Your children's emotions

[Angelwings]

Does anyone here have trouble when their child/ren are experiencing intense emotions? My son gets really frustrated and irritable and that makes me start to get overwhelmed. I have to remind myself that his feelings are not my own, that I can remain calm when he is not. I do have to admit that if he's being extremely negative about absolutely anything and everything, I go hide in the tub.

Also, how do you teach your children to process negative emotions that you may not feel, yourself? I don't feel anger, yet I have to help him process his in a healthy way. I tell him that it's okay to be angry, but it's not okay to hurt someone with that anger. After that, I'm at a loss. I tell him to ask his therapist for strategies to deal with anger....cop out?

 

[ShadowWolf]

Yes, I have a lot of trouble when my kids get upset. I basically give them strategies that other people have given me to calm down. Although I do experience a lot of anger. So I will say something like, let's take a breath and count to 10 together. Honestly, I do this more for me than my kids...it helps keep me from flipping out at them.

 

[Mytime]

No, I don’t think it’s a cop out at all.
Talking about it with his therapist is a good way of understanding what’s behind the anger. I put my son in therapy because his anxiety came out as anger. Now he’s learning how to work with his anxiety.