Psychologists Anne Hilde VassbO Hagen and Joanne Dolhanty explain everything you need to know about your child's anger and how to manage it. Anger can be normal and healthy when it enables us to stand up for ourselves and defend against injustice. However, it can also lead to aggression-even violence-while also hiding other, more vulnerable emotions. For instance, an angry child may be hiding embarrassment, shame, disappointment, sadness, loneliness, or fear. As a parent, it is your job to help your child understand their anger, express it in an appropriate way, and address the underlying need. In this book, you will learn how to respond to your child's anger in a sensitive and productive way that validates their feelings, addresses their needs, and teaches them to manage their own anger. It can be nerve-wracking to watch your child explode in rage, so the book will also teach you how to stay calm and protect your boundaries. Supported by years of psychological research and therapeutic practice, the strategies in this practical, compassionate book will help any parent who struggles with their child's anger.
Anne Hilde Vassbo Hagen, cand.psychol, is a psychologist, author, mother of three, and filmmaker who produced the popular educational film series "Alfred & Shadow." She is head of the Institute of Psychological Counseling, Inc., in Norway, and the director of The Norwegian Institute of Emotion-Focused Therapy. She has written several books in Norwegian about emotions, and is co-author of the book, Emotion-Focused Skills Training for Parents: A Guide for Clinicians. She is an experienced trainer, speaker, and therapist in emotion focused therapy and emotion focused skills training for parents, and is also trained in emotion focused couples therapy. Joanne Dolhanty, PhD, CPsych, is a clinical psychologist and the mother of two young-adult sons. She has extensive training in emotion focused therapy, is a certified supervisor with the International Society for Emotion Focused Therapy, and provides trainings to individuals, parents, professionals, and organizations through her Emotion Training Institute, the Emotion Focused Therapy Clinic at York University, and through institutions in countries around the globe. With Dr. Leslie Greenberg, Dr. Dolhanty developed the application of emotion focused therapy to eating disorders. She is the developer of an emotion focused skills training (EFST) program that brings the benefits of emotion focused therapy to the broader population in a simplified format. She is first author of Emotion-Focused Skills Training for Parents: A Guide for Clinicians.
Preface Introduction Part 1: What is Anger? Chapter 1. The power of anger Chapter 2. Hard-wired for an anger style: Personality and temperament Chapter 3. The anger speedway: Brain, body, and anger Chapter 4. When anger messes up - four challenges Part 2: The Art of Validating Anger Chapter 5. What is validation and how on earth can I do it with anger? Chapter 6. Validation: The challenge Part 3: But I'm not a robot: Parents have feelings too Chapter 7. Feeling traps Chapter 8. Climbing your way out of a feeling trap Part 4: The magic of apology Chapter 9. Radical responsibility... say what? Chapter 10. Apology works Part 5: Boundaries Without Judgment: Effective Limit-Setting for Aggressive Behavior Chapter 11. What is your boundary style? Boundaries to protect the parent's well-being Chapter 12. The home you want to live in: Limits, rules, expectations, and values Chapter 13. Healthy, protective boundaries Afterword
