Be Inspired – Motivational Tools for Pediatric Therapists | Your Therapy Source

Always Remember Brave Strong and Smart

During this age of social media, we are bombarded with inspirational messages of which some hit home more than others. I think this quote is perfect for pediatric therapists. As a profession, I think we live and breathe this everyday for the children and their families. When children want to achieve a certain skill (no matter how big or small) it is our job to teach and motivate them to reach their goals. Part of that job is encouraging children to believe in themselves and for us as therapists, teachers and parents to believe in their own abilities as well. To me this is the core of what we do – teach children to be just a little braver, stronger or smarter.

Think about it with some task analysis using some common therapy goals:

Walk across the room independently – the child needs to take the risk that he/she will not fall and get hurt (bravery), strengthen the trunk and legs to physically make it across the room and make choices about what obstacles to avoid (smarter).
Tie your shoes – the child has tried hundreds of time to tie his/her shoes and needs to be brave and try one more time to face that fear of failure, strengthen the fingers and hands to be able to physically pull the laces tight and must be able to sequence the order of shoe tying.
Pump a swing – have the courage to try and face the fear of falling off the swing, strengthen the arms, trunk and legs to hold on, balance and pump your legs and understand when to lean back and when to extend your legs.

I could go on and on with task analysis of almost every therapeutic goal. So remind the children that you work with of the wise words of Christopher Robin (aka A. A. Milne) – Always remember, you are braver than you believe, stronger than you seem and smarter than you think.

Check out some other motivational tools for pediatric therapists.