Phrasal verbs: Psychology

With this ESL worksheet, students will learn phrasal verbs related to psychology. You can combine it with the  worksheets “Phrasal verbs: Emotions”, “Phrasal verbs: Happiness and well-being”, “Phrasal verbs: mental health”, “Idioms: kindness”, and “Idioms: Empathy and compassion”.

All the phrasal verbs are introduced through a dialogue which is an interview with a therapist. It is divided into 2 parts. In the first part, students see the phrasal verbs stem from, cope with, go through, snap out of, open up, bring up, talk through. They match the phrasal verbs to their definitions. To practise,students complete 7 questions with the correct phrasal verb and then ask and answer the questions with a partner.

In the second part of the interview, students see the rest of the phrasal verbs (shut down, bottle up, fall apart, numb out, work through). After matching the verbs to their definitions, students paraphrase 5 sentences, using the correct phrasal verb.

Next, students are given phrasal verbs and nouns and are asked to write 5 sentences, using a noun and a verb in each one.

The last 2 activities are focused on speaking: First, students are given 2 scenarios, as well as phrasal verbs they need to use. They are asked to choose 1 of the scenarios and create a dialogue. Finally, students are given 3 questions related to psychology and mental health to discuss.

For further speaking practice and to revise the phrasal verbs, you can use the conversation cards.