Mighty me explained
Mighty Me is a well-established confidence-building group, aimed at supporting children in years 4-6 (aged 8-11 years old) to recognise and appreciate their Mighty qualities, challenge negative self-talk, and increase self-confidence. Our therapists run the group each term during the school year, in different local primary schools. The group runs for 6-8 children.
The group is a safe space for children to identify and recognise their strengths, and discover new, more positive, narratives about themselves. Mighty Me helps children to name and become more aware of their feelings, increasing emotional literacy and the ability to share challenges those around them.
The group aims to:
Increase children’s sense of competence, self-esteem and personal agency
Identify children’s strengths and skills
Highlight the child’s influence over common problems that bother them
Enable children to see themselves as separate from the problem.
Rediscover alternate stories about themselves, in which they are able to be resilient and able to overcome common problems
In the first couple of weeks our therapists encourage children to think about and notice all of their strengths and ‘Mighty Qualities’. Children are asked to create a ‘mighty self portrait’ to remind them of what makes them special and unique. Through concepts such as the Nasty Parrot and the Ally, children are introduced to the idea of negative and positive self-talk, helping them to challenge unhelpful voices and beliefs about themselves and develop a more positive self-view. Children also use the concept of the emotion x-ray machine, helping them to recognise, understand and reflect on the emotions they feel and why.
Mighty Me represents many things to many children, and every child will take what they need from the group. Children talk about how they feel more confident, and better able to understand and control their emotions after the course, which they say helps them in lots of way, such as having the confidence to put their hands up in class, and making friends as they can quieten the self-critical Nasty Parrot. They also talk about the importance of being able to identify their safe space, which can help them stay calm and sometimes even help them sleep better. Children feel able to speak more openly about their feelings, which we know can have longer term impact on emotional wellbeing.