Teaching Techniques

Stop the Negative, Accentuate the Positive Cynthia K. Chandler, Cheryl A. Kolander

n health education, students learn I to establish lifestyle goals, design behavioral contracts, and initiate behavior change. Though an initial commitment to altering behavior patterns may be evidenced, success- ful completion of goals and contin- ued practice of altered behaviors may be temporary. A necessary step toward successful behavior change involves the positive belief by students that the alteration can be made, maintained, and integrated into the lifestyle. When students do not master this step of internalizing the change, the behavior change can be incomplete and superficial.

Society plants a number of “shoulds” and “should nots” into inquisitive minds. The thought “ I should” is not semantically far from ‘I’m not” or “ I can’t.” These “shoulds” have a negative connota- tion, and negative or self-defeating thoughts can hinder progress toward goal achievement. McMullin’ stated that negative or irrational beliefs can be damaging and such beliefs can be countered simply by altering self-talk. Rossi’ suggested mind- body communication plays a signifi- cant role in affecting health and well-being. Beliefs or thoughts held in the mind on a conscious or sub- conscious level cause the body to respond physiologically or behavi- orally. Positive self-communication provides a key to effecting a healthy lifestyle.

Health education offers an appro- Cynthia K . Chandler, EdD. Counseling Psy- chologiAt, Student Counseling Center, and Coordinaror, Stress and Biofeedback Lab, Student Health Promotion, Indiana State Universii?, Terre Haute, IN 47809; and Cheryl A . Kolander, HSD, Assistanl Profes- sor, Dept. of Health, Physical Education, and Recreation. University of Louisville, Louisk’ille, K Y 40292. This article was sub- mirted March 7, 1988, and accepted f o r pub- lication July 5, 1988.

priate place to provide training in positive self-suggestion for personal growth. Barber3 listed basic assump- tions to support the proposal:

1 ) Human beings are constantly saying things to themselves.

2) Contents of the stream of self- talk play a role in determining how well individuals enjoy their lives and cope with life demands.

3) Though most self-talk is neutral, some is negative and harm- ful. Worries, concerns, fears, and other self-defeating self-suggestions (“I can’t . . .”, “What if . . .”) enhance feelings of unhappiness, frustration, and anxiety, and inter- fere with smooth coping with tasks and demands of daily life.

4) With formal practice and training in using self-suggestions, individuals can learn to reduce their harmful self-talk (or “negative self- suggestions”) and increase their neutral and positive self-talk.

5) By reducing harmful or nega- tive self-talk and, at the same time increasing neutral and positive self- talk, individuals can increase their enjoyment of life and cope more effectively with ongoing events.

This technique discusses two basic approaches in training of self-sug- gestion to alter or enhance health behavior. The techniques of thought stopping and positive affirmations are simple and practical and can be incorporated easily into a health education class or health promotion program.

THOUGHT STOPPING Can students learn how to stop

negative thinking? Can statements like “Oh, I’m so stupid” or “I’m such a fool” be eliminated? Are these words students are repeating much too frequently?

Students often say negative things

about themselves. Having negative thoughts can increase the nagging worry and self-doubt in their lives. When words like ‘I’m such a fool” or “I can’t do it” are spoken, the student diminishes positive mental energy. These thoughts can greatly influence the student. If a thought is in the mind, then to some degree the individual believes that thought, and it can eventually manifest into behavior. Students work against themselves by thinking self-defeat- ing statements.

Thought stopping is an effective response to self-defeating thoughts and emotions. Each time a negative thought comes to mind, students can immediately say to themselves “stop.” The command “stop” acts as a distractor and interrupts the flow of self-defeating thinking. It is a simple command that will help break a persistent habit. Thought stopping can interrupt any type of unpleasant thought. It can aid in breaking obsessive or fearful thoughts such as thoughts of failure, feelings of inadequacy, panic or anxiety, painful memories, or reoccurring impulses such as nail biting or overeating.

