Emotion regulation difficulties are central to a range of clinical problems, yet many therapies for children and adolescents lack a focus on emotion and related skills. In a flexible modular format, this much-needed book presents cutting-edge strategies for helping children and adolescents understand and manage challenging emotional experiences. Each of the eight treatment modules can be used on its own or in conjunction with other therapies, and includes user-friendly case examples, sample dialogues, and engaging activities and games. Emotion-informed assessment and case conceptualization are also addressed. Reproducible handouts can be downloaded and printed in a convenient 8 1/2" x 11" size.
Children recognize facial expressions associated with emotions at an early age—at least by the age of 2 years—and some investigators have suggested that infants as young as 10 weeks evidence some form of comprehension of emotion from facial expressions (Izard & Harris, 1995).
Regarding the causes (and effects) of emotion and the cues used in inferring emotion, developmental research has detailed a progression from situation-bound, “behavioral” explanations of emotion to broader, more mentalistic understandings. In other words, a child’s early understanding of emotion is based on her theory that the world causes her feelings: “I am mad because someone broke the toy.” As she develops, her explanations of emotions move inward, focusing on internal causes: “I am mad because that broken toy was important to me,” or, “I am mad because I thought the person who broke my toy was my friend.”