Supporting Children with Depression to Understand and Celebrate Difference

A Get to Know Me Workbook and Guide for Parents and Practitioners

Louise Lightfoot

• Publisher: Routledge
• Year: 2019
• ISBN:
  9781351164788
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Education
• Subtopic: Education General

The 'Get to Know Me' resources aim to support children, with those around them, who may have additional/special educational needs. They are designed to empower the professionals and adults who support those with identified needs. Developed by child psychologist Dr Louise Lightfoot, the series includes activities specific to anxiety, depression and Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD). In supporting the social and emotional health of students, it equips them with the ability to thrive, personally and academically.

This book has been created for key adults (teachers, therapists and parents) as a complement to the picture book and draw along versions of Silver Matilda – a traditional narrative story exploring thoughts, feelings and sensations experienced by many children with depression.

The activities in this book offer practical tools and strategies to support the child and those around them in addition to the information specific to the condition to improve understanding of a child's needs to promote empathy and acceptance.

Picture book and draw along versions of Silver Matilda are available separately, and as part of the Get to Know Me: Depression set.

Chapter 1
Feelings generator

The feelings generator can help us to understand the feelings that maybe causing our behaviour. There are often many different names used to describe the same feeling and this can make it tricky to understand and express how we are feeling.

Below is an example of how the feeling ‘angry’ can be described in different ways:

Angry = mad, grumpy, frustrated, annoyed, irritated, furious, cross, fuming, raging

Can you think of anymore?

Continue to find others names for the following feelings:

• ◆ Scared
• ◆ Anxious
• ◆ Happy
• ◆ Ashamed
• ◆ Proud
• ◆ Sad
• ◆ Bad

Do you notice anything about the terms? Do some seem stronger than others? Do some fit into more than one category? Having a big emotional vocabulary can help to express our feelings and needs to others. Using the flash cards provided overleaf, write down the different feelings and see if, when you mix them all together, you are able to group these feelings back with the initial term. For example, all feelings related to angry would be placed under the ‘angry’ flash card.

Additional activities:

• ◆ Photocopy the flash cards so there are two sets of each feeling. Use these to play ‘snap’. This helps to improve word recognition.
• ◆ Place the photocopied flash cards on a table in a random order paying close attention to the cards. Then turn them over and pick up two cards displaying the same feeling if you can remember where the cards are! Set aside each matched ‘pair’. This can be played alone or with others. The person with the most pairs wins! This game improves memory and attention.
• ◆ Mix the cards up and use to play charades. Each person should pick a card and act out that feeling whilst the other players guess. This can be done in a pair or in teams. This is useful in supporting emotional intelligence and for recognising behaviours in ourselves and others.

Chapter 2
Sympathy or empathy

When someone is upset or seems sad there is often is an urge to be nice to that person and to want to make them feel better. This can be done in several ways, one of them involves being sympathetic to that person and one involves being empathetic (or showing empathy) - but what is the difference?

Sympathy is looking at someone’s situation and feeling bad for them or feeling emotions of pity and sadness but looking at the situation from a distance. It is by no means bad to feel sympathy for others and many good things happen because people are sympathetic. It is, however, different from empathy as there is a distance or a barrier that remains – I’m looking at you not with you.

Empathy, however, is about looking at someone’s situation from their perspective and trying to put yourself in their shoes. Empathy involves closing the distance between you and the person you are empathising with and the narrowing of this distance forges connection.

Think about these two scenarios:

Owen comes across Matilda and notices her feathers are gone and she is cold. He flies away and returns giving her a blanket. He flies away.

Owen comes across Matilda and notices her feathers are gone and she is cold. He sits down by her side and does not leave until she is well.

They are both kind acts but in which one is Owen showing sympathy and in which one is he showing empathy? If you had been Matilda, which would have preferred?

Exercise: Can you think of times you have shown empathy and sympathy and what was the difference?

When you have experienced empathy or sympathy which felt better?

What kinds of ways/phrases or actions could you offer to someone in the future to show empathy?

Table of contents

• Cover
• Half Title
• Series page
• Title
• Copyright
• Contents
• Acknowledgements
• Introduction to the Resource Pack
• CHAPTER 1 Feelings generator
• CHAPTER 2 Sympathy or empathy
• CHAPTER 3 Using puppets and play to explore emotions
• CHAPTER 4 True or false
• CHAPTER 5 Miracle questions
• CHAPTER 6 Colour your feelings
• CHAPTER 7 Compliment cards, part 1
• CHAPTER 8 Compliment cards, part 2
• CHAPTER 9 Remember a time
• CHAPTER 10 Always, never, everybody
• CHAPTER 11 Feelings sorter
• CHAPTER 12 The bridge to success
• CHAPTER 13 Silver Matilda's Activity Book
• CHAPTER 14 Silver Matilda's Board Game
• CHAPTER 15 What happens next?
• CHAPTER 16 Alternate ending?