Thought stopping can be follow- ed by thought substitutions of positively reassuring or self-accept- ing statement^.^ Each negative thought the student stops can be followed by a positive one. For example, “I’m so stupid” can be stopped and replaced with ‘I am smart and I can do it,” or “I’m such a fool” can be replaced with “ I learned something and am wiser be- cause of i t .” Substitute “I don’t have what it takes” with “ I have the courage to give it my best shot.”

Positive self-statements are most beneficial when incorporated fre- quently into the individual’s positive

Journal of School Health September 1988, Vol. 58, No. 7 295

thinking. They are useful substitu- tions for negative thoughts and can become part of the student’s regular routine.

POSITIVE A FFI R M A T I O N S Affirmations are self-statements

that accentuate positive thoughts, feelings, or actions. Girdano and Dusek’ suggested affirmations can be effective for a number of target problems. They offer sample affir- mations for the areas of procrastin- ation, assertiveness, fear, prosper- ity, self-confidence, time manage- ment, weight management, and in- somnia. Curtis and Detert6 recom- mended positive affirmation state- ments be repeated at least two or three times daily: every morning upon waking, every evening just before going to sleep, and, if pos- sible, several other times each day. Affirmations are written as specific- ally and simply as possible, typically seven words or less, and always in a positive format. Avoid incorporating negatives, such as “not” or “should” into the self-statements. Negative terms can be self-defeat- ing.

To enhance the effectiveness of affirmations, write them down while saying them out loud. Ray’ suggested the affirmation be written in first, second, and third persons since one’s conditioning from others comes in this manner. Putting one’s name in the affirmation infers more ownership. For example, if the con- cept of uniqueness is being discussed in an emotional health unit, a pos- sible affirmation would be “I, John, respect my own uniqueness,” “You, John, respect your own uniqueness,” and “He, John, respects his own uniqueness.” This affirmation would be said each day until the student has entirely inte- grated the statement into conscious- ness.

SE L F- RE G U LATl ON T RAI N I NC Self-suggestions such as thought

stopping and affirmations can be in- corporated easily into a health edu- cation class or health promotion program. Self-suggestions provide an excellent method to accentuate a daily instructional lesson. Knowledge received through direct instruction can be more thoroughly integrated into students’ lives through experi-

ential exercises. Self-suggestion training can compliment health edu- cation teaching as it correlates with concurrent lessons.

First, students learn to apply thought stopping to specific health areas in which they are habitually thinking or speaking self-defeating statements. For example, a weight management group may create thought stoppers for potential nega- tive or self-defeating thoughts such as “I am fat,” “I have no will power,” or “I can’t lose 10 pounds.” These negative thoughts could be substituted with “I am beautiful,” “ I have will power,” and “I can lose weight.” In the classroom, negative statements

Figure 1 Selected Health Topics

Decision making l know what is best for me. l trust my intuition. l trust my ability to choose.

l am confident and strong. l am sensitive and caring. l am a lovable and loving person.

l am calm and relaxed. l am going with the flow. l am an easy going person.

l am a unique and creative being. Being me makes me special. l am a beautiful and worthwhile

Personality theories

Stress management

Depression and Suicide

person.

Death and Dying l get the most out of my life. l make my life meaningful.

l am becoming wiser through my experiences.

l feel strong.

Goal achievement l feel good about myself. l am a winner. l can succeed. l have the courage to strive for my goals.

l believe in natural hlghs. l create my own good feelings.

I breathe fresh air. l choose to stop smoking cigarettes. l choose to stop using chewmg

l choose to cut back on my use of

l choose to cut back on my use of

Aging

Drugs

Tobacco

tobacco.

cigarettes.

chewing tobacco.

Alcohol l am a responsible drinker. l drink nonalcoholic beverages.

within a particular situation can be presented in a role play format. For instance, students can enact a scene to pressure a friend to drink an alcoholic beverage. The targeted student struggling against the nega- tive peer pressure can respond by stating quietly or aloud, “I know what is best for me.” This proced- ure can be followed with stimulating discussion to generate other possible positive thought substitutions to counter the self-defeating thoughts or behaviors. Classroom or other group settings provide a supportive environment for feedback and en- couragement toward behavior change as students develop and practice controlled self-suggestion.

