Skip to main content

Have a Go Spaghettio! and the Catastrophe Scale

 


This presentation introduces or revisits the catastrophe scale or CS for short.

The CS is a partner tool to the ET, the Emotional Thermometer, a tool that the young constructivist can learn to use to manage behaviour and emotion especially in difficult circumstances. It develops EQ capacity.

Helping the early childhood constructivist to put problems into some kind of perspective will ease emotional disquiet and behavioural upset. So how is it taught? Here are some ideas.

Here we visit again the story of Arthur. This story employs  Albert Ellis’ ABC Theory of Emotional Disturbance as a critical literacy tool, which we use here to analyse a text that introduces the notion that ‘it isn’t what happens to us that makes us feel and act as we do, but it's how we view, interpret the situation, our response to it.’ Epictetus 100AD

In the story Arthur feels out of sorts, extremely anxious and full of self-doubt. He seeks the approval of others and tries to change the essence of who he is, he doesn’t want to be a dog. He has made himself a victim of external control. His anxiety is expressed in the outlandish things he does to get the approval and attention he needs to be a worthy mammal. So, what happened? Why is Arthur so unsettled?

Let’s find the A part of Dr Ellis’ ABC paradigm. He is the only one not chosen as a pet by those who visit the pet store. How is he feeling at C? Anxiety? Why? Because he believes there must be something wrong with him! Will he ever feel content, happy?

Arthur wants something badly, to be chosen and in his mind, we speculate that he thinks he is not worthy to be chosen by prospective animal lovers who frequent the pet shop, so he tries to be something he isn’t in the hope of attracting positive attention.

In REBT terms Arthur may be catastrophising about the situation. How bad is this for him? And of course, according to REBT it depends on how he interprets what’s happening. Is this as bad as he believes it is?

How can we help Arthur? Can we help him to put things in a better context. Can he feel less anxious and sad?

In summary:

A (what happened?) - Arthur not chosen

B (Arthurs thinking) – this is bad, I’m not likeable

C (how he feels/acts) – anxious, sad, perplexed

D (Dispute/challenge B)– check your CS

E (Arthur's revised thinking) – new effect, changed thinking/outlook

The CS is simply a scale and children will learn that ‘bad’ things happen, but how bad are they? This scale provides a sense of how things are compared to others. Arthur might see his situation as never ending and untenable but can he survive the trauma of not been chosen?

Let’s brainstorm with the children how Arthur may be feeling. How is he acting? Let’s speculate as to why he feela and acts like this. Children my suggest that he must be chosen of he is ever to be happy. But what is his thinking about his situation, could this have something to do with the strength of emotion he is experiencing? Does his assessment of the situation make him feel more anxious and sadder?

Lets consider his problem in relation to other possible problems eg

Lost his bone

Not chosen

Breaks a leg

No friends

No food/water

Sore throat

Emotional Literacy is the ability to identify, understand, express, and manage emotions in oneself and others according to AI. EQ or emotional intelligence is having the ability to regulate how we feel and behave especially when challenged. Ellis teaches us that as our belief constructions or rules effect how we feel and behave then we can learn to monitor how we are feeling and to check in on our thinking, our mental assessment of the situation. The latter capability is a feature of metacognition, which develops later from the age of 12 -15 years. If we can teach these rudimentary ideas from an early age, then we set the children up for success.

Teachers can add to their literacy program and include emotional literacy as demonstrated by the Arthur analysis.

Here we are using the ABC Theory as a critical literacy/EQ tool. We’re doing two things at the same time.

In summary we have considered how we might teach and reinforce the idea that thinking, feeling and acting are interconnected in the early childhood setting.

Arthurs demeanour was one of anxiety and upset, and the CS helped us ascertain how bad the situation Arthur was experiencing. However, his disposition changed, modified, because something fundamental had changed. He had put the ‘badness’ of what happened into perspective relative to other problems he had. If he wasn’t chosen would it be the worst that could happen?

His upset iwas linked to irrational thinking, or Success Stopper/Brain Bully thinking. The children will suggest this as they are familiar with these terms. What are his BB rules that cause his upset?

-       I must get what I want

-       This is not fair

-       I'll never be happy again

The CS helped Arthur to look again, rethink, reconsider the situation and Arthur changed his rigidly held outlook to a SH/BF one:

-       It’s not what I want but I can handle this

-       This is not a humungous problem because my CS says so

What had changed? The children will tell you!


Have a Go Spaghettio! Give It a Try Banana Pie!

Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Grieving the Loss of Self When Narcissistic Feed Dries Up

Professor Sam Vaknin is an authority on narcissistic personality disorder. His videos are informative and well communicated which helped my understanding of this condition. A narcissists  'feed' dries up when the supply of others adulation and affirmation withers and stops. A crisis ensues when the narcissist realises that incoming approval has diminished and their idealised self is under attack. The contrived and carefully constructed 'self' is no longer acknowledged and valued by external sources. They cease 'to be' because the sources feeding their self sees through the narcissists grandiose and phony veneer. (see  Ms. Prudence Putty-Nose  ) The self they have concocted and which demands the positive regard and affirmation of those they have trained to adore them, is but an irrational virtual representation of the real world. There's a disparity between the narcissists version of reality and how things really are, projecting a world of fantasy replayed on...
Post a Comment
Read more

APPROVALISM – the philosophy of the ‘love slob’

An approvalist is one who practices the philosophy of Approvalism. An approvalist lives life for the service of others seemingly without thought for self, ministering to the needs of others, making life ‘better’ for them. A good approvalist needs to do for others and her worth is measured according to how others view her and how helpful she can be to others. Approvalists say ‘yes’ to others demands and requests and are ultra sensitive to the needs of others (they must be rescued and saved). If they don’t perform to their own lofty expectations or (quelle catastrophe!) others don’t seem to value them (as they should) then they tend to harshly judge themselves as being ‘bad’ and may down themselves harshly! They will think, ‘I should have known that he needed support. I should have been there. I should have done better. I am a loser. It’s my fault he is in such a mess.’ They may also experience deep anger and direct it towards those ‘who do not appreciate me, after all shouldn’t they ...
Post a Comment
Read more

Positive Psychology and Rational Emotive Behaviour Therapy

The ABC Theory of Emotional Disturbance illustrates how feelings and behaviour at C are determined by what happens at A and B i.e. what we believe (B) about what happens (A). This is an A+B=C philosophy. What happens when our constructed view of ourselves equates to an A=C way of believing e.g. failing at A makes me feel depressed at C and causes me to give up. An A=C philosophy ‘If I fail at A I feel really bad at C 'it' (A) makes me angry and sad’ is problematic for our less resilient kids because they are unaware that constructed beliefs at B have a lot to do with it! 
A is what happens e.g. 'someone has rejected me!' and C is how I feel and act in response to A e.g. 'I feel really sad because she has rejected me so I stay at home etc' The depth of despair and how long it lasts will depend on how self accepting the person is. If a child ‘needs’ the approval of others he/she is at risk of depression, anger, anxiety because...
4 comments
Read more