Written by Jennifer Cox LCPC
Children can learn to identify and recognize their emotions and choose how they wish to respond. It can happen!
Here are some ways to get your children recognizing, understanding, and responding to their emotions:
- Talk about your emotions and their feelings during difficult situations
- Letting them know asking for help is a strength, not a weakness. Help them learn:
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- How to recognize when to ask for help, by the way their body feels and the thoughts they are having
- When they might need help and what they might need, offering examples and ideas
- How and who to ask for support
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- Demonstrate and teach good emotional regulation – Even by identifying your own struggles
- By learning what they expect from others and what is expected of them can help manage emotions and resulting behavior
- Trying new things, stepping out of their comfort zone can also be a valuable way of identifying how they feel during uncomfortable times and gain greater control over how they think and behave
- Use daily situations to talk about how they are feeling, validating what they are going through
- Help them identify:
-How do I think?
-How do I feel?
-What do I do?
The simple act of talking about emotions with children can help them identify and name their feelings and understand that they control how they react to situations. Children, like adults, often mask how they feel. Help children recognize what sort of mask they put on when they don’t want to deal with something they feel.
Talking with a mental health professional could help with this process.
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