Student | Teen Program Outline

Mrs. Marks, a youth counselor often works with teenagers who are discouraged and struggling with low self-esteem.

A teacher referred Tyron, a junior, to Mrs. Marks. The teacher noted that recently Tyron had stopped participating in class, was withdrawn, and discouraged.

A major problem for Mrs. Marks is that most teens come to only two or three sessions. She wanted a way to quickly build a relationship with Tyron and give him a motive to continue the sessions.

Mrs. Marks used student/teen version of the INSIGHT Inventory with its positive wording as one of her key tools to open up communications.

In their initial meeting, Mrs. Marks talked with Tyron and he shared that he was feeling unpopular with his classmates and had very low self-esteem. She had Tyron complete the INSIGHT Inventory and score his own results.

Mrs. Marks had time to give him an overview of the results and begin to highlight many of his personality traits as definite strengths. It was clear that Tyron was beginning to see his characteristics as assets and explore the many negative ways he had learned to see himself and compare himself to others.

An important breakthrough came when Mrs. Marks went over the section on how Tyron could “flex” or temporarily change his style to communicate better in certain situations.

To quickly establish good communication and an open dialogue, use the INSIGHT Inventory to create a positive environment.