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Seeing your child overwhelmed with emotion is a difficult experience. You might be tempted to tell your child to get over it or think about something else, but that just represses the feelings. Try these four ways to help your child handle emotions and process them in a positive way.
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1. Look for Ways to Communicate With Your Child
Look for ways to communicate with your child about his or her emotions. Showing empathy demonstrates to your child that you accept his or her feelings, even when those feelings are inconvenient to you. For example, if your child is angry and frustrated by not being accepted onto a sports team, you could communicate that you see that your child is disappointed about the circumstances.
Putting words to your child’s feelings and showing that you understand helps your child to know that he or she has your support. When your youngster has your support, he or she will be less likely to yell or act out.
2. Try Muscle Testing to Release Trapped Emotions
Muscle testing to release trapped emotions could help your kid to let go of strong emotions that are not doing him or her any good. A person’s emotions can get stuck, blocking the flow of energy and causing physical symptoms. Muscle testing is a natural way to help your child release those trapped emotions. T
o do muscle testing, your kid just needs to focus on the problem and either visualize it or hold something that represents it. Your child will do a series of moves that results in a yes or no answer. Once your child has an answer, it is possible to allow the worries, negativity and fears go. At this time, the energy can start to flow again.
3. Explain What Feelings are and Why They are Important
Explain to your child that feelings and emotions are what make people human. The self-consciousness and acceptance of feelings are an important part of the human experience. Rather than limiting emotions, your child should allow himself or herself to experience them. It is difficult to feel joy if a person has never felt sadness. The repression of emotions is often what causes the buildup of negative energy that causes a child to act out in anger against others or him or herself.
Help your child to learn the skills that are needed in order to process strong emotions. By helping your kid to create the scaffolding that is needed for emotional processing, he or she will have an easier time dealing with the difficult situations that will arise during adulthood.
4. Offer Healthy Methods of Coping with Stress
Children might have an easier time processing and metering their feelings if they have healthy methods of dealing with them. Offer your child some art supplies. Expressing emotion through the arts, such as painting, drawing or building with clay can be cathartic. Working with the paints, brushes and clay also provides a healthy physical release of energy. Allow your child to get messy and do a Jackson Pollock style painting if need be. Some kids enjoy journaling as a way of coping with emotions and stress. For other kids, taking to the running track, jumping on a trampoline or shooting hoops provides the emotional and physical outlet they need for handling strong feelings in a positive way.
These four methods of processing emotions can be used by anyone. Be the example your child needs and offer gentle guidance and encouragement. From muscle testing to release trapped emotions to writing and expressing feelings, each of these tips offers helpful solutions. You could even use these tips for yourself when negative feelings come to fruition.