The Decider Skills
As part of our whole school approach to mental health and wellbeing, the Healthy Minds Team deliver the “Decider Skills” programme. The “Decider Skills” programme is based on principles of Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) and Dialectical Behavioural therapy (DBT) and aims to teach 12 skills to enable children and young people to recognise their thoughts, feelings, and behaviours, enabling them to monitor and manage their own emotions and mental health. The Decider Skills programme aims to increase resilience and reduce impulsivity, which improves the ability to regulate emotions. The children will be introduced to 2 skills per week and will be encouraged to practise each skill within school.
What will it look like?
The Decider Skills programme is delivered to a group of children. It will take place within school across 6 weeks. The sessions will be interactive, using creative and fun methods, to encourage and support learning.
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The STOPP Skill
Stop Take a breath Observe Pull back: Put in some perspective Practise and proceed
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This is the first and most important skill of The Decider. It puts the space between stimulus and response. It needs to be used as soon as you start to notice THE FIZZ (physical/body feelings). Each of The Decider Skills fit into one of the steps of STOPP.
Take a Breath - this is the brain's reset mechanism - thinking about your breathing shifts your focus of attention calming down emotional brain, and taking deep breaths calms down your physical response to emotion, calming the body. This enables your thinking brain - the pre-frontal cortex - to come back online resulting in clearer more rational thinking. |
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The Fizz
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THE FIZZ is the way we talk about the PHYSical sensations of emotion. It is helpful to learn about our own reactions to emotion and how that feels in our bodies. As we can learn to recognise those feelings, we can act quickly to use the skills to reduce the emotion and help us make wise choices. Examples of the fizz: fast heart, quick breathing and sweaty. |
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It Will Pass
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The It Will Pass skill helps us to accept that sometimes we cannot change a situation, and all we can do is to keep going. By imagining we are travelling through a tunnel, accept that it is as it is, and we will come out the other side. The emotion will pass. |
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Right Now
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The Right Now skill is a grounding and mindful technique when we use the senses. It is also effective when we think of anything that changes our focus of attention. 5 things you can see… 4 things you can feel/touch… 3 things you can hear… 2 things you can smell… 1 thing you can taste… |
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Name the Emotion
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The Name the Emotion skill helps us to identify the emotion we are feeling, and then choose to re-act positively. We all feel different emotions and this is NORMAL – being able to name the emotion helps us to decide how to respond or react. Every emotion carries an urge to act. |
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Opposite Action
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Emotions can cause us to respond physically and impulsively. Different emotions cause different responses and impulses. The Opposite Action skill encourages us to do the opposite to our emotional urge to react. For example: shouting at someone when we are angry – instead we can practise talking calmly. |
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Fact or Opinion
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During times of stress, we can be affected by powerful emotions. Our strong emotions reinforce our opinions, which in turn, intensify our emotions and generate a powerful response. This can lead to impulsive actions which result in unhelpful longer-term consequences and this maintains the vicious cycle. If we are having a powerful or extreme emotional response to something, it can be helpful to ask ourselves whether what we are thinking is FACT or OPINION. For example: a friend walks past without saying hello, we might think, ‘They mustn’t be my friend anymore!’ We may feel angry and upset. Yet this is only our opinion; this is not fact. Our friend has not told us they are angry with us - they may simply not have seen us or have a lot on their mind.
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SELF-care
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SELF-care reminds us what we need to do regularly to keep our minds and bodies healthy. SELF care skill strengthens us and helps us to cope with life’s challenges. Just like a battery, we need to keep ourselves charged up by doing activities which energise us. Sleep Eating habits Look at other factors Find fun, achievement & connect with others every day. |
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Values
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Values are the things that really matter to us. They are the direction we have decided that we want to travel in our life. Goals are the things we achieve along the way. Knowing our values helps to guide us and helps us make decisions, big and small. Working in the service of our values gives our life meaning and purpose. When we are not following our values, we feel uncomfortable inside. Our ‘internal compass’, lets us know that we have strayed off course. For example: if eating healthily is important to me and I eat 10 bags of crisps followed by 5 chocolate bars - I will not only feel sick but will probably feel upset and disappointed that I did not follow my value of healthy eating. |
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Listen
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The Listen skill encourages us to pay attention very carefully to what the other person is saying. It is easy to get distracted by things going on around you or what you think you heard them say. This can sometimes lead to misunderstandings and mistakes. |
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Respect
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Respect is about valuing other people and ourselves and treating others as we would like to be treated. Respect demonstrates positive feelings and kind regard for ourselves, other people, property, places, the environment, animals, cultures, values and qualities. |
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Crystal Clear
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Crystal Clear is useful when we want to express ourselves in a clear and effective way. If we want to be listened to and understood, we need to communicate clearly, rather than giving hints or mixed messages in the hope that others will guess the hidden meanings. |
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Reflect
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We have the ability to reflect and look back on things we do and say. We can learn from our past and make changes in the future. A continuous process of looking back, thinking about things, and making positive changes for the future is really helpful. |
Ways you can support at home:
You can download the Decider Skills app for free. The app has useful videos and prompts as to how to use each skill. Alternatively, you can find out more information about Decider skills on www.
Watch the video below for more information:
