Tim Brooks

Length: Approximately 30 minutes (longer if the activity fosters significant discussion)

Setting: Good icebreaker for a group, or rapport building with a therapist/mentor or with a parent who makes an effort not to be judgmental of the adolescent's choices.

Supplies: Magazines, scissors, glue, cardboard (it is best to have magazines with at least some pictures of people with similar attributes of the teenager).

Purpose: To help teenagers become more self-aware, and more comfortable with their opinions about themselves and how they fit into the world.

Activity: Let the teenager know you would like to do something that let's you get to know them better. Then instruct them to cut out any pictures, words, or phrases that they think would describe their interests, their dreams, or their goals. Paste the pictures on the cardboard to make a collage. After they have completed the collage, ask them to explain all the contents to you.

Notes: It is important not to criticize or make judgments about the contents of the collage. However, this is an opportunity to gather information that can be used in later discussions. Sometimes current behaviors do not match the goals that the teenager discussed or the teenager is having a hard time deciding something. You can use this exercise as a reference point (i.e. "when you were telling me about yourself with the collage that you made, you said _______. I wonder how (behavior/thoughts) fits into those goals/ideas about yourself").

Warning: The only problem with this exercise is the magazines themselves. The people in magazines tend to be models with airbrushed pictures. Teen girls can have issues about their body image, and magazines seem to prey on this at times. Try to consider this when collecting magazines and be prepared to discuss the difference between real life and how things are presented in magazines. If this leads to a discussion about how we perceive ourselves in relation to the 'ideal' presented in the media that is great.