Student time is a time of unforgettable adventures, new discoveries and falling in love. Along with the acquisition of fundamental knowledge, we make new friends, many of whom will remain with us for life.
For a more harmonious existence of the student group, you can use psychological games . This is a very effective tool in teaching work with students.
Such games are relevant both for freshmen, for the purpose of faster and better adaptation , and for senior students. Through the prism of gaming activities, it is easier for children to establish communication, resolve disagreements, learn to trust each other and develop communication skills.
- Identifying leadership qualities
- Involvement in general activities
- Emotional relief
- Creative self-realization
- Formation of new communication skills
- Formation of additional motivation for learning
The apparent simplicity of some games is a huge material for the work of a professional psychologist. Game analysis can solve many important problems:
- Determining the accentuations of a student’s personality development
- Identifying psychological problems and barriers
- Assistance in adaptation within the team
- Resolving and adjusting interpersonal conflicts
- Help and advice for teaching staff
Psychological games can be played both in the classroom and in informal settings at student gatherings and parties.
When are psychological exercises necessary?
Almost every person in different life situations needs to perform psychological exercises. Psychological trainings have a positive effect on the emotional state. They are helping:
- experience stressful situations less acutely;
- manage your fears, aggression, irritation, anxiety;
- easily cope with the difficulties of communication with other people;
- achieve your goals.
Psychological exercises allow you to understand your own personality (attitudes, goals, desires, limiting experiences and their causes).
You can perform the exercises independently, during an individual session with a psychologist or as part of a group training.
When it comes to individual work and group training, it is assumed that all participants will adhere to the following rules:
- do not criticize the person himself, but only give feedback on his actions that go beyond what is socially acceptable;
- be active - you need to do exercises, participate in games;
- absolute confidentiality - everything that happens during a training or session is not taken out the door; all participants do not have the right to disseminate information about what they heard and happened during work;
- here and now - it is necessary to complete all the tasks of the presenter at once, since they are necessary for work.
Psychological exercises, when working with a psychologist, while participating in a training, or when performed independently, give impetus to the active development of the individual. A person masters tools that help him achieve success in his career, personal relationships, and spiritual development.
The essence of team building training
Many managers consider it a pointless waste of time and money to conduct any kind of training. While their competitors, having united their subordinates, increase their profits many times over, only due to the positive atmosphere among employees.
It has been proven that training sessions:
- effectively build trusting relationships;
- indicate the importance of the personal contribution of each team member;
- reveal the importance of collective work based on cohesion;
- teach you to listen to everyone’s opinions;
- help newcomers adapt.
Interesting. Sociological studies have confirmed that the relationships between employees that have developed during interesting team building activities contribute to improving the quality of interaction, in contrast to those that develop at corporate events - such relationships, on the contrary, increase the time that employees spend on joint smoke breaks and tea breaks during working hours.
What does psychological training give to an athlete?
The psychological preparation of an athlete is no less important than daily hours of training in the gym, pool or stadium. The ability to manage emotions gives an athlete a huge advantage over his opponents. An athlete who regularly works with a specialist and performs psychological exercises is able to concentrate on the goal and is more resistant to stress. After psychotraining, athletes improve the accuracy of movements, the ability to optimally expend energy, and the ability to relax and restore energy in a short time.
As a result of psychotraining, athletes’ attention, perception, and reaction speed improve. The athlete becomes more confident in his abilities, his self-esteem grows.
Psychological training of an athlete is aimed at:
- increasing resistance to stress;
- mastering the ability to quickly relax and mobilize the body and psyche;
- increasing self-confidence through positive thinking and internal dialogues;
- improving the ability to concentrate and focus.
Psychological training allows you to increase motivation, teach you to visualize a goal and maintain attention on it until it is achieved.
Team building training for students
Training sessions for students are especially relevant in the first days of starting their studies. Many children come to study from other cities, have no friends, feel lonely, which makes the educational process especially difficult.
Team building for students
To achieve this, many universities hold student meetings in which teachers participate. It has been proven that after such events, classmates become closer together more easily, teachers are perceived positively, and educational activity increases.
Popular psychological exercises
In different areas of psychology, very effective training exercises are used to help cope with emotional instability and psychological discomfort that arises in difficult situations. We offer several effective techniques for independent study.
Exercise 1. Method of overcoming anxiety (Gestalt therapeutic technique)
To get rid of anxiety that worsens your quality of life, take a piece of paper and a pen. Ask yourself questions and write down the answers:
- Am I worried about my future?
- How does worry about the future affect my life today?
- Am I worried because the problem has no solution or am I just playing for time so as not to solve it?
- If the answer is “I’m stalling for time,” then why, why?
