Help! My Child Has an Anger Management Problem

Raising healthy, happy children means helping them learn to cope well with negative emotions like anger. It’s normal to get angry, and anger can even be an important sign about abusive or unfair situations. But, developing children may struggle to manage anger productively.

If you fear your child or teen has an anger management problem, reach out to the team at Greater Lowell Psychiatric Associates. Led by Dr. Ronald P. Winfield, we support patients of all ages, including youths, from our location in North Chelmsford, Massachusetts. We provide psychotherapy counseling that can help.

Anger management for children and teens

When your child or teen gets angry, how do they respond? Do they throw tantrums, sulk for days, or even engage in self-destructive behaviors, or behaviors that could cause harm to others? As a parent, you know you need to intervene. It may not be clear how to help your child cope with out-of-control anger.

Tantrums might be developmentally normal for a toddler. But, it’s a developmental warning sign in older children and teens, showing that important lessons still need to be learned. Adults who can’t manage anger healthily face problems with social and work life, as well as heightened health risks like high blood pressure.

Learning how to handle anger takes a lot of time, focus, and patience. It’s an important part of growing up. And, it’s normal for families to need assistance and support from time to time in helping children and teens handle anger productively. 

If fights with your child or teen take up too much of your family’s time and attention, or if your kid keeps getting into trouble with conflict, don’t hesitate to reach out. Support is available!

Anger, ADHD, trauma, and more

When you seek anger management support, you learn ways to respond to anger that don’t cause harm to yourself or others. Techniques like taking time to calm down, meditating, practicing mindfulness, and using “I-statements” to avoid blame can all help resolve conflicts more effectively.

In addition to introducing your family to effective anger management techniques, your provider at Greater Lowell Psychiatric Associates can also assess your child to discover if an underlying mental health issue or disorder could be contributing to problems around acting out and anger.

It may be that your child’s anger management problem relates to a trauma or condition that, if treated, could help them find emotional peace. Uncontrollable anger can be a sign of past or present trauma in children and adults. If this is the case, it’s important for your child to receive the right support in order to heal.

Your child might also be struggling with ADHD, autism, or other forms of mental difference, increasing stress and leading to lashing out. Autistic meltdowns often look like anger management problems, but may need to be approached differently for successful outcomes, as the underlying issue might actually be overstimulation.

It’s not physically or mentally healthy for children and teens to struggle with anger long-term. If your child or teen has problems with anger management, seeking professional treatment sooner, rather than later, saves your child, and the whole family, stress.

For support with anger management, contact Dr. Winfield and the team at Greater Lowell Psychiatric Associates online or over the phone today and schedule your appointment.