Child Psychology Sydney - "Anger Buster" Program for Children

Treatment for Anger Related Problems for Children and Adolescents

Anger is a normal emotion and all children experience anger as part of their development. However, some children struggle with the expression of anger and may develop difficulties as the result. These may include problems with peers, teachers and parents. Anger problems are also warning signs that children may be at risk from Oppositional Defiance Disorder or Conduct Disorder.

Our "Anger Buster" program is aimed at teaching children about anger as an emotion, how they feel when angry, what triggers their anger and appropriate ways of expressing their anger. This is an individually delivered program, involving both the parents and the child.

Our "Anger Buster" program has three main aims:

We will teach children and their families about anger and about the different functions of anger. Anger and the inappropriate expression of anger can be normalised within families until it feels overwhelming to live with an angry child.

We will teach children and their families to recognise the source of anger and why children developed problematic expression of anger. We will discuss the physical cues of anger (or what the body "feels"), the psychological cues of anger (or what the brain thinks), and the behavioural cues of anger (or what we do when angry). We will also discuss what situations are "risky" and why.

We will teach skills to recognise anger and we will teach skills of approriate expression of anger (assertive communication). We will teach children to use "self-calming" statements and behavioural strategies (e.g., breathing techniques) to lessen the impact of anger.