- Can I do what's bothering me right now?
If you answer yes to the last question, then write down what you need to implement your plans (agree on a meeting, make a plan).
Having put all the answers on paper, imagine that your experiences have become a reality right now. Try to describe your state in as much detail as possible when you think that the anxiety has already been realized. How are you feeling? What thoughts are in your head now? What are the sensations in the body?
Next, concentrate on what is happening around you. Try to catch all the sounds and smells that surround you, name the colors of the environment. Write down all your feelings, starting with the phrase: “I realize that...”
Listen to every part of your body. Write down all the sensations that arise in it, starting with the same phrase: “I realize...”
Consider whether you have “examined” all parts of the body. If there are ones that you did not take into account, repeat this part of the work and write down the sensations (usually people ignore sensations in the genital area). Repeat the “body audit” until you feel that your attention is not focused on the disturbing event, but has switched to another activity.
Exercise 2. Method of overcoming fear (according to Ellis)
Does your fear have no rational basis? Then try to laugh at him, “inflate” your fear to the point of absurdity. For example, if you are afraid that the guests will not like the dish you have prepared. They eat it, no one complains or spits it out, some even praise it and smack their lips. Are you still afraid? If not, then think about why it is so important for you to be sure that your dish will be approved?
Try to find the origins of your fear. Replace the irrational belief with one that matches your current reality. Stop the condemning or lecturing inner voice with your sober arguments.
Observe your fears, examine them carefully and understand how big or, conversely, insignificant they are. After that, ask yourself, is your fear still as bad as before, or has it changed?
Exercise 3. Method of increasing creative activity (according to D Scott)
You are faced with a problem for which you do not know the solution. Take a few clean sheets of paper and a pen. Write down all the thoughts that come to mind in connection with the problem. Select from them those that can be converted into solution options.
Select from the selected options the ones that you think are most suitable (at least 3). Rank them from best to worst. Select one or more solutions that may help solve your problem.
Exercise 4. Stress relief technique (according to K. Schreiner)
Clear your brain of thought debris. For this:
- Think about how you feel when you're stressed—are you covered in sweat or tense?
- You will feel the moment when you are at your most tense. Ask yourself: “Why, why am I working so hard? What does this tension give me?”
- Ask yourself: “What should I do to feel better?”
- Plunge into an even more tense state for a few minutes. Feel how much energy it takes.
- Answer: “Is such tension necessary? Does it benefit me? Do I want to get rid of him?”
- Realize that the demands you place on yourself that cause tension are driving you into despair.
- Sit or lie down comfortably. Imagine that your body, every cell of it is absolutely relaxed. They look like soft foam rubber or dough. Try to feel how it resonates in your body.
- Imagine that you are sweeping out of your brain all unnecessary beliefs, attitudes, words dropped by someone that have been stuck in your brain for a long time.
- Fill the free space with those settings that you consider useful and necessary for you.
After that, replace your requirements with preferences.
Exercise 5. Resolving stress using the “Swing” method (according to R. Bandler)
Sit comfortably, close your eyes. Imagine what you have in your hands from a photograph. One depicts an unpleasant situation for you in gray tones with a blurry image, and the other depicts a comfortable, bright, clear one. Looking at the second photo you feel warmth, joy, happiness.
With lightning speed, lower the first photo and place it on your lap, and raise the bright, pleasant photo to eye level. Repeat this mental “waving” with replacement images until you feel that the tension from stress has decreased.
Exercise 6. Correcting negative behavior through self-analysis (according to Raywater)
This technique must be carried out in a calm environment, alone. The purpose of the technique is to “disconnect” from your thoughts, bodily manifestations and look at them from the outside, without changing anything.
- Concentrate on your body - think about what position it is in, relaxed or tense, how your arms and legs are positioned, what position your head and back are in. What do you feel inside - warmth, cold or other sensations. Listen to how your heart beats, how you breathe. Mentally say: “This is my body, it is not me.”
- Focus on your feelings - what you are experiencing now, discover the positive and negative feelings, separate them. Tell yourself, “These are my feelings, not me.”
- List everything you would like, what you are striving for. Don't think about their importance and priority. Say to yourself: “These are my desires. It's not me".
- Concentrate on your thoughts. If it seems to you that at this very moment there are no thoughts in your head, observe this thought. If thoughts quickly replace each other, observe them. Say, “These are my thoughts. It's not me".
This self-correction technique was developed in the modality of psychosynthesis. It gives you the opportunity to deeply understand your own personality, learn to control emotions, thoughts, and reactions.
3 possible ways to influence a person’s condition:
- changes in skeletal muscle tone, breathing;
- active inclusion of ideas and sensory images;
- programming and regulating words.
