Helping kids handle big feelings: GPS event offers coping strategies for young children

On Thursday, April 9, the GPS Parent Series will celebrate the “Week of the Young Child” with a presentation titled “Coping Skills to Address Anger and Challenging Feelings” with licensed mental health counselor Janine Halloran at noon and 7 p.m. via Zoom.

Handling a child's explosive anger can be challenging. Young children may not yet have the language and cognitive skills to identify, understand, or express their feelings without resorting to outbursts.

Halloran will return to GPS with concrete suggestions to teach children to manage frustration and other uncomfortable emotions and stressors they will inevitably encounter in their day-to-day lives.

Learn about real-world skills for self-soothing that will help create a calm, positive atmosphere at home. Participants will walk away with proven strategies to help youth de-escalate, reset, and reframe so they can feel more in control.

By understanding potential triggers, parents can work on helping their children develop healthy coping strategies and emotional regulation skills.

Halloran is a consultant, speaker and counselor. She founded Coping Skills for Kids in 2015 to help children and teens learn healthy and safe ways to manage big feelings. She is the bestselling author of “Coping Skills for Kids Workbook,” and “Coping Skills for Teens Workbook.” Her work has been featured in the Boston Globe, CNN, and Huffington Post.

Visit GPSParentSeries.org for event details and the links to these webinars.

All are welcome to the free weekly GPS events, and no registration is required. To be placed on a reminder list for GPS events, contact Gilda Ross, Glenbard District 87 Student and Community Projects Coordinator, at gilda_ross@glenbard.org or (630) 942-7668. Continuing education credits are available.