Does your kid get mad easily?

How to help your child manage anger before it takes over

Image from Unsplash

One of the hardest things that kids need to learn is how to feel angry without lashing out at others. That’s not easy, even for adults! When we feel frustrated and wronged, the steam comes pouring out of our ears, and it’s easy to say or do things we later regret.

Sure, we’ve all heard about the benefits of relaxation and deep breathing, but when we’re furious, we don’t want to do any of those things. If you’ve ever tried to tell an angry kid to take a deep breath, you know how well that tends to go over. (Not.)

The best time to deal with anger is actually BEFORE we hit the boiling point. Effective anger management often involves learning to think about things differently. 

Research tells us that kids (and adults) who get angry easily tend to assume that others did whatever they did out of deliberate meanness! Check out this video to see one way to address this. 

Want to learn even more about helping your child understand, cope with, and communicate about their emotions? Check out this online, recorded workshop: Emotion Coaching: Help Your Child Cope with Big Feelings. It will show you how you can help your child manage negative feelings AND enjoy more positive feelings. It draws from research plus my ​clinical experience helping hundreds of children and ​families.

This 48-minute online course (plus additional Q&A) is divided into bite-size two- to nine-minute sections, so you can watch it all at once or spread it out.

Paid subscribers get $20 off this workshop with a coupon code (valid until October 31st).

If you're not a paid subscriber, you can still get the workshop at the regular price.

Warm wishes,
Dr. Eileen

EileenKennedyMoore.com
DrFriendtastic.com/podcast  

Why should you trust me?

I’m a clinical psychologist and an author of many books for parents or kids about children’s feelings and friendships. I’m also a mom of four grown children. The resources I offer here draw from research as well as my experience helping hundreds of families in my practice.

Obviously, my workshops, podcast, books, videos, and articles are NOT psychotherapy. They're for educational purposes only about important topics facing families. The ideas mentioned may or may not be relevant for your particular situation. I trust you to use your judgment about what makes sense for your child and your family and to consult your physician or a mental health provider, if needed, about very serious or complicated situations.