Challenging Negative Thoughts Collection

Our Challenging Negative Thoughts unit contains a series of videos about Casey and his friends and their journey with listening to their inner self-talk and challenging negative/unrealistic thoughts. along with complementary printables and activities.

What videos are included? 

The Frightful First Day of School

Chapter 2 of our full 30-Chapter series
Casey is off to his first day of school. Though he’s nervous, he remembers what his mom said about the Three Simple Rules of Friendship. Casey meets his teacher, who shows the class an energy regulation exercise and asks the kids to introduce themselves.
  • Managing anxiety and self-talk before an event
  • Three Simple Rules of Friendship: smile, chin up, say hello 
  • Bringing our energy up or down to fit the situation

SCALE-ing Chant!

Bonus Video
Practice the SCALE-ing Chant to learn the steps of regulation: S for Stop, C for Calculate, A for Act, L for Listen, and E for Evaluate. 
  • Stop: Take a moment to pause what you're doing to give yourself some headspace. 
  • Calculate: Think about where your energy, thoughts, emotions, or behaviors are on a scale of 1 to 7. 
  • Act: Use a skill to regulate your energy, thoughts, emotions, or behaviors.
  • Listen: Take a moment to listen to your body and what's around you to see if the skill worked. 
  • Evaluate: Did the skill work? If not, let's try a new skill. 

Casey, The Mind Reader

Chapter 4 of our full 30-Chapter series
Casey and Bridget want to add another friend to their imaginary play game at recess. As Casey approaches Isaac, a friend from last year, he “mind reads” that Isaac isn’t going to like him anymore.
  • Catching negative "mind reading" of what others think
  • Putting thoughts on a scale from Negative to Positive
  • Including others

The Great Rock of Friendship

Chapter 5 of our full 30-Chapter series
Casey gets invited to Isaac’s birthday party but learns that his best friend Bridget isn’t invited. He instantly worries that he’s going to be all alone at Isaac’s party because he doesn’t know any of the other kids! 
  • Putting friendship on a scale from Unfriendly to Friendly
  • Adding friendly "pebbles" to the Friendship Scale, like smiling or giving a compliment
  • Managing social anxiety before an event

Bittersweet Cherries

Chapter 8 of our full 30-Chapter series
Casey’s morning starts out with an unexpected bad moment, and he writes the story that three bad moments equals a bad day. What he doesn’t realize is how this will affect his mood for the rest of his day and the people around him.
  • Taking away focus on negative thoughts
  • Rewriting negative thoughts
  • Recovering from bad moments

The Narrator Inside Casey's Head

Chapter 9 of our full 30-Chapter series
Casey is nervous to see his friends again after letting his bad mood affect their relationship the day before. He battles with the negative thoughts that the little Negative Casey on his shoulder keeps whispering into his ear. Luckily, Positive Casey is on his other shoulder to provide more realistic and positive self-talk!
  • Awareness of positive and negative self-talk
  • Narrating positive self-talk 
  • Understanding realistic vs. unrealistic thoughts

The Chess Dance

Chapter 10 of our full 30-Chapter series
Casey sees a flyer at his school for chess club. He asks his parents if he can join, and they agree but remind Casey that focusing on the Fun Factor will help him have a great time with friends. On his first day, he faces a fifth-grader named Daniel, who spends the whole time bragging about how good he is. What will Casey do to keep his focus on having fun?
  • Focusing on having fun rather than winning
  • How competition can sometimes fuel negative thinking
  • Keeping our cool during teasing or arguments

The Unfriending

Chapter 11 of our full 30-Chapter series
During their imaginary game at recess, Casey makes a joke while Bridget is trying to direct the story. Bridget gets upset thinking Casey isn’t taking the game seriously. To Casey’s surprise, Bridget “unfriends" Casey during the next recess.
  • Navigating friendship conflicts or arguments
  • Understanding pros and cons of trying at friendship
  • Developing determination: the energy behind achieving goals 

VAPorize!

Chapter 14 of our full 30-Chapter series
Bridget and her friend Isabel teach Casey a skill called VAPorize to validate, assess, and problem-solve some feelings he’s having about his friends Joe and Samay.
  • Validate: Validating your feelings
  • Assess: Assessing what's realistic and unrealistic about our thought
  • Problem-Solve: Brainstorm solutions for the situation prompting the thought

I Am Casey!

Chapter 24 of our full 30-Chapter series
When Casey is feeling nervous about being a beginner at soccer on his school’s team, he talks to Bridget about all the special things that make Casey… Casey!
  • Practicing positive affirmations
  • Recognizing ourselves as whole people
  • Recognizing our uniqueness and value

Game Day

Chapter 25 of our full 30-Chapter series
Casey feels very panicky when his mother reminds him that he will play in today’s soccer game, even though he’s a new member on the team. She teaches him a skill called “Imagine If,” where you imagine yourself as if you’re already a skilled player. This gives him the confidence to get out on the field and try his best.
  • Building confidence by "imagining if"
  • Managing anxiety before a performance or event
  • Giving ourselves the benefit of the doubt
  • Trying new things

Presentation Day

Chapter 28 of our full 30-Chapter series
Casey had struggled to come up with an expertise to present to his class, but realized he had an expertise in making friends. Even though some of his classmates tease him for his presentation subject, he finds confidence in his decision after speaking to some trusted adults about it. How will Casey’s presentation go?
  • Feeling proud of our skills and abilities
  • Managing anxiety before a performance or event

Printables and Activities

Our printables and activities correlate with our chapter videos. Facilitators can watch the video of their choosing with their group or client, then lead the corresponding activity. Included in this unit are facilitator activity instructions, student worksheets, and take-home activities to reinforce learning. 

Lesson Activities

  • Emotions Pie Worksheet
  • Level UP! Worksheet
  • Blown Away! Activity and Situation Cards
  • I AM Shield
  • Imagine If Worksheet 

Take-Home Activities

  • Energy Matters (Home Activity 2)
  • Mind Reading (Home Activity 4)
  • Just Pebbles (Home Activity 5)
  • Emotions Pie Tracking (Home Activity 8)
  • Level UP! Recap (Home Activity 9)
  • Win/Win (Home Activity 10)
  • Pros vs. Cons (Home Activity 11)
  • VAPorize Thoughts (Home Activity 14)
  • I AM... (Home Activity 24)
  • Goal Setting (Home Activity 25)
  • You've Got Skills! (Home Activity 28)

Coloring Pages and Posters (8x11 or 11x14 downloads available)

  • Corresponding coloring page for every video
  • Thought Scale Poster
  • Friendship Scale Poster
  • Emotions Pie Poster
  • Two Sides of the Same Coin Poster
  • I AM Shield (Poster option for activity)