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Creative Interventions and Activities Clearinghouse

Heart Talk: A Self Awareness Group Activity
Patricia Johnson
gpjohnston@ysu.edu

Purpose:
The purpose of this creative intervention is to give group members the opportunity to express caring and self
awareness, and to sharpen listening skills.

Materials Needed:
Construction paper; scissors; pens or markers

Procedures:
One group member, or the counselor, cuts a piece of construction paper in the shape of a heart and writes in the
following partial sentences:
• I feel angry when...
• I hate it when...
• I feel unhappy when...
• I feel jealous when...
• I wish I didn’t have to...
• I don’t like it when I have to...
• I don’t like when (name the person) tell me...
• Something I’d like to change is...
• If I were (name the person) I would...
• I feel like no one loves me when...
The group members pass the heart. The counselor models a sentence to share feelings responsibly and passes
the heart to a group member. The group member chooses one partial sentence from the list, says it out loud and
completes it while everyone else listens. The group member passes the heart to the next person and so on, until
everyone has had a chance to complete the phrase. Select another member and another phrase and repeat as
many times as necessary.

Process Questions and Follow-Up:

After the activity is complete, process feelings and statements at a deeper level, if possible. Invite members to
repeat at least one thing they heard and connected with during the exercise.

Practice Setting:
School