Second, students can write down personal positive affirmations that correlate to health education topics. The affirmations in Figure 1 were used in a personal health class to accentuate healthy practices in units on emotional health and tobacco, alcohol, and drug usage. Based on the topic of the week, students selected one affirmation to write down on an index card for practice. When stress management was cover- ed, the student would write the following affirmation:

I, Michele, am calm and relax- ed, She, Michele, is calm and re- laxed. You, Michele, are calm and re- laxed.

Carrying the index card can serve as a reminder to practice on a daily basis. It is not necesary that the stu- dent yet believe the self-suggestion. Through repetitive practice of the affirmation, the new belief can be introduced, internalized, and then integrated into the lifestyle. Again, class discussion on the effectiveness of the self-statements or ideas for modification of the exercises by a cohesive group can be very encour- aging.

Third, a healthy lifestyles journal or diary can help students monitor and change their styles of thinking and acting. A lifestyles journal pro- vides a productive way to organize and keep track of goals, attempts toward change, and successes. Diary keeping helps students find their most effective self-suggestion counters by experimentation. I

The journal provides students

296 Journal of School Health September 1988, Vol. 58, No. 7

with a mechanism to study their life- style choices. It is a daily diary of the feelings, thoughts, and activities that relate to positive healthy life- style choices. Entries must be as spe- cific as possible. The exact behavior change goal, the chosen thought stopping approach, the positive thought substitution, positive affir- mations, and behavioral changes can be documented. Only successes are recorded in the journal so all self-defeating actions and beliefs can be countered.

Giving students an opportunity to highlight their healthy thoughts, feelings, and behaviors and focus on the positive steps they are taking to become or remain healthy is a wel- come change to the continual harp- ing on negative health habits, such as too much sodium, too little exer- cise, or too much stress. The journal or diary exercise represents a pro- ductive step toward behavioral impact as the student begins the pro- cess of assuming personal responsi-

bility for self-exploration and change.

CONCLUSION Helping students understand the

impact of lifestyle choices consti- tutes an important dimension of health education classes. Instructors can use value clarification and ex- periential activities to help students better grasp and integrate pertinent health issues. Exploring possible alternatives available and choosing an appropriate new behavior pro- vides a common direction for health instruction. While these activities contribute to new attitude explora- tion, integration of positive con- cepts into the lifestyle behavior remains difficult.

This technique goes a step beyond suggesting or planning lifestyle changes. Activities such as thought stopping, thought substitution, positive affirmations, and the healthy lifestyle journal provide stu- dents with an opportunity to try new

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positive behaviors and to monitor the ongoing impact of these positive changes in their lives. Each self- regulation exercise enhances an awareness of lifestyle choices and provides encouragement and direc-

References 1. McMullin R: Handbook of Cognitive

Therapy Techniques. New Yorh, WW Norton, 1986, pp 66, 150-152.

2. Rossi E: Psychobiology of Mind-Body Healing. New York, WW Norton, 1986, p 30.

3. Barber T: Training students to use self- suggestions for personal growth: Methods and word-by-word instructions. J Suggestive- Accelerative Learning and Teaching 1979; 2(4):112.

4. Davis M, Eshelman E, McKay M: Re- laxation and Stress Reduction Workbook. Richmond, Va, New Harbinger Publications, 1980, p 91.

5. Girdano D, Dusek D: Changing Health Behavior. Scottsdale, Ariz, Gorsuch Scarisbrick Publishers, 1988, p 135.

6. Curtis J , Detert R: How to Relax: A holistic approach to stress rnana,qernent. Lacrosse, Wisc, Mayfield Publishing, 1981, p 148.

7 . Ray S: I Deserve Love. Berkeley, Calif, Celestial Arts, 1976 pp 26-30.

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