My Favorite Anger Management Techniques from Pinterest

Pinterest is full of counseling ideas!  The only problem is that you have to wade through tons of ideas to find the brilliant ideas that really work.  These are my favorite Pinterest links, which I think you will like, too!

First, there is the free “Don’t Be an Angry Bird” book.  This is my go-to tool when I first begin working with kids who have temper problems.  I love that it gives them lots of coping skills to immediately start using.  It is also cute and holds their attention.  I have had so many kids come in and ask for another book because they lost the first one.  This tells me they are using it!

Another favorite is “Escape from Anger Volcano”.  I paid $7 to download it from Teachers Pay Teachers.  If you don’t have an account with them, get one now!  There are so many good resources. This is a great game and the kids I work with LOVE it!  The down side is that it takes quite a bit of ink to print and some work to laminate the board and all the cards.  It is worth it, though.

Similar to Escape from Anger Volcano is No Temper Treasure Island.  It was made by Marco Products.  I paid around $15 plus shipping for it.  The picture above is poor quality, but the game board actually looks pretty decent.  Every time a player lands on a jewel space on the board they get a card.  Who ever collects the most jewels by the end of the game wins.  It teaches coping skills, empathy, locus of control…  This one also has been a hit and often requested.

I also really like AngriesOut.com.  There are some interactive videos on there that help kids get a better understanding of anger and how to cope with it.  There are lots of articles and resources on the website as well.  

Feelings Graph

Don't you love simple, yet very insightful interventions when working with kids?  The feelings graph is a go-to tool for me.  I frequently use feelings charts during session, and they are certainly useful.  However, the Feelings Graph goes much deeper.  Instead of asking kids "What are you feeling today?"  I'd rather ask "How much are you feeling of these emotions today?"

This simple intervention is helpful in a lot of ways:

1. It allows children to show how much of each feeling they are experiencing.
2. It helps children take time to really pay attention to what is really going on inside.
3. It is a great assessment tool.  It can help you as a clinician to identify what feelings are taking precedence and identify what to focus on first.
4. It can show progress.  If I have a client fill out a feelings chart during one of our first sessions, I can pull it out again a couple of months later to help the client identify how their feelings have changed over time.  It can be a motivator.
5. It allows even very young children to express their emotions without relying on verbal language skills.
6. It helps children make sense of why they feel the way they do.
7. It can help initiate important dialogue about what has been going on.  The client may be willing to color in the boxes, but is hesitant to initiate conversation about something that is troubling them.

Feel free to make your own feelings graph, or if you would like to save time you can head over to my website at www.pathwaystopeacecounseling.com for the download.