Lesson Plan

Lesson Plan Personal Growth Group Self-Talk and Self-Esteem (lesson title)
for

School Counselor: JJ Oden

Target Audience: College Students
Mindsets & Behaviors: M 1: Belief in development of whole self, including a healthy balance of
mental, social/emotional, and physical well-being.
(limit of three)
Lesson 5 Of 8

Learning Objective(s)/Competency
Students will: Learn some strategies for increasing their self-esteem.

Students will: Practice some of the strategies discussed to use outside of the group
setting.

Materials:
Activities for Higher Self-Esteem Handout
Automatic Thoughts Handout

Evidence Base:
 Best Practice: The activities in this lesson will give participants the ability to learn about and
practice strategies of better self-talk and holding themselves in higher esteem as a means
of emotional development.
Procedure:
Introduce:  Greetings for group

Ask the following discussion questions:

 How did last week go? What was an opportunity you had to
practice time-management techniques?
 What do you think of when you hear the term “self-esteem”?
How do you feel about this term?

Communicate The purpose of today’s lesson is to learn about and practice strategies
Lesson Objective: for better self-esteem and self-talk.
Teach Content: Higher Self-Esteem Handout: The counselor should pass out the handout
to each participant. After taking moment to walk them through it, the
counselor should ask the group the following questions:

 What are your thoughts about this list? How does it make you
feel?
 What are some of the items on the list that you already do?
 What items on the list may be hard for you to do?
 What are some items that were left off of the list that you think
could be helpful? How effective do you think they could be when
applied to your life?

Practice Content: Accepting Compliments Activity: The counselor will instruct the group to
split into pairs. Then, for a few minutes, the pairs will take turns
complimenting each other and accepting the compliment. After this has
been done for a few minutes, the counselor will ask the following
discussion questions:

 What was this activity like? How did you feel while doing it?
 How do you feel now, after having received several compliments?
 What were some difficult parts of this exercise?
 What was the most impactful compliment for you to receive?

Complimenting Self Activity: The counselor will have participants get out
a piece of paper. They will then be instructed to spend 5 minutes writing
out compliments to themselves. After the time has expired, the
counselor will ask the following discussion questions:

 What was it like to complete this activity? How do you feel about
yourself now as opposed to before the activity?
 What was a compliment you gave yourself that felt surprising?
 How easily would you be able to implement giving yourself a
compliment like these every day?

Thought Stopping Activity: The counselor will explain the importance of

stopping negative thoughts as they come into our heads and replacing
them with positive thoughts using a thought stopping analogy. The
counselor will then have participants think about regularly occurring
negative thoughts that they have about themselves and come up with
prepared responses to those thoughts. The participants will do this by
filling out the Automatic Thoughts Handout. After this is completed, the
counselor will ask the group the following questions:

 What was this activity like?

  How difficult would it be to implement what you did during this
activity?
 What is one of the triggers, thoughts, and responses that you
came up with that you feel comfortable sharing?
 How impactful will using a thought stopping technique like this be
for your self-esteem?
Summarize: The counselor will lead the group through the following questions:
 What was one interesting part of today’s session? What made
that so interesting?
 What is something that you learned today that you will be able to
use in this next week?

Close: Remind of confidentiality, next week we will be focusing on anxiety and

stress management as a form of emotional growth.

Data Collection Plan – For multiple lessons in a unit, this section only need be completed once
Participation Data: 
Anticipated number See Lesson 1 for below.
of students:
Planned length of
lesson(s):
Mindsets & Behaviors Data:
 Pre-test administered before first lesson
 Post-test administered after lesson (if standalone) or after last lesson of unit/group session 
 Pre-/post-assessment attached
Outcome Data: (choose one)
 Achievement (describe):
 Activities for Higher Self-Esteem
1. Don’t deflect compliments, accept them.
Lots of people have a tendency to deflect compliments that are sent their way, especially when
they do not feel they deserve it. The next time someone gives you a compliment, simply tell the other
person “thank you” and leave it at that. Accepting the compliments you are paid will help you to feel like
you are important to others, and it may help you to start viewing yourself in a higher light.

2. Use positive affirmations.

When you do something good, praise yourself! Not only will this reward you for a task well done,
but it will help you to feel better about yourself. When times get rough, saying positive things like “I can
do this,” or “I am competent” can help to change your outlook as well and turn that frown upside down!

3. Keep a self-esteem journal.

Keeping a journal about the good things you have done in the day, compliments you were given,
or good thoughts you have had about yourself will not only help you to think of those moments again, but
it will give you something permanent to look at when you are feeling down in the future.

4. Set a goal and work towards it.

Completing a task almost always makes us feel good. By setting a goal and working towards it
until completion, you are able to pat yourself on the back after its done and feel good about yourself. This
will naturally raise your mood for the day, and doing this enough can help to raise it for a longer time.

5. Exercise.
Not surprisingly, good exercise and healthy eating can help to keep us in a positive mood. When
we are working out, running, doing yoga, or even going for a walk, we are able to work a lot of the
negative stressors out of our systems. A healthy body is a healthy mind!

6. Practice mindfulness.
Much of the struggles we experience revolve around worrying about the future or regretting the
past. These events can lead to lower self-esteem in the present. Mindfulness focuses on remaining in the
present. Do a little simple math, and it is not hard to tell that practicing mindfulness can get you out of
your head and into the moment, keeping you from having those negative thoughts in the first place.

7. Use social media sparingly.

Social media can be a good thing, but many times our friends only post the best parts of their
lives on such websites. We never see the dirty, less fun parts that are never posted. While you may know
that as you scroll through Instagram or Facebook, it does not stop you from feeling like everyone else has
accomplished so much more than you. Close out of the socials from time to time, and you may start to
feel a lot better about yourself without much effort.

8. Compliment and reward yourself.

Taking the time to say something good about yourself when you have done good can go a long
way. Positive self-talk can easily lead to positive self-esteem. Then next time you notice something about
yourself that you like, verbally say it to yourself, out loud, and let yourself feel that compliment. We
spend the most time around ourselves, and we see all of the mess that goes on in our individual lives, so it
can be easy to get lost in the mire. Intentionally choosing to see the positives in ourselves is sometimes all
that is needed to pull us out of that muck.