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Healthcare Training Institute - Quality Education since 1979

Section 11
Track #11: Words that Heal

Table of Contents | NCCAP/NCTRC CE Booklet

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Note-Taking Exercise

Step 1. Create a short, clear, and specific affirmation:

Step 2. Phrase your affirmation in the present tense:

Step 3. Now, put your affirmation in very positive terms:

Step 4. Write an affirmation focusing on changing yourself, rather than someone else:

When would be a good time to write your affirmations?  After meditating?  After a long walk?  Make your plan below:

The eight steps to effective affirmations are:
1. Make your affirmations short, clear, and specific
2. Phrase them in the present tense
3. Put them in very positive terms
4. Don’t make affirmations about changing other people
5.Write your affirmations when you’re in a receptive state.
6. Keep your affirmations in handy places.
7.  Change or rewrite your affirmations as you see fit.
8.  Have fun with your affirmations, don’t make them a chore.

Transcript of Track 11

As you will note, this track is entitled “creating magic words.”  If you recall from track 9, we discussed Wendy the CNA that was to give the yarn winding activity to Effie, which you had left in Effie’s room.  When she did not do this, I suggested you treat Wendy or act as-if she would give Effie the yarn winding the next time.  In order to establish a positive connection between you and Wendy, I suggested you find something you liked or admired about Wendy, perhaps her hair.  Just before talking with her, you might say to yourself, “Gee, Wendy has great hair.”  Thus these words can act like magic to establish the building blocks of a positive rapport between you and Wendy by changing your focus and demeanor from negative frustration or even anger, to positive admiration.  This track provides more specifics regarding how to create additional positive self-talk messages.

As indicated in the preceding example, when you engage in positive self-talk, you can instantly reduce stress.  Also, as mentioned in Step 1 of solution-focused thinking, you focus on what you want to have happen.  Thus, your self-talk words have the power to not only describe what you want to have happen. But your self-talk words also have the power to prescribe what will happen.  In short, what you say to yourself about a CNA or administrator or director of nursing, elicits an emotional response within you.  Ask yourself.  Are your words a cure or a curse related to stresses in the facility?  Of course, you would like for them to be a cure, so let’s talk very specifically about how to create positive self-talk or affirmations.  Affirmations are positive self-talk phrases that are constructed in a manner to create positive thoughts and behaviors.

Here are eight steps to create effective affirmations or statements about what you want to have happen.  After each step a musical tone will sound indicating you are to turn your CD player off and do the activity suggested in creation of your own affirmation. 

Step one in creation of your affirmation is...  Make your affirmations short, clear, and specific. (For example, “I am a good manager of my activity department” or “I communicate clearly and professionally with my Administrator.” Or "I create ways for volunteers to flow easily towards my facility."  Or "I effectively create relationships with CNA's like, insert a name here, to conduct activities left in resident's rooms, insert a resident's name here.  Now you try.  MUSIC

Step 2.  Phrase your affirmation in the present tense. You want your affirmation to start taking effect today. For example, “I walk through the facility in a confident organized professional manner.”  MUSIC

Step 3.  Put your affirmations in very positive terms. For example, “I am a very caring person. I help others with kind words.”   Avoid words based on wish fulfillment, fear, or negativity.  For example, you do not want to say, "I hope ‘thus and so’ does not happen."  Or, "Please do not let ‘thus and so’ happen."  Instead, using positive terms, state, for example regarding documentation, "I create an organizational system to assure my Progress Notes are updated in a timely manner."  Now it's your turn to state an affirmation using positive terms and avoids word like not and no.  MUSIC

Step 4.   However, don’t make affirmations about changing other people.  For example, do not state, "I wish my Director of Nursing, CNA, Dietary Supervisor, etc would do ‘thus and so’ or be a certain way."  You cannot change others.  You can only change yourself.  Trying to change others only creates additional stress.  For this reason, direct the attention of your affirmation toward changing yourself.  For example, "I am able to effectively set limits with my alert, domineering residents, state names, who are constantly demanding Bingo."  Now it's your turn to state an affirmation focusing on yourself, and not trying to change someone else.  MUSIC

Step 5. Write your affirmations when you’re in a receptive state—after meditating or perhaps taking a nice long walk, if you can afford the luxury of the time to do so.  If you are in your car, and cannot write your affirmation down, when you hear the musical tone and turn your CD player off, repeat your affirmation several times to yourself.  MUSIC
Step 6.  Keep your affirmations in handy places.  Take them with you.  Repeat them often.  Keep in mind how long it took to create your negative thoughts.  The good news is, a few positive thoughts for only about 17 seconds can offset hundreds of negative thoughts.  So don't feel overwhelmed thinking that for every negative thought, you have to come up with an equal number of positive thoughts.
Step 7.  Change or rewrite your affirmations as you see fit. You may change your mind about a specific goal or need.
Step 8. Have fun with your affirmations; don’t make them a chore.

Here are some sample affirmations that you may want to use as a springboard for your own:
My body, mind, and spirit are joyful, happy, and energetic.
The child within embraces me.
I’m joyfully in the moment.
I enjoy others for who and for what they are.
I see the humor in myself.
I enjoy myself and others.
At work or at home I am healthy, happy, and fit.

Like other tracks in the two CD set it is hoped you will replay this track often so that the creation of affirmative statements as to what you want to have happen, become second nature.  Resources in the Selected Readings section of Your Instructor's Guide include, "The Power of Now," by Eckhart Tolle; "The Dark Side of the Light Chasers," by Debbie Ford; "Excuse Me, Your Life is Waiting, by Lynn Grabhorn,"  and "Five Good Minutes."