Set aside 10 to 15 minutes and instruct the student to quickly write down a messy list of everything that is nagging at her. No item should take more than a line or two; speed is paramount. This exercise is surprisingly therapeutic on its own, but its real value is twofold. It helps a student take a snapshot of the real and present stress factors in her life, and it creates a rough road map to peace of mind. The list indicates the areas in which it is most emotionally urgent for the student to set wise goals for resolution.
Help the student divide his life into various spheres, such as family, friends, school, hobbies and health. Create a chart in which each column represents one sphere and each row represents a time scale, with the longest scales at the top, such as one year, one semester, one month and one week. Starting with the top row and working down, help the student decide what he wants his life to look like in each of those spheres at the end of that time period. This works well as a follow-up to organize the Brain Dump activity's results.
When the student has defined what she wants her life to look like after a given time period, what remains is to clarify the steps toward that goal. First make sure each goal is concretely verifiable. Then begin to ask "What can I do to make this goal a reality?" For large goals, the first answers may be sub-goals. If so, continue to break them down until you find specific physical, visible actions you can take toward the goal. If you can't think of a concrete action step, the concrete action can always be to ask someone for guidance.
There is only a certain amount of action one can take in a single day. Facing this reality and deciding how much time is worth giving to different goals can help a student decide whether his goals are really achievable. Help the student decide which action steps are worth taking first when the resources are available. Forming a rigorous schedule for flexible personal goals may not be advisable. Instead, organize action steps in approximate order of importance so that when free time arises the student can use it in the ways that are most important.