Name of Activity: Picture A Stressed Person/ Picture A Calm Person

Type of modality / Stress Management/Psychoeducational
Picture A Stressed Person/ Picture A Calm Person
Type of play / Shared Cooperative
Interaction pattern / Intra- group (working together to picture these types of people)
# of participants required / 2+ on each team (doesn’t need to be teams
Equipment/supplies / Poster, markers (if posters are not self- stick, you will need tap or putty to hold against the wall if drawing standing)
Facilities required/environment / Walls or tables to write, an environment where everyone can express themselves
Precautions / People’s depictions of a stressed person or a calm person may be different so need to take in account the pictures may be different

Task Analysis

1. Ask group of people who feel stressed go to one side, people who aren’t stressed and feel calm to go to the other. (Unable to do this with specific groups- works best in an environment where people may be both stressed and calm)

2. Give each side a poster and markers to write with.

3. Ask each side to draw the person assigned (stressed or calm) and to describe what is going on with that person and why they feel those ways. All group participants should be encouraged to write down words and draw pictures representing how a person feels physically, emotionally, and mentally (their thoughts). For example, person can draw sweaty hands to demonstrate anxiety, or a person singing a song who is feeling calm.

4. After a certain time, have groups stop drawing and be ready to share. Select someone from each group to share their poster.

5. The person sharing tells the other side why the person they drew looks that way and what describes the way they are feeling.

6. Ask one person from each group to volunteer to “act out” (in actions or in words) a stressed or calm person, using some of the descriptions detailed on the posters created by each group. For example, if a group has drawn a heart beating fast, they would state, “ I’m so anxious my heart is racing”

7. You can then think of solutions and ways to help the stressed out person become more calm.

Activity Analysis

Category / Skills
Primary body position / Sitting, Standing
Part of the body required / Hands to write/draw.
Movement / Stretching (to reach poster), turning/twisting hands (to draw outline of a person) Grasp: Pincer Grasp, Grasp: 3- Jaw Chuck Grasp, Standing
Physical / Balance: dynamic sitting, Balance: dynamic standing, active range of motion to move and stretch, reach across poster. May need ability to bend if working at top and bottom of poster to draw or write
Cognitive / Attention: focused attention; arousal/ alertness; Attention: sharing attention; Concept formation; concentration; Initiation; insight; judgment; abstract thinking, organization and planning; reading; spelling; writing, an agreed strategy with the group members
Social / Conversation: Starting, sustaining, and ending; handling criticism; Heterogeneity; homogeneity; interpersonal interactions; regulating behavior; self- expression; social conduct; social cues; Showing tolerance; showing respect & warmth
Perception / Visual function, Auditory
Communication/language / Reception to spoken language, reception of written language, expression of written language, producing signs and symbols, producing body language, expression of spoken language, reception of signs and symbols, reception of body language
Self-care / n/a
Psychological/emotional (possible) / Frustration (working in group and not being able to express what you want on the poster), Joy (contributing to the poster), Anger (your ideas not represented on the poster)

SIMPLIFYING AND COMPLICATING THIS ACTIVITY:

Ways to SIMPLIFY demands / Ways to make more COMPLEX
Cognitively / The person’s body is already drawn on the poster- along with more complex symptoms/ signs so the clients only have to draw/ write the more known symptoms/ signs they may experience / Client has to create more of background on why the person is calm or stressed. (For example: Person is calm because they complete all their assignments in an orderly fashion).
Physically / Clients sit while creating the picture of the person. / Clients stand while creating the picture of the person.
Socially / Clients are in groups of 2-3 with people they are familiar with. / Clients are in bigger groups with strangers.

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