The Anger Workbook for Teens ― Activities to Help You Deal With Anger and Frustration

Fully revised and updated based on reader feedback! This second edition of The Anger Workbook for Teens includes brand-new activities to help you understand and interact with your anger, and tips for managing it in constructive ways.

Does your anger often get you into trouble? Do you react to situations and later regret how you behaved? Does your anger cause problems with other people? If so, you aren’t alone. Between family life, friends, social media, and the pressures of school, there’s no doubt that it’s stressful being a teenager. And while anger is a natural human emotion, different people handle it differently. Some hold in their anger and let it build, some lash out with hurtful words, and some resort to fighting. If you’ve noticed yourself beginning to take out your frustrations on the people you love most—your parents, brothers or sisters, and friends—it’s time to make a change.

This second edition of The Anger Workbook for Teens includes brand-new skills and activities based in clinically proven treatments such as acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT) to help you deal with negative thoughts without losing control. You’ll find out what’s triggering your anger, look at the ways you react, be more aware of your thoughts and how you interact with them, and learn skills and techniques for managing anger without losing your cool. You’ll develop a personal anger profile and learn to notice the physical symptoms you feel when you become enraged, then find out how to calm those feelings and respond more sensitively to others. Once you fully understand your anger, you’ll be better prepared to deal with your feelings in the moment.

As you begin the activities in this workbook, it’s perfectly normal to feel angrier at first. That’s because you are being asked to really notice and examine the things that make you angry. But with practice, you’ll learn to handle frustrating situations in real life and more effectively communicate your feelings. Most importantly, you’ll learn the difference between healthy anger—the kind that can motivate you to make positive changes—and problematic anger that leads to negative consequences.

Change isn’t easy, but with the right frame of mind and set of skills, you can do it. This book is designed to help you understand how both your mind and body respond to anger, and how you can handle this anger in more constructive ways.

Raychelle Cassada Lohmann, MS, LPC, is a national board-certified counselor and licensed professional counselor. Lohmann has worked as a school counselor at middle and high school levels, and has helped hundreds of teens deal with feelings of frustration and anger. She has participated in extensive research on anger, and specializes in individual and group counseling for anger management. She is author of The Anger Workbook for Teens and Staying Cool...When You’re Steaming Mad, and coauthor of The Bullying Workbook for Teens. She also writes the Psychology Today blog Teen Angst, and is an expert contributor on www.rehabs.com and www.sharecare.com.

Julia V. Taylor, PhD, is author of Salvaging Sisterhood and Perfectly You and coauthor of G.I.R.L.S. (Girls in Real Life Situations) and The Bullying Workbook for Teens. Julia has worked as a middle and high school counselor, and has a passion for empowering girls to stand up to unrealistic media expectations, take healthy risks, and cultivate meaningful relationships. Visit her online at www.juliavtaylor.com.