I would like to take Elkind’s concept of the adolescent personal fable a step further to include the stories about themselves that they tell other people. This aspect of the personal fable is a person’s own made up story about his life or some aspect of his life. This always comes from a place of insecurity within the person. This can be common during the early adolescent years; however, it is likely to carry over well into the late adolescent years and even into the adult years if the adolescent does not begin to develop a healthy sense of high self-esteem and realistic true sense of self. For example, countless times when I was working as a school psychologist, I would have a child come in for his weekly appointment. I would smile and …show more content…
Hurt teens will have personal fables. When working with hurt teens, it is important to recognize their personal fables and help the teen see himself in a more honest way. Also, the main ingredient of working with hurt teens is helping them to develop a healthy, true sense of self. This will be an outgrowth of helping the teen build his self – esteem. As the teen’s self – esteem is enhanced, his personal fables will begin to fade – it’s automatic. Behavioral Indicators of Self Esteem There is a high correlation between Personal Fables and self – esteem. There is also a high correlation between high self – esteem and an emerging true sense of self. In order to have hopes of an adolescent growing into a true sense of self, it is important to understand his level of self-esteem. Positive Indicators of high self – esteem Based on my own clinical observation, I have found the following traits to be associated with teenagers who have high self-esteem. • Expresses opinions with confidence • Uses voice tone and language appropriate for the