Coping Skills Group: Self-Efficacy

Session 5

Goal: Students will identify and create their own sources of encouragement to tackle
challenges, tasks, and goals. Students will nurture a positive view of themselves and
their abilities.

Round: What is a character trait you are most proud of?

Teach: Self-efficacy is a person’s belief in his or her ability to succeed in a particular

situation (Cherry, 2017). It requires the skills to organize and execute a plan of action in
various situations.

Strong Sense of Self-Efficacy Weak Sense of Self-Efficacy

View challenging problems as tasks to be Avoid challenging tasks

mastered

Develop deeper interest in activities in Believe challenging tasks and situations

which they participate are beyond their capabilities

Form a stronger sense of commitment to Focus on personal failings and negative

interests and activities outcomes

Recover quickly from setbacks and Quickly lose confidence in personal

disappointments abilities

Ask: What kinds of situations do you feel you aren’t very successful at? What thoughts
go through your mind and what do you do about it?

Activity:

Play: Walk the Bridge Activity (Bray & McClaskey, 2016).

Lay out a paper bridge just like the picture. Have note cards describing the behaviors of
each category. As a group, identify areas that are challenging: academic, social,
interpersonal, intrapersonal, family, etc. Each group member will identify where they
are on the bridge and what they will do to get to the next level.

Closing: What did you learn about yourself from this activity?