Self-instruction Training: What Does It Consist Of?

More and more children are being detected in the classroom or in consultation with problems related to self-control, impulsivity, emotional regulation or anger management. It is not easy to find a suitable treatment for each case, but it is far from impossible.

Psychology provides us with great tools and resources to travel with the child on their way to optimal development, and to do so in a more bearable way. One of these tools is Donald Meichenbaum’s Self-Instruction Training.

This technique consists of five well differentiated phases that will allow us to accompany the child when it comes to improving their attention, establishing or consolidating certain behaviors and tasks or reducing their impulsiveness, among other possibilities. Do you want to know how we can apply this training? For which problems and disorders can it be useful? So keep reading!

Self-instruction training: what does it consist of?

Meichenbaum’s (1977) self-instruction training is a psychoeducational technique that the Canadian psychologist Donald Meichenbaum developed taking the influences of Luria and Vygotsky, authors who suggested that language was the regulator of behavior.

The objective of this technique is to produce a change in the patient’s self-verbalizations (which he emits in any task or problem) to generate changes in manifest behavior.

How does the technique work? Broadly speaking, since the objective will be to modify the target behavior (that is, the behavior that we want to emit or enhance in the patient), it will be necessary to analyze the sequence of responses and automatic thoughts that make it up and “de-automate” the behavior using mediators verbal, that is, the so-called self-instructions.

What are self-instructions?

Self-instructions can also be called self-verbalizations and are the fundamental tool for speaking to ourselves through an internal (or external) dialogue.

Thus, it is a series of thoughts, ideas or steps that the person verbalizes (or thinks) to reach a goal or complete a task. In other words: they  constitute guidelines that guide us and help us to solve tasks autonomously.

What is it for?

Meichenbaum’s self-instruction training (as well as isolated self-instructions) can be used in both children and adolescents as well as in adults, although it is used mainly in children in order to establish / consolidate behaviors and work on issues of self-control and impulsivity, among others ( as discussed below).

In this sense, self-instruction is a fairly effective technique to promote attention, reduce impulsivity and hyperactivity, control anger, and improve organizational and planning skills. That is why they are frequently used in disorders such as ADHD (attention deficit hyperactivity disorder).

What is your procedure?

According to the manual by Caballo and Simón (2002), the Meichenbaum self-instruction training procedure consists of five well differentiated phases. They are as follows:

1. Cognitive modeling

In the first phase or stage of training,  the therapist acts as a role model. How? Perform a specific task while speaking the self-talk aloud. That is, he says the steps he takes out loud, while exposing the doubts that may arise in the child or adult. He also comments on the strategies used (preferably at the end of the task).

In short: the therapist acts while “thinking aloud.” The task or conduct performed (specified at the beginning with the patient), can be of any type. Examples of these can be: preparing the backpack to go to school (in children) or brushing the teeth.

2. External guide out loud

In the second phase of self-instruction training, the therapist (or adult) talks while the child acts. That is, the adult verbalizes the self-instructions of the action while the child (or patient) executes the behavior or task.

3. Loud self-instruction

In this third phase of the technique, the adult is relegated to the background, and the patient takes center stage. Thus, the child (or adult patient) speaks aloud (verbalizing the self-instructions) while acting / performing the task. That is to say, it is here when the child already begins to execute his own behavior.

What steps or phrases (self-instructions) will the patient issue? The same ones that the therapist emitted in the previous phases (and that are delimited at the beginning). This is a phase where the child is likely to need help (since it is not easy for him to remember everything exactly and in the same order), so he should be instructed little by little so that he acquires autonomy and security personal.

4. Masked self-instructions

The masked self-instructions of self-instruction training, also called “quiet self-instructions,” involve whispering while acting (an action that the patient will continue to perform).

5. Covert self-instructions

Finally, in the last phase of the training the child will think the self-instructions while executing the behavior. That is, it is about integrating these instructions and repeating them only mentally. In this last phase, the child must be able to generate his own guiding thoughts (self-instructions) in a mental way.

Procedure in children

Although the described stages of the Meichenbaum self-instruction training can be generalized to childhood, adolescence and adults, the procedure in children can still be further specified / complemented, through the following points or stages:

• Define the problem. What happen? What do we want to change? What behavior do we want to achieve?
• Answer guide. What steps (self-instructions) will we guide?
• Self reinforcement. Reinforce everything that is close to the desired behavior, as well as the steps to achieve it.
• Self-correction. Correct mistakes and instruct step by step in the desired behavior.

These steps will be carried out jointly: child with therapist or educator. Teamwork and therapeutic alliance here will be essential.

Disorders and problems where recommended

In what disorders or situations can we apply self-instruction training?

• Impulsivity and ADHD : ideal for reducing the impulsivity of ADHD (or isolated).

• Lack of self-control:  self-instructions allow to regulate behavior and sometimes even emotions.
• Learning disabilities: They are  also useful for working with children with disorders such as dyslexia, for example.
• Problems secondary to negative thoughts:  especially when the latter interfere with the performance of the task and generate anxiety.
• Others: it can also be used to increase interpersonal skills in the classroom, improve attention to the teacher and promote creativity.

The regulation of behavior

As we have seen, self-instruction training is a very useful tool for working with children who have difficulties in managing their behavior, as well as other problems related to impulsivity and self-control. In this way, we can apply this technique when the regulation of behavior fails, and when we want the child to enhance their self-control in order to self-regulate. In addition, it is a tool that will allow us to work on very specific behaviors step by step.

In this sense, self-regulation and self-control are two mechanisms that children acquire over time and that constitute two important milestones in their development. Thanks to these mechanisms, children learn to control their moments of anger, to listen to themselves and to regulate their emotions. This is not an easy path, but for this we can always opt for techniques such as the one presented, with the aim of benefiting the well-being of the child and enhancing their autonomy.