Being a teenager isn’t easy. Neither is living with one! Here are some tips to deal with mood swings-you can teach your teen (or even better your young child) these tools to deal with their emotions when they are feeling out of control. They also totally apply to adults too! Win win 🥳
So when you feel your emotions rising/bubbling up there are a range of choices you have in terms of what to do next to stabilise those feelings and not react in the moment from an emotional/irrational place…which then often causes further problems. You give yourself a moment to choose how to react next.
🧘🏻♂️ deep breath. Stop and observe what’s going on, both in the situation and in your body
🖼 imagine you are floating above the situation and see the bigger picture
⏰ stop and think to yourself, “will this situation matter to me/be important to me/anger me in a couple of hour’s/a day’s/a month’s (etc) time?”
📆 think “this will pass” or “this will be a memory soon” (I do this one if I am feeling physical pain)
👀 observe what you are thinking to see if it is fact or is it opinion? (Great one to talk to kids about when it comes to arguments and he said/she said situations)
👆tap a pressure point on your body and repeat an affirmation that works for you (maybe you understand that what you are reacting to is actually triggering an old trauma so an affirmation such as I AM SAFE/LOVED can help you through the moment)
There are many more methods that come from different disciplines but these are just a few I find helpful 💖