Meditation and Relaxation
The goal of this session is to engage the adolescent and his/her siblings in a relaxation activity in an effort to teach them how to incorporate relaxation into their lives as a stress-reduction tool. If the adolescent and his/her siblings are young (under 13), the session leader will guide them through a relaxation script for about 30 minutes, and then will have them engage in silent relaxation as they listen to relaxation CDs. Relaxation scripts may be taken from The Relaxation & Stress Reduction Workbook or The Anxiety & Phobia Workbook. If the adolescent and his/her siblings are older, the session leader may introduce them to mindfulness meditation and will teach them to cultivate non-judgment of the present moment. Mindfulness has been found to result in higher levels of well-being and lower levels of stress (Shapiro, Oman, Thoresen, Plante, & Flinders, 2008).