JJ Chapter 4

Focus: Recognizing the importance of social support and allies in overcoming challenges.

CBT Focus: Understanding how support systems (family, friends, community) influence behaviors and emotions.
Assessment Tool: Family Environment Scale (FES) – to assess family dynamics and communication.
Expressive Arts Activity:
- Children: Create a map of their "allies"—people who can help them when they need support (family, friends, teachers, etc.).
- Adults: Visualize their support network and create a visual map or write out how each person plays a role in their life.

Experiential Family Therapy Activity: Family members discuss how they can support each other through difficult times and role-play how they would provide help when needed.
Executive Functioning Homework Assignment:
- Children: Identify how their allies helped them face a challenge this week, and reflect on how it made the challenge easier.
- Adults: Write down how they used their social support network to manage a challenge and plan how to better utilize their allies in the future.
OR ... read a few of Aesops Fables. Then let your unconscious do the hard work.

Parent-Child Attachment Activity: Create a Family Gratitude Jar. Each day, family members write down something they are grateful for about another family member and place it in the jar. At the end of the week, read the notes together.
Executive Functioning Activity:
- Children: Reflect on how asking for help from an ally (parent, friend, teacher) made a difficult task easier. Write about the experience and how it impacted their ability to solve the problem.
- Adults: Identify a challenge they faced that week and reflect on how their support system (family, friends, coworkers) played a role in overcoming it. Plan for how they can strengthen those relationships.

Trust and Attachment