This is an incredibly helpful tool!!! Print it out to keep on hand.
49 Phrases to Calm an Anxious Child
Tag: anger
Teens and Anxiety Today
In case you have noticed this increasing trend and were wondering:
10 Reasons Teens Have So Much Anxiety Today
- Electronics offer an unhealthy escape
- Constant connection
- No delayed gratification
- Happiness is all the rage
- It is okay to feel other emotions!
- Parents are giving unrealistic praise
- The intention comes from a place of well-meaning, but this actually places pressure on children.
- Parents are getting caught up in the rat race
- Overscheduling children…it’s a thing.
- Kids are not learning emotional skills
- Parents view themselves as protectors rather than guides
- “Consequently, these kids have grown up to believe they are too fragile to cope with the realities of life.”
- Allow Children to Learn and Grow Through Risk
- Not knowing how to face fears
- Parents are parenting out of guilt and fear
- Kids are not being given enough free time to play
- Family hierarchies are out of whack
- As much as they push boundaries, children need/desire rules. They also need to know they can count on their parents to be leaders.
Teaching resiliency and gratitude can help children and teens combat against anxiety. As much as we want to protect them from hurt and pain, allow them to learn how to deal with these emotions under your guidance. They will be better for it in the long run.
Helping Children Manage Big Emotions
“The children who need love the most will always ask for it in the most unloving ways.”
Have you noticed this? Children also tend to act out with the ones they are closest to because that is their secure base. Youth who are acting in these ways can be feeling unloved, unwanted, not valuable, incapable, powerless, or hurt. Physical sensations can also contribute to these behaviors. Use the acronym HALT (hungry, angry, lonely, tired) to see if some of the child’s needs are not being met.
This article has great tips on how to help your child manage their big feelings such as anger including acknowledging, empathizing, and helping to develop problem-solving techniques: 10 Tips To Help Your Child With Anger. Remember, anger is a secondary emotion. “To defend against vulnerable feelings that he thinks will destroy him, he hardens his heart and clings to the anger as a defense.”
Calming Techniques
A lot of great options: 50 Calm-Down Techniques to Try with Kids!
Gain Happiness
Ten Ideas to Help Manage Anger
Anger is an emotion like happiness and sadness that varies in intensity and can be dealt with in different ways (mainly through expression, suppression, and calming). Expressing it through assertiveness is said to be the healthiest form of anger expression. Anger can be suppressed and then converted into more constructive behavior; however, this leads to the possibility of directing anger inward on yourself. Calming anger includes calming outward responses along with internal responses (such as heart rate). Unexpressed anger comes with its own set of problems, and uncontrolled anger can cause destructiveness in one’s life. Here are some ways to help manage anger: 10 tips to tame your temper.
Casey Mansfield 