Helping Your Angry Teen: How to Reduce Anger and Build Connection Using Mindfulness and Positive Psychology

by Mitch R. Abblett PhD, Christopher Willard PsyD (Foreword by)

Overview

Are you at your wits’ end dealing with an angry teen? This important guide offers frustrated parents powerful mindfulness tips to navigate heated moments of interaction with their child, as well as skills based in positive psychology to foster compassion, caring, and lasting connection.

Does your teen get angry easily or act out? You aren’t alone. Parenting a teen is hard enough, but parenting an angry teen is especially difficult. You might feel unable to keep your own cool during disagreements, or even worry that your relationship with your teen is doomed. So, how can you make sure you stay grounded when the drama rises and reestablish a sense of connection?

Written by a psychologist and teen expert, this book offers techniques based in mindfulness, compassion, and positive psychology to help you face the challenges that parenting an angry teen presents. You’ll discover the clinical and psychological underlying conditions that can contribute to teen anger, skills for improving communication, and mindfulness tips for staying calm yourself. In addition, you’ll learn skills for reestablishing a compassionate and connected relationship.

If you’re ready to take control of your own reactions and start reconnecting with your angry teen, this book will help guide the way.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781626255784
Publisher:	New Harbinger Publications
Publication date:	05/01/2017
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	176
File size:	1 MB

About the Author

Mitch R. Abblett, PhD, is a clinical psychologist and executive director of The Institute for Meditation and Psychotherapy, a non-profit focusing on education and training at the intersection of mindfulness and treatment. For over a decade, he was clinical director of the Manville School, a Harvard-affiliated therapeutic day school program in Boston, MA, serving children with emotional, behavioral, and learning difficulties. He maintains a private psychotherapy and consulting practice (www.drmitchabblett.com), and writes about mindfulness, professional development, and family mental health. His books include The Heat of the Moment in Treatment (W.W. Norton) for clinicians, Mindfulness for Teen Depression (New Harbinger, coauthored with Chris Willard, PsyD), and the upcoming Overcoming the Five Hindrances to Awakened Living (Shambhala Publications). He also coauthored the child/family friendly practice aid Growing Mindful, as well as additional mindfulness-related card decks. He conducts national and international trainings regarding mindfulness and its applications.

Mitch R. Abblett, PhD, is a clinical psychologist and former executive director of The Institute for Meditation and Psychotherapy, a nonprofit focusing on education and training at the intersection of mindfulness and treatment. For over a decade, he was clinical director of Manville School, a Harvard-affiliated therapeutic day school program in Boston, MA, serving children with emotional, behavioral, and learning difficulties. He maintains a private psychotherapy and consulting practice, and writes about mindfulness, professional development, and family mental health for Mindful magazine (Mindful.org). His books include The Heat of the Moment in Treatment for clinicians, The Challenging Child Toolbox, and The Five Hurdles to Happiness. He also coauthored Mindfulness for Teen Depression and the child/family-friendly practice aid Growing Mindful, as well as additional mindfulness-related card decks. He conducts national and international trainings regarding mindfulness and its applications. Learn more at www.drmitchabblett.com.
Christopher Willard, PsyD, is a clinical psychologist, author, and consultant based in Massachusetts. He has spoken in thirty countries, and has presented at two TEDx events. Willard is author and coauthor of twenty books, including Alphabreaths, Growing Up Mindful, and How We Grow Through What We Go Through. His thoughts on mental health have been featured in The New York Times, The Washington Post, www.mindful.org, www.cnn.com, and elsewhere. He teaches at Harvard Medical School.

Table of Contents

Foreword vii

Introduction 1

1 Anger in Teens: The Problem and the Solution 7

2 Presence: Mindfulness of the Senses for Managing Heat from Teens 41

3 Understanding: Creating Clarity in the Cycle of Teen Anger 61

4 Responsive Leadership in Parenting Angry Teens 97

5 Empowering Change for You and Your Teen 127

Conclusion: Bringing It All Together with the PURE Method 145

Acknowledgments 153

References 155

Interviews

Abblett resides in Newton, MA.

Editorial Reviews

Few challenges of parenting are more daunting than dealing with an angry teen. Having experienced moments like the ones that Mitch Abblett describes here, I can relate to the periodic clouds of utter hopelessness, despair, and frustration that arise when our deep love and devotion to our children is challenged by their behavior and their emotions. This book not only provides a rational and scientifically grounded framework for understanding the often mystifying and bewildering expression of teen anger, but it pairs that understanding with the deep and timeless wisdom of mindfulness practice that can allow us to step outside the anger cloud and maintain some presence to reconnect with ourselves. By practicing mindfulness, we can reclaim our compassion, our inner wisdom, and the practical skills that Abblett teaches here.”
—Steven D. Hickman, PsyD, executive director of the University of California, San Diego’s Center for Mindfulness; executive director of the Center for Mindful Self-Compassion; clinical psychologist; and associate clinical professor at the UC San Diego School of Medicine


“This gem of wisdom from Mitch Abblett is about way more than teen anger. Mitch wisely recognizes that the openhearted quality of your own unconditionally loving presence is the greatest gift that you can offer your teen. By starting with cultivating your own embodied mindfulness, this book guides you toward the kind of authentic and transformative relationship with your teen that every parent aspires to.”
—Dzung X. Vo, MD, pediatrician, adolescent medicine specialist, and author of The Mindful Teen



“A compassionate, easy-to-read book providing practical guidance while supporting parents who are almost certainly suffering along with their struggling teens.”
—Mark Bertin, MD, developmental pediatrics; author of Mindful Parenting for ADHD



“Helping Your Angry Teen offers clear, useful tools for parents, therapists, and other caregivers to help the angry teenagers in their lives. Adults new to mindfulness might find the tools developed by Mitch Ablett to help angry teens feel better will help them feel better, too.”
—Susan Kaiser Greenland, author of Mindful Games and The Mindful Child

From the Publisher