How to Build Self Esteem & Self Control in Juveniles

Anyone seeking to help juveniles with building self esteem and self control must have a basic understanding of effective coping skills, interventions, and behavioral techniques. They must be able to create and guide the juvenile through a treatment plan which serves as the temporal framework for mastering the coping skills and interventions, and do so using empathy, patience and encouragement. It is important to note that the juvenile will face setbacks when learning new methods of self-mastery, so it is important that care be taken to use behavioral techniques, such as rewards systems or incentive programs to provide the juvenile with external motivation to accomplish their goals when their internal motivation wanes.

Things You'll Need

• Book on coping skills and interventions for juveniles
• Book on the general principles of behaviorism
• Book on how to create a treatment plan
• Notebook and pen or computer

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Instructions

How to Build Self-Esteem & Self Control in Juveniles

• 1

  Gather all of the relevant books and materials needed to understand the coping skills, interventions, and behavioral techniques that will help a juvenile build self esteem and control. Do the research needed to create the treatment plan.

• 2

  Create the treatment plan using concepts, words, and examples that the juvenile understands. Clearly define goals which indicate behaviors that the juvenile will demonstrate when success has been obtained.

• 3

  Take note of behavioral strategies that can be used to reinforce the juvenile if/when they lose internal motivation while following the plan. An example would be to create a point-based reward system, or administering praise for the successful following of a task.

• 4

  Meet with the juvenile and present them with the treatment plan. Review it to make sure they understand all of the concepts and what is required in order to meet their goals. Determine duration of the plan, and the days and times that you will meet to work together. Make a best effort to show consistency by keeping all dates and calling in advance if you must reschedule.

• 5

  Work with the juvenile on the plan for the designated time period. Provide positive feedback for all effort and praise/rewards when goals are obtained, and encouragement and/or external motivators when faced with setbacks.

• 6

  At the end of the plan's designated time period, meet with the juvenile to evaluate their progress and revise the plan to focus on goals that have not been met, or new areas that may have surfaced. Repeat this process until the juvenile has developed the degree of self-esteem and self-control as stated in the treatment plan.