Don't Let Your Emotions Run Your Life for Kids ─ A DBT-Based Skills Workbook to Help Children Manage Mood Swings, Control Angry Outbursts, and Get Along With Others

In this much-needed guide, two dialectical behavior therapists offer an activity-based workbook for kids who struggle with anger, mood-swings, and emotional and behavioral dysregulation. Using the skills outlined in this book, kids will be able to manage their emotions, get along with others, and do better in school.

Childhood can often be a time of intense emotions. But if your child’s emotions interfere with school, homework, or tests; alienate them from their peers; make it difficult to forge lasting friendships; or cause constant conflicts at home—it’s time to make a change. You need help to calm the chaos now, rather than later.

Building on the success of Don’t Let Your Emotions Run Your Life and Don’t Let Your Emotions Run Your Life for Teens, this is the first dialectical behavior therapy (DBT) activity skills workbook designed especially for kids. Designed for children ages 7 to 12, this essential guide will help kids manage difficult emotions and get along better with others.

If you are frustrated or worried about your emotional child, the hands-on activities in this book—including child-friendly mindfulness practices—can help. By reading this book, kids will develop their own “skills tool box” for dealing with intense emotions as they arise, no matter where or when.

Jennifer J. Solin, PsyD, is a licensed psychologist in private practice in St. Paul, MN. She has over ten years of experience working primarily with children and families, and six years of experience working primarily with adolescents and adults. Psychological services that Solin specializes in include: behavioral therapy (BT), cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT), exposure and ritual/response prevention (EX/RP), prolonged exposure (PE), dialectical behavior therapy (DBT), individual therapy, and group skills training. Solin also supervises graduate students, postdoctoral fellows, and mental health practitioners, and has presented in various conferences, in addition to having provided didactic trainings to medical and mental health staff at local hospitals in the Twin Cities area of Minnesota.

Christina L. Kress, MSW, is a licensed clinical social worker in private practice in St. Paul, MN. Kress has over twelve years of experience treating young children with play therapy and CBT, along with over four years’ experience treating adults using DBT. Kress presents annually at the Minnesota Association for Child and Adolescent Mental Health Conference, has been a guest lecturer at St. Catherine’s University in St. Paul, MN, and provides clinical supervision to mental health practitioners through her practice.