Child and Adolescent Anger Management Certification Course: Fast Acting Strategies to Prevent and Overcome Oppositional and Aggressive Behavior

CPD

Faculty

Jeffrey Bernstein, PhD Related seminars and products

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Jeffrey Bernstein, PhD, is a child and family psychologist with over 35 years of clinical experience specializing in anxiety, overthinking, and behavioral challenges in children and adolescents. He is the author of multiple books including, When Overthinking Overtakes Your Child: 10 Days to Ease Anxiety, Quiet Worry, and Tame Runaway Thoughts, and the international bestseller, 10 Days to a Less Defiant Child, which has been published in several countries. 

 

His recent clinical and professional development interests have focused on Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT)-informed interventions, Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT), mindfulness-based strategies, psychological flexibility, and process-focused approaches to address worry, rumination, overthinking, and difficulties with emotional regulation. 

 

Dr. Bernstein is the recipient of the 2025 PSCP: The Psychology Network’s Distinguished Psychologist Award and is widely recognized for translating evidence-based therapy into practical, immediately usable strategies for clinicians, families, and schools.

Speaker Disclosures:
Financial: Jeffrey Bernstein maintains a private practice. He is an author and receives royalties. Dr. Bernstein receives a speaking honorarium, recording, and book royalties from PESI, Inc. He has no relevant financial relationships with ineligible organizations.
Non-financial: Jeffrey Bernstein is a fellow with the Pennsylvania Psychological Association.

Objectives

1. Investigate the neurobiology of anger and identify brain regions involved in processing anger. 
2. Analyze the internal and societal parts of the anger cycle and communicate how this impacts counselling in children and teens.  
3. Support how underlying emotions and coexisting conditions play a role in manifesting anger in children and adolescents.  
4. Determine how children and teens can be taught to identify anger triggers so they can choose appropriate response strategies. 
5. Evaluate the role of anger as a secondary emotion to fear, guilt, resentment & shame. 
6. Evaluate connections between anger, learning differences, ADHD, and ODD.  
7. Employ mindfulness and diaphragmatic breathing techniques that diminish the body’s anger and fight-or-flight responses. 
8. Utilize CBT and positive psychology-based strategies to engage both willing and treatment-resistant clients. 
9. Assess how assertiveness techniques can be taught to help to children and adolescents communicate anger more constructively.   
10. Build children’s and teens’ emotional vocabulary to help them handle conflict without aggression. 
11. Apply office-based and online child and teen anger management strategies for challenges at school, and with peers, body image, and family concerns. 
12. Employ methods to optimally facilitate parent, caregiver, and educator supports for transfer and maintenance of anger management skills to outside of clinical settings. 

Outline

Neuroscience-based Nuances of Anger in Children and Teens

• How anger is experienced and processed differently in the child and teen brain
• The fight-flight-freeze response and manifestation of anger in children and teens
• The neuroscience of the body-mind cycle of anger
• The threat response and perceived lack of emotional safety

Anger’s Connection to Learning Differences, ADHD, ODD, Anxiety, Depression, Trauma, and More

• The obvious & nonobvious connection between learning differences, ADHD, and ODD
• The mechanisms of anxiety underlying anger
• The link of depression to anger
• Role of trauma in suppressed and expressed anger OCD and anger
• Addictions and anger

How to Create Emotional Safety to Engage Children and Teens About Sensitive Subjects

• Anger, fear, guilt, resentment and shame
• Successful anger management and awareness of underlying thoughts and emotions
• Behaviours at school, peer struggles, body image concerns, and family stressors sparked by underlying negative thoughts and emotions
• Why empathy uncovers and diffuses the underlying thoughts and feelings that drive anger

Myths About Anger and The Mistakes That Come with Them

• The “measure up myth” and other societal pressures that drive underlying negative emotions
• Why and how oppositional children and teens want to be equal to adults
• How perceived violations of fairness become embedded rigid distortions
• How positive emotions are incompatible with forming and holding on to anger
• Self-reflection activity: What have you seen in angry children and teens?

Anger Triggers: Teaching Children and Teens to Tune into What Sets Them Off

• Throwing spaghetti on non-talk kids’ refrigerators and seeing what sticks
• Drawing out the short fuse and long fuse
• Cooking up and digesting an anger triggers pizza
• How to use anger logs and thermometers with children
• Deescalate anger in specific circumstances
• Transitioning off video games
• Homework
• Siblings
• Hearing “no” from parents

Mindfulness and Relaxation Techniques to Let Go of Anger in the Moment

• Reset anger with belly breathing
• Guided imagery to put children and teens in charge of anger
• Squeezing the lemon and other progressive muscle relaxation techniques to maintain control
• Body scan strategies to promote mindful awareness
• Mindful walking with “silly strides” for younger children

Challenge the Dysfunctional Thoughts Behind Anger with Cognitive Approaches

• CBT exercises to help the thinking brain identify, challenge, and reduce negative self-talk
• Putting cognitive restructuring into easy-to-grasp and effective language
• “Talk” and “non-talk” kids – how to get each type to buy into sharing angry thoughts
• Finding acceptance and letting go with “whatever”
• Distraction, the pink giraffe, and other disengagement strategies

Build Optimism, Gratitude, Grit and More with Positive Psychology Approaches to Managing Anger

• Seeing strengths
• Opening up to optimism
• Grabbing some gratitude
• Finding flow
• Gathering hidden grit and gaining it for the future
• Creating an anger success catch book

Assertiveness, Communication and Conflict Resolution Skill Building: Empowering Children and Teens to Problem-Solve Anger

• Assertiveness training techniques
• Communicate anger effectively with “I” statements
• Putting “whatever” to work
• Overcoming the “I Don’t Knows” that silently fuel anger
• Mindful listening, speaking, and messaging
• Social media influence inoculation strategies
• Defuse anger with humour and other conflict resolution strategies

Coaching Parents and Caregivers to Avoid Being Adversarial by Becoming Collaborative

• Looking out for negative labels
• The Pace Car, Chunky Soup, and other metaphors that help teachers and parents
• Why understanding struggling children and teens is just as important as respecting and loving them
• The “Struggle With” Vs “Choose Not” dilemma regarding impulse control
• Self-reflection exercise for participants to use with parents

Strategies for Online Anger Counseling and Educating

• Belly breathing in the house
• Expanding counselling role to teacher, puppeteer, entertainer, and comic
• Using therapeutic card decks and online whiteboards for collaborative drawing and writing
• Balancing parents and siblings popping into view
• Apps, videos, and workbooks to promote home-based anger management

Case Conceptualization and Treatment Planning

• Case study reviews
• Establish short-term and long-term goals to measure success
• Strategies for working with groups
• Self-harm and other harm considerations
• Risks and limitations of anger management approaches for children and teens

Target Audience

• Counselors
• Social Workers
• Psychologists
• Physicians
• Marriage and Family Therapists
• Speech-Language Pathologists
• Teachers
• School Guidance Counselors
• Case Managers
• Nurses
• School Administrators
• Educational Paraprofessionals
• Occupational Therapists & Occupational Therapy Assistants
• Other Helping Professionals that Work with Children