Phrasal Verbs: Mental Health

What is this lesson about?

This mental health phrasal verbs ESL lesson plan helps B1–B2 learners talk more naturally about emotions, stress, and resilience. Students explore everyday expressions such as bottle up, open up, calm down, burn out, cheer up, break down, shut down, and get over through dialogues, gap-fills, and reflective speaking activities that promote both fluency and emotional awareness.

What language will students learn?

Learners focus on eight essential phrasal verbs:

• bottle up – hide or suppress emotions

• open up – talk honestly about feelings

• calm down – relax or stop being upset

• burn out – become exhausted from overwork or stress

• cheer up – become happier

• break down – lose control of emotions and cry

• shut down – stop responding emotionally

• get over – recover from stress, illness, or heartbreak
  

How do students practise?

The lesson develops empathy and fluency step by step:

• Warm-up discussion questions about stress and coping.

• A short dialogue showing phrasal verbs in real-life context.

• Definition matching to clarify meanings.

• Sentence gap-fills to practise accuracy and reflection.

• Speaking tasks where learners discuss stress and resilience using the target verbs.

  
  

Why is this lesson useful?

By the end, learners can:

• Talk openly about mental health and emotional wellbeing.

• Use phrasal verbs fluently in supportive conversations.

• Share experiences and coping strategies naturally in English.

• Build confidence in both vocabulary and emotional expression.

  
  

Who is it for?

This mental health ESL lesson plan is designed for intermediate adult learners (B1–B2). It’s ideal for teachers who want to combine language fluency with self-reflection and wellbeing themes, whether teaching online or in the classroom.