Exercise 7. Who am I? (according to T. Yeowman)
Another exercise from psychosynthesis. Its goal is to develop self-awareness and identify one’s true self. To perform the exercise efficiently, you need to be in silence and solitude and fully concentrate on the task.
- Ask yourself the question: “Who am I?” Give your answer based only on your own knowledge about yourself, thoughts and feelings. Don't think about what other people think about you. Write down the answer to the question.
- Close your eyes and ask again: “Who am I?” Draw a mental image, open your eyes, describe it as accurately as possible.
- Stand in the center of the room, close your eyes. Ask yourself: “Who am I?” Feel how this question resonates in your body. Don't control your bodily reactions, don't change them, just trust your feelings. Remember what you feel, what movements occur.
Analyze your bodily sensations, your thoughts and the image that you described. Now give again the answer to the question: “So who am I?”
Exercise 8. Dialogue with yourself for the purpose of emergency self-help (According to M. Sandomirsky)
The purpose of this technique is to quickly help yourself at the moment of intense discomfort in the body and emotions. Do the exercise slowly, in a calm environment.
- Close your eyes and imagine that you are standing in front of a mirror. What do you look like in a tense moment? How does discomfort show on your face?
- Concentrate on your bodily sensations. Find areas in the body where discomfort is felt especially acute.
- Say words to yourself that can calm you down, cheer you up, give you a sense of support, raise your self-esteem, and stop anxiety. Put as much strength and emotionality into your words as necessary to restore your mental and physical comfort.
- Again, feel how your body reacts. If what is said has reached its goal, then the physical discomfort will ease. If it does not weaken, then repeat the spoken supporting phrase 3 more times.
If necessary, the self-help technique can be performed several times in a row until the physical and emotional discomfort subsides.
The exercises that you have become familiar with make it possible to independently regulate your emotional state, relieve fear, and reduce anxiety. Practice them to become stronger and more confident.
Irina Sherbul
Why team building trainings?
Personal growth training - what is it?
Team training is necessary to achieve cohesion in the business. By realizing the commonality of goals and learning to interact, a friendly team will be able to achieve better results. After successfully conducted training, the organization receives a single hardworking organism represented by a group of employees. Properly conducted trainings successfully replace competition with cooperation within the team.
Friendly cooperation
Usually, after several lessons, beginners are no longer afraid or ashamed to ask questions to more experienced specialists, who are now more willing and more intelligible in suggesting useful information to inexperienced colleagues. Team building is more effective if the highest-ranking official does not ignore the training. By participating on an equal basis with ordinary specialists, the leader turns into a positive hero and is no longer associated with control, punishment and a source of nervous tension. Having united into a team, everyone now understands the tasks of the individual member, including the boss.
Afterword
Socio-psychological training increases the socio-psychological competence of the individual through the development of specific (goal, objectives and topic of the training) competencies. Training can be considered both as a method of group counseling and as a method of influencing an individual (team) with the aim of changing the team, the characteristics of behavior and thinking of the individual.
Competence in communication and social interaction is one of the most important. Therefore, socio-psychological trainings are used in the training of doctors, teachers, psychologists, executives, managers and other specialists whose profession is associated with daily social contacts. Trainings help to form “social immunity”.
What should be the result
Experienced specialists began to introduce the “gift” exercise at the end of each training. To complete it, you are asked to draw, sculpt or cut something as a gift to someone from the group of participants. Usually the one sitting in a circle on the left gives a gift to the one sitting on his right. The purpose of this exercise is to leave everyone with some symbol of team unity. Participants can each place crafts at their workplace or create a museum of gifts that will remind them of how many trainings were conducted in the team, and how much useful they brought to the work environment.
The result is unity
Determining the results of properly conducted training will not take long to arrive. The very next day, the manager will notice more smiles from his subordinates and will feel a light atmosphere of healthy communication within the walls of the organization. Structures that communicate little with each other, having learned a lot of useful information about each other’s functions, now communicate without fear, share information, and actively interact. A wise manager will not waste his budget on useless corporate events, but will hire a competent psychologist to unite the team and improve the climate within the company.
Team building tasks for teenagers
Adolescence is a difficult period in everyone's life. Unlike adults, teenagers perceive everything much more sharply; they are characterized by maximalism; hormonal changes make unsettled characters also aggressive. Classes with teenagers should be conducted by a qualified psychologist with experience in this age category.
The emphasis is usually on creative exercises that force children to think outside the box. For example, ask you to think about how you can use this or that familiar object in everyday life, excluding its direct purpose.
The best way to resolve possible conflicts and bring teenagers closer together is sports. Team building can involve active games in the fresh air. This way, enough energy will be spent, and the team spirit will be present.
