Managing Emotions in Kids and Teens: What You Need To Know
Navigating the demands of life transitions can be a complex and stressful situation for any individual. But for kids and teens going through developmental stages, their social and emotional needs become even more challenging. Their brains have yet to adapt as adults have; making them more vulnerable and susceptible to the world around them. So - lets explore managing emotions in young people and how we can support them to cope more effectively.
Recognising Emotions Must Come First
Kids and teens have a hard time identifying how they are feeling and how to appropriately express their feelings. Many adults may deem particular behaviours in young people as inappropriate, however, more often than not, young people simply don’t know what their emotions mean or how to process them safely and therefore - they react with challenging behaviour. For instance, if a child bites another child or an adolescent screams at someone, they might not understand why they reacted the way they did. They are unable to connect that their behaviour may have stemmed from an emotion, such as feeling stressed or overwhelmed.
Emotions are responsible for teaching us how to respond to a particular situation. Thus, it is fundamental for young people to manage their emotions by recognising them first, if kids and teens can tune into how emotions feel in their body, they are then able to process and cope with them differently. This becomes even more vital for young people who have experienced trauma or are displaying extremely challenging behaviours. Check out these resources I developed that support young people to recognise their emotions:
What I feel and Where I feel it
Why Young People Struggle with Emotions
Kids and teens have difficulty with emotions for different reasons, including stress, mental health concerns, trauma, loss of family or social connections, bullying and many other contributing factors.
Young people may feel sad, lonely or worried about their future and sometimes they may not always have a reason for why they feel a certain way, which is perfectly fine, too. Essentially, what is most important for young people is that they learn to recognise and confront their feelings to get the help that they need.
I’ve attached some links here to resources I’ve developed that help young people through the learning process, as it can be a challenging one:
The Significance of Confronting Emotions
Part of human nature is to experience an array of emotions, whether angry, happy, guilty, grateful, or annoyed. Still, it is common to want to ignore negative feelings, but avoiding them or pretending they don't exist is not a healthy coping mechanism. We want young people develop healthy coping strategies while they are young so they can take these skills into adulthood. Therefore, supporting young people to face their fears and their emotions, is a key to managing emotions in kids and teens.
Acknowledging fears doesn't mean having to confront them at all times, but exploring them further is essential. Through self-awareness, young people can understand why they feel the way they do. In addition, naming emotions can be very powerful and helpful when trying to reduce escalation cycles. Involving young people in this process through worksheets is an incredibly valuable way they can confront their emotions, take a look at the resources I have developed to further support this process:
My Emotions and How To Manage Them
I also have a range of journalling workbooks that are more suitable for teens:
Ways to Manage Emotions
Managing emotions in young people requires greater emotional awareness and appropriate coping skills to handle stress more effectively. Consider supporting kids and teens in the following ways:
Focus on feelings – Focusing inward throughout the day is a way to notice how one feels in various situations. For example, listening to music, laughing with a friend, or doing homework will evoke different feelings. Supporting young people to recognise how these emotions felt in their body and mind is paramount for this awareness. Mindfulness tools are great for this.
Rating Feelings – Once the emotion is acknowledged, rating it can help one better understand how they are affected by circumstances – whether they use an emotion thermometer or a 1-10 scale rating, ranging from milder feelings to stronger ones.
Sharing feelings – Having a trusted person to share positive or negative feelings with is a powerful way to put emotions into words.
Lastly, lets look at some resources to truly support the reflection process and planning of coping strategies to manage emotions:
Feelings Wheel Workbook (28 pages)
There Is No Such Thing as Bad Emotions
Although kids and teens will experience emotions considered negative, such as jealousy, anger and shame, there is no such thing as a bad emotion. Rather, the most important thing young people can do is to acknowledge how they are feeling without judgment. Young people need the support from the safe adults in their life to help with normalising all emotions and to help them to develop safe and positive coping strategies. This support can come from parents, caregivers, support workers, teachers, social workers, psychologists, counsellors and other safe adults in their life.
I’ve linked just a few of the many resources I have available at Make Life Rosie, so please explore further and get in touch with me via email at hello@makeliferosie.me if there is something in particular you are looking for. Please feel free to share your thoughts on this blog in the comments below!
Rosie 🌹
Emotions Resources For Kids and Teens