Martin’s Three Treasures: a story to work with emotions

This story is a tool for working on children's emotions.

More and more importance is given to emotional education, that is to say, to encourage the emotional intelligence of children, teaching them how to identify and manage their emotions.that is, fostering emotional intelligence in children, teaching them how to identify and manage their emotions. However, parents and educators do not have many tools at their disposal to teach children emotional intelligence.

Martin's Three Treasures is a simple therapeutic storythrough which three emotions can be worked on: sadness, anger and fear.

Why is it so important to teach children to manage their emotions?

Because children who know how to regulate themselves will become psychologically healthier young people and adults. It would be wonderful if schools also had subjects on emotional education. Therefore, the main reason I wrote the story was to teach emotional regulation strategies to parents, teachers and psychologists. to teach emotional regulation strategies to parents, teachers and psychologists, who can use it in their consultations and workshops.who can use it in their consultations and workshops.

How does the story work on anger?

In the story, the dwarfs in the forest give Martin a feather to blow every time he feels angry: The treasure of the feather. The feather itself has no power to regulate anger, but the process of using the treasure does.

First of all, Martin has to go get the feather. The fact that he realizes that he has to fetch it is already a very positive change, as he gradually becomes aware of the emotion. This point is important because it helps the child to identify his anger. Be aware that when you get angry, internally you are changing: you speed up, get hot and feel tension. This is already the first step to change it.

Subsequently, repeating to himself the little note left next to the pen: "When your calmness goes, blow out the pen with gusto" is a positive self-instruction. It helps Martin verbalize the process and cut through the mental content of the anger.

Finally, set about "blow on the feather five times slowly and see how it moves". This helps to divert attention away from the object of anger and to activate the parasympathetic nervous system. and to activate the parasympathetic nervous system through deep breathing. The child will gradually notice that he or she is calming down.

We are also gaining time for the anger curve to descend and the child's emotion to lose intensity. The child will be able to calm down and then give an assertive response..

How does the story work on sadness?

The second treasure that the dwarves give Martin is a stone in the shape of a ladybug, which they named: "Maryquitapenas".

With this treasure we are giving the child the opportunity to express and share his sorrows with his parents. Let's think that emotions, both positive and negative, are normal. One of the mistakes many parents make is not tolerating their children expressing sadness. They do everything they can to prevent their children from crying and when they do, they try to stop the crying as soon as possible.

With this kind of actions, the message the child receives is: "I don't allow you to be sad", "being sad is not good, you have to be happy". Once the child is already Once the child feels comfortable to express his/her sorrows without feeling judgedOnce the child feels comfortable to express his/her sorrows without being judged, you can suggest that he/she look for ways to feel better and solutions to his/her sorrows. If necessary, we can help him, but never minimizing his emotion.

How does the story work on fear?

The third treasure is an amulet with which the child can face what he fears: "The golden almond".

My son, for example, used to say that he put his fear inside the almond and it swallowed it. That symbolism helped him to endure a little bit more each day alone in his room, until he alone in his room, until he finally got used to it and lost his fear of sleeping alone.

Other children say that the almond gives them a superpower that is transmitted through the pores of its shell. Each child will give its own interpretation. The important thing is that this treasure allows him to face his fear. The self-instruction: "When fear approaches, grab the almond tightly" is a message that helps to focus on embracing fear, rather than shaking it off.

Here what I wanted to work on is the idea that when we fear a situation, when we face it we do not face it without fear, but with it. The idea is to embrace the fear until it disappears. Therefore, do not expect that on the first day your child will be able to cope with the situation successfully. At first they will have the attitude of wanting to do it, then they will try it and after several attempts they will gain confidence until they succeed..

To buy the story you can do it through the website of the Instituto de Psicologia Psicode.