8.4 Step-by-Step Guidelines to Implement C-Session 1
8.4.4 Part Four of C-Session 1
Part four of C-Session 1 takes about 15 minutes to complete and teaches the children two concepts: (1) How to Be a Feeling Catcher by learning how to do a Body Scan and (2) How to Be the Boss of My Body by learning how to do Spaghetti Arms and Toes.
8.4.4.1 How to Be a Feeling Catcher
The child group therapist leading this portion of the session:
1. Explains that to be a Feeling Catcher, children look for and ‘catch’ the clues that their body gives that tell them they are feeling something like happy, sad, mad or angry, nervous or scared, or shy.
2. Asks the children if they can think of any feelings that Leo the Lion felt in the story (i.e., nervous or scared and mad or angry).
3. Asks how they could tell that Leo felt nervous or scared (i.e., his muscles were all stiff and hard like uncooked spaghetti and his tummy felt sore) and mad or angry (i.e., he kicked the toy and slammed the door extra hard).
8.4.4.2 How to Do a Body Scan
The child group therapist leading the discussion on Body Scans uses a large laminated picture of a genderless child body outline or draws a large child body outline on the white board (or flip chart) for this portion of the session. The children are asked to gather around the body outline and in this C-Session 1, the feelings of happy and mad or angry are discussed and Body Scans of these two feelings are completed.
The lead child group therapist:
1. Begins by telling the children that today they are going to learn How to Be a Feeling Catcher and learn to ‘catch’ the clues within their body that tell them they are feeling a certain feeling.
2. Tells the children that in order to be a Feeling Catcher, the first thing they need to do is a Body Scan and points to the body outline.
3. Explains that in order to do a Body Scan, the children need to think about how every part of their body looks and feels when they are feeling happy (or later on mad or angry), starting with their head and going all the way down to their toes.
4. Asks the children to think about how their face, eyes, cheeks, and mouth look and feel like when they are happy (and later mad or angry). A good starting suggestion could be to ask the children if they can make a happy face as this can easily lead to a discussion of how a happy face looks. Using the script from page 16 in the Parent Manual, examples of questions could be: What does your face look like when you are happy? Is your forehead relaxed or are your eyebrows lifted? Do you have a smile or frown on your face? Are your eyes bright and shiny, or are they full of tears, or almost closed? Are your jaws all relaxed or are they all stiff? Are your cheeks all red or their usual color?
5. Draws on the large laminated body outline (or on the body outline that was drawn on the white board or flip chart) the suggestions provided by the children of what one’s face looks like when feeling happy.
6. Asks the children what their shoulders, neck, and throat look and feel like when they are happy (and later mad or angry), while using the script from page 16 in the Parent Manual to ask questions such as: Are your shoulders relaxed or all stiff and raised up close to your ears? Is your neck relaxed or are the muscles in your neck so stiff that you almost have a headache? Is your throat relaxed or all tight? Do you feel a lump in your throat? Do you lose your voice?
7. Draws on the body outline the suggestions provided by the children of what one’s shoulders, neck, and throat would look and feel like when feeling happy.
8. Asks the children what the insides of their body feel like when they are happy (and later mad or angry), using the script from page 16 in the Parent Manual with questions such as, does your heart beat fast or hard or it is calm and relaxed? Is your breathing calm or too fast and choppy, like it’s hard to catch your breath?
Do you feel butterflies in your tummy? Is your tummy sore or does your tummy feel nice and calm?
9. Draws on the body outline the suggestions provided by the children of what the inside of one’s body feels like when one feels happy.
10. Asks the children what their arms, fingers, and legs look and feel like when they are happy (and later mad or angry), using the script from page 16 in the Parent Manual with questions such as, are the muscles of your body all relaxed or all stiff and hard? Are your hands and feet all calm or are they shaking? Are your hands and fingers all relaxed or are they stiff or closed in fists?
11. Draws on the body outline the suggestions provided by the children of what one’s extremities would look and feel like when feeling happy.
For C-Session 1, a completed Body Scan for happy could have a smiling face, calm heart and calm breathing, and relaxed muscles while the completed Body Scan for mad or angry could have tight or squeezed eyes, furrowed eyebrows, clenched or tightly closed mouth, clenched fists, and stomping feet.
8.4.4.3 How to Be the Boss of My Body
After completing the Body Scans for happy and for mad or angry, the child group therapist leading the discussion on How to Be the Boss of My Body teaches the children the first relaxation strategy, Spaghetti Arms and Toes. Ideally, children lie down on the floor on a mat as this is more relaxing and children can isolate each muscle group more easily. However, young children could learn each strategy while sitting comfortably in their chairs. If feasible, the lights are dimmed (without making the room too dark) while completing the relaxation strategies and then the lights are turned back on. The lead child group therapist:
1. Informs the children that just like Leo the Lion in the story they are going to learn How to Be the Boss of their Body.
