Lucas Tames the Anger Dragon
Helping Children Recognize Anger
Knowing how our bodies react when we start to feel angry is important in being able to self-regulate. Here are some excellent tips to help children recognize when their frustration is taking over.
http://www.pbs.org/parents/expert-tips-advice/2016/02/teach-frustration-tolerance-kids/
Engaging with an Angry Child
Helping your child talk through anger can be difficult when you don’t know what questions to ask. Here is a list of questions to get you started.
http://developingminds.net.au/new-page/
From recognizing early warning signs to preventive maintenance for keeping angry outbursts away, this guide provides 10 excellent tips on helping your child through anger. http://www.ahaparenting.com/parenting-tools/emotional-intelligence/angry-child
Helping our children develop better responses to big emotions begins with controlling our own. http://empoweredtoconnect.org/learning-to-tame-big-feelings/
Techniques to Calm Anger
Explanations of several breathing techniques and their effects on mental and physical health.
http://www.npr.org/2010/12/06/131734718/just-breathe-body-has-a-built-in-stress-reliever
This article explores Stanford’s research on how breathing changes one’s mental state, citing studies and experiments which lead to the findings about why slower breathing helps us calm down.
https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/brain-waves/201704/the-inside-story-how-slow-breathing-calms-you-down
This article from American Psychological Association gives several physical and mental strategies for calming anger.
http://www.apa.org/helpcenter/controlling-anger.aspx
Anger Hides Other Emotions
It is common for kids, especially children with difficult backgrounds, to hide other feelings under outbursts of anger. This video helps explain why this happens and how to help children identify and articulate their underlying emotions. It speaks specifically to parents of foster and adopted children but is pertinent to all family structures.
http://empoweredtoconnect.org/when-sad-looks-mad/
Geared toward adults but also applicable to children, this article explores 10 emotions that may be hiding under anger.
http://www.bonvitastyle.com/feel-angry-time-10-things-may-hiding-behind-anger-tips