The Manual
will walk you through the CAT-kit elements using easy-to-read, user-friendly language. The fi rst part of the manual is an introduction to Cognitive Affective Training, while the second part is a practical introduction to each of the elements and how to effectively use them. The manual can be easily read in about 30 minutes, so you can begin using the kit immediately.

The CAT-organizer.
is a visual tool that helps structure a meaningful conversation with a student about behavior. It breaks the conversation down into several parts in order to facilitate a high level of understanding for both student and adult.

Nine Basic Feelings.
are presented: joy, sorrow, fear, love, anger, pride, shame, surprise, and safety, along with 10 sub-catagories of feelings under each basic feeling category, making 90 emotions available for students to choose from. There is a word-piece and a face-piece for each of the emotions, all affi xed with Velcro so they can be attached to The Measure tool to establish emotion intensity and The Day tool to establish time references. There are also blank pieces so students can write in other feelings or draw unique faces.

The Measure.
similar to a thermometer and divided into intervals from 0 to 10. Circles of Velcro are affixed at each interval so faces, feelings, words and other visual symbols can be applied. Using this tool, the user can communicate the intensity of their feelings, emotions and interests.

The Body.
is a simplified body figure used to facilitate conversations about the connections between thoughts/feelings and body/behavior. The student can identify where certain emotions affect them physically (e.g., perhaps a stomachache during anxiety, a headache during stress, etc.) and how they express those emotions with their body.  This knowledge can then lead to better control and/or prevention of those reactions through increased self-awareness which can promote better self-control.

My Circles.
works as a visual model on which the student’s relationships, friendships, and interests can be illustrated. The most elementary way of using My Circles is by writing the names of people who the student interacts with inside the fi ve levels of centrality: Circle 1 – me; Circle 2 – family, Circle 3 – friends; Circle 4 – professionals; Circle 5 – Strangers. This is a great tool for teaching appropriate social skills! You can teach Theory of Mind skills by placing someone else in Circle 1 and defi ning what their social circles may be. It can also be used to rank interests, events, and other concepts in an infi nite possibility of contexts.

Timetables.
help develop and support the concept of time. Using Day, Week and Year tools, students can place events in order and associate different emotions to those events. This can help the child understand how a person can be very happy and feel comfortable in one situation and then a second later become angry or sad. As part of the description of the events, the students can indicate the intensity of the feeling on the “Measure” tool while also showing the duration of the feeling on the “Day” tool.  Timetables can also be used to present daily, weekly or yearly schedules to students ahead of the event to avoid stress during times of change.

Behavior Palettes.
are charts that contain written descriptions of different behaviors, starting with the thoughts and feelings behind behaviors, and working up to the effects they may have on others. Four different types of behavior are presented within four colors: Red (outright aggressive), Yellow (passive aggressive), Grey (submissive) and Green (assertive). These tools promote understanding and help develop the student’s ability to self-regulate.

The Wheel.
is a visual personality organizer that promotes self-awareness. By using words, drawings, colors, or other symbols that work for the student, you can help create a customized refl ection of the student’s personality. Using The Wheel pie chart, each characteristic is drawn in as a different “piece” and named according to the child’s self-perception, externalizing internal traits. Parts may have different sizes to symbolize that traits may be stronger or weaker depending on how the student acts in different circumstances.

CAT-Book Labels.
are intended for the various do-it-yourself books that can be used in conjunction with the CAT-kit. A CAT-book may be a workbook, a notebook, a homemade book, or a binder with dividers and folders. There are two labels for each suggested book: a Feelings book, a Diary, a Success book and a book of Special Interests. These books are optional but are a great way to extend the effectiveness of the CAT-kit and allow the student to record ideas in unique ways.