2. Asks if anyone knows what uncooked spaghetti looks and feels like and what cooked spaghetti looks and feels like (and ensures that the children understand that uncooked spaghetti is stiff and hard while cooked spaghetti is soft and pliable).
3. Describes that just like Leo the Lion, when they do Spaghetti Arms and Toes they learn how to make their muscles get all hard and stiff, like uncooked spaghetti noodles, and then make them all soft and wiggly, like cooked spaghetti.
The lead child group therapist then reads the Spaghetti Arms and Toes script provided in Sect.8.4.4.4below (which is the same script as that found in the Parent
Manual) and runs through each muscle group twice. The script for Spaghetti Arms and Toes is similar to the one found on page 55 in the workbook section ofTaming Sneaky Fears—Leo the Lions’s story of bravery & Inside Leo’s den: The workbook (Benoit & Monga 2018a,b), but contains one main difference, i.e., in the group program, parents and children are encouraged to pretend squeezing the juice out of lemons when completing Spaghetti Arms and Toes (with practice, children who feel tense and nervous can simply squeeze their fists as if they are squeezing the juice out of lemons and then relax them, and get the same benefit as completing the full Spaghetti Arms and Toes script6).
8.4.4.4 Spaghetti Arms and Toes Script
Close your eyes so you can pay attention to how your muscles feel in your body.
Let’s start with yourtoesandfeet. Point your toes and feet straight up towards the ceiling and tighten up your feet and toes as tight as they can be. Make sure your feet and toes are hard and stiff like uncooked spaghetti. Hold them really tight and count to five slowly—one, two, three, four, five. Feel how hard the muscles in your feet and toes feel. Your muscles might feel a little sore because they’re so stiff. Now pretend your feet and toes are going in warm water and you can let them loosen up.
Feel how nice and soft and relaxed the muscles in your feet and toes feel, just like cooked spaghetti. Your muscles feel warm and nice and relaxed.
Now lift and tighten up yourlegsandthighs. Make both of your legs and thighs really tight and stiff like uncooked spaghetti noodles and count to five slowly—one, two, three, four, five. Feel how hard the muscles in your legs and thighs feel. Your muscles might feel a little sore because they’re so stiff. Now your legs and thighs are going in the warm water and you can let them loosen up. Feel how nice and soft and relaxed the muscles in your legs and thighs feel. Your muscles feel warm and nice and relaxed.
Now hold yourarmsandhandsout in front of you really straight and stiff like uncooked spaghetti and squeeze yourfistslike you’re squeezing lemons. Make sure your arms and hands are hard and stiff like uncooked spaghetti and you squeeze your fists as if you are squeezing the juice out of lemons. Hold everything really tight, squeeze those lemons, and count to five slowly—one, two, three, four, five. Feel how hard the muscles in your arms and hands and squeezed fists feel. Your muscles might feel a little sore because they’re so stiff. Now they’re going in the warm water and you can let them loosen up. Feel how nice and soft and relaxed the muscles in your arms and hands and fingers feel, just like cooked spaghetti. Your muscles feel warm and nice and relaxed.
Now scrunch up yourfaceand tighten yourneckandshouldersso your shoulders touch your ears. Make the muscles in your face, neck, and shoulders really stiff and
6Koeppen (1974)first described how group therapists could encourage children to squeeze their fists as if they are squeezing the juice out of lemons when doing progressive muscle relaxation. The Taming Sneaky Fears group treatment program adopted this strategy.
tight, just like uncooked spaghetti noodles, and count to five slowly—one, two, three, four, five. Feel how hard the muscles in your face, neck, and shoulders feel.
The muscles in your face, neck, and shoulders might feel a little sore because they’re so stiff. Now the muscles in your face, neck, and shoulders are going in the warm water and becoming loose and relaxed, just like cooked spaghetti noodles. Feel how nice and soft and relaxed the muscles in your face, neck, and shoulders feel. Your muscles feel warm and nice and relaxed.
Now make yourwhole bodyas stiff as one giant uncooked spaghetti, so tighten up yourtoes,feet,legsandthighs, tighten up yourarmsandhands, and squeeze yourfists, and tighten up your whole body including yourface,neck, andshoulders and even your back andtummy. Hold everything really stiff and count to five slowly—one, two, three, four, five. Feel how hard all of the muscles in your whole body feel—like one giant uncooked spaghetti. Your muscles might feel a little sore because they’re so stiff. You might even feel your tummy is getting a little sore. Now your whole body is going into the warm water and getting really soft and wobbly.
The muscles in your whole body feel warm and nice and relaxed. Doesn’t that feel good?