are no other sources of this orange and no other orange has the same healing properties as the Anisa orange. Your doctors assure you that a vaccine could be made from the juice of a single crop of Anisa oranges to save everyone in your country.
Fortunately again, the Anisa crop has just been harvested and is up for sale by the only grower in Nicaragua. But, you have heard you have a competitor for this crop, the country of Xenobia. Ten years ago, your country fought a war with Xenobia over border disputes. Although the people in both countries are from a similar ethnic background, Freedonia has had tense relations with Xenobia for ten years, despite the fact that many Xenobians and Freedonians are related by birth and marriage.
Your mission is to negotiate with the Xenobian Ambassador to solve this terrible problem that threatens so many lives in your country. You have been granted permission to use whatever money you need from the National Treasury to address this urgent crisis. All the military, financial, political and cultural resources of your country are at your disposal. Thousands of lives depend on you! You must not fail!
GOOD LUCK!
Anisa Oranges
Memo to: The Ambassador of Xenobia
Your Mission: You are the Ambassador of Xenobia. Yours is a developing country of proud people with a rich culture dating back thousands of years. In recent months, an outbreak of a terrible blight has struck the entire rice crop of Xenobia. Your scientists tell you that unless it is stopped quickly, the entire rice crop will fail and countless thousands of Xenobians will die of starvation.
Fortunately, one of your top scientists has discovered a cure for this blight. It is made from the peel of the Anisa orange that only grows in one place in Nicaragua. There are no other sources of this orange and no other orange has the same healing properties for this blight as the Anisa orange. Your scientists assure you that a remedy could be made from the peels of a single harvest of Anisa oranges that would save the entire rice crop, sparing your country from mass starvation.
Fortunately again, the Anisa crop has just been harvested and is up for sale by the only grower in Nicaragua. But, you have heard you have a competitor for this crop, the country of Freedonia. Ten years ago, your country fought a war with Freedonia over border disputes. Although the people in both countries are from a similar ethnic background, Xenobia has had tense relations with Freedonia for ten years, despite the fact that many Xenobians and Freedonians are related by birth and marriage.
Your mission is to negotiate with the Freedonian Ambassador to solve this terrible problem that threatens so many lives in your country. You have been granted permission to use whatever money you need from the National Treasury to address this urgent crisis. All the military, financial, political and cultural resources of your country are at your disposal. Thousands of lives depend on you! You must not fail!
GOOD LUCK!
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