Relaxation, Stress Management

and Emotional Resourcefulness

Stress, behaviour issues, classroom management - These are important matters affecting the quality of teaching and learning in any school.

This whole-day course offers a range of practical activities for developing greater emotional resourcefulness in both children and adults. It will also show you highly effective ways of relaxing very deeply and very easily. Such techniques can be used for oneself, with other adults and with the children in your class.

During the day we will explore these areas of 'Emotional Intelligence'...

  Section 1: Overview.

• The Mind and body link.

• Memory and Imagination, Conscious and Subconscious resources.

• The Natural Intelligences.

• Four keys to emotional intelligence.

• The creative attitude.

• Applying EI strategies.

• The Metaphor Game.

Section 2: Breathing Techniques and Visualisation.

• Notice the breath. Notice the body.

• ‘Full’ breathing.

• Counting the breath. Pacing and holding the breath.

• Alternate nostril breathing.

• Visualisations.
• Initial stimulus
• Suggested.
• Guided.
• Scripted..

• Blue-white light breathing.

• Group breathing.

Section 3: Emotional Intelligence and the senses.

• The variety of emotions…

• Circle Faces Game.

• Comparing emotions.

• The use of analogies to define and modify emotions.

• The Spectrum of emotions.
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• Turning emotions up or down.

  Some key principles for developing emotional resourcefulness...

  Potential

  Purposefulness

  Nosiness

  Utilisation

  Positive intention

  Patience

• The use of synaesthesia – cross-matching sensory impressions.
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• The hidden agenda of body language.
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• Combining synaesthesia and metaphors for positive emotional outcomes.
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• Visual symbols as a 'shorthand' for boosting emotional resourcefulness.

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• Section 4: Anchoring and Language Strategies.
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• Brain States, thoughts and feelings.
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• Anchoring techniques to bring feelings under control.
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• The world of make-believe - how fantasy affects reality.
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• Section 5: A Medley of EI Games.

• Control Panel.

• Video Remote Visualisation.
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• Character Collage.

  Step-By-Step Change.

  Personality Pyramid.

  Because Game.

  If-Then (-Or) Game.

  The Maybe Hand.

  The Value Tree.

  Old Man Envy.

   

  Section 6: Relaxation Time.

  Whole body relax - This is a 15-20 minute visualisation session that most people find deeply relaxing. Once you have been through this experience you will be able to let yourself drift into the same very tranquil state at will.

   

  This session is intended to round-off the day, but if time permits we will also look at -

   

  Section 7: Language Patterns and Reflecting on Emotional ‘Landscape’.

   

  Some language patterns to encourage emotional shifts

  Cognitive distortions.

  The noun-to-verb shift.

  Generalisations and meta-model questioning.

  The ‘just pretend and tell me when’ magic button.

  ‘But’ as a positive and negative motivator.

  Softening words.

  Action prompts.

  Anticipators of outcomes.

  Possibility predictors.

  Suggestions to raise awareness.

  And – ‘Many ands make light work’.

  A ‘pseudo-logic’ pattern.

  The ‘stacking facts’ strategy.

  The power of negatives.

   

  Assessing the emotional ‘landscape’

  *

  The course is accompanied by a CD resource containing all of the visuals shown throughout the day, plus audio files offering verbal descroptions and explanations of many of the techniques covered (including the whole body relaxation session).

  Fees - Click here

   

  If you'd like to find out more, or if booking the day, contact steve at  steve@sbowkett.freeserve.co.uk

   

• Steve Bowkett qualified as a hypnotherapist in 1991 . He has adapted many of the principles, techniques and ideas he learned in his training, and subsequently, for use in the educational field. He has written Meditations for Busy People - how to stop worrying and stay calm [Thorsons 1996) and Self-Intelligence (a handbook for developing confidence, self-esteem and interpersonal skills) [NEP 1999] . He is currently working on a number of other projects in the same field.

Working one-to-one:

On a number of occasions when I have run this course, members of staff have  enquired about working with me on giving up smoking, dealing with anxiety, phobias, weight loss and other issues. I am always happy to work with individuals, although obviously this could not be done as part of my INSET presentation. However, you might find the following suggestions helpful...

I could offer a group stop-smoking session. This would last approximately 40 minutes and could accommodate any number of people. If the session formed part of the INSET time I would include it in my presentation fee. If it fell outside our scheduled times, I would charge £25 per person. This would include a reinforcement tape for each participant, plus telephone support as required in the month following the session.

I would be happy to visit the school and work on an appointment basis with indivuduals and / or small groups of up to six people (depending upon the issues to be resolved). Small-group sessions can work well for teaching further relaxation techniques and / or self-hypnosis. Group work can also be suitable for reducing general anxiety and developing self confidence. These sessions would last an hour and I would charge £20 per participant. Other matters are best dealt with in one-to-one sessions. These are also an hour long. Occasionally issues can be resolved in that time, but further sessions may be indicated. In this case a private arrangement for followup with the person concerned would be most appropriate. Individual hypnotherapy sessions are charged at £25.

On previous occasions this programme of working with people has run during a non-contact ('cupboard tidying') day, or when other INSET training is going on that doesn't require delegates to be present the whole time. But the arrangement is flexible and can be structured to suit your particular needs. Feel free to contact me if you want to discuss these ideas further.