Step Into My Sessions: Helping students move beyond binary thinking
Once you have the idea, going freeform is easy!
In 2025, I have been speaking and writing a lot about SocialScales.
I have been impressed at how creative many clinicians have become at adapting SocialScales to fit, well, so many different concepts and occasions. Even though the colors of SocialScales are, I think, pretty fetching, they aren’t the crucial elements. What’s important is helping our students move away from binary thinking and using their own words to identify possibilities.
Exploring non-binary thinking with SocialScales
Last week, a middle school group was discussing crushes. 🤭 As I listened in, I heard them talking in terms of “they don’t like me” and “they like me.” We’ve worked with SocialScales many times, so while they worked putting a puzzle together as they talked, I quickly put the two statements up on the board and asked – “What might go in the middle?”
And, boom – we had a continuum – a more discrete way of thinking about how much someone might like someone else. My running for my computer to get SocialScales would have disrupted the discussion, so, no need to go “fancy” – just getting the info up there was what was important!
The conversation unfolded to the next important question: Do you tell your crush how you feel? 🤔
Once again, the group went right back to binary thinking – “tell” or “don’t tell.” I already had a marker in my hand, so I made another quick visual support, and, yes, asked the same question: “What might go in the middle?” They quickly started tossing out ideas –
💠“Well, you could wait and see for a couple weeks.”
💠 “You could maybe hint a little, without telling EVERYTHING.”
💠 “You might want to go slow and see how they react to you.”
Then, the student who had brought the discussion up started thoughtfully trying out possible decisions – “Well, I think I will wait the week out and see how it goes on the field trip next week.” 🛣️
Already considering options, and recognizing that, like with much in life, there were a range of possibilities to consider.
Whether you are working this summer ☀️ in a clinic or private practice, putting in hours at your school site, or just thinking about returning to work in August every now and then, SocialScales offers a fresh, visual way to support social growth—and students respond well to it. They find it approachable, appreciate how it respects their voice, and feel more ownership in their learning. I’d love for you to take a look! 🔍
I hope you are all having a refreshing summer!!
