Emotional Control

Why Emotional Control Matters

Your teen years bring intense emotions. Learning to manage them—not suppress them—is the key to better relationships, decisions, and mental health. Emotional control isn't about being emotionless; it's about being in the driver's seat.

🧠 Understand Emotions

Learn how emotions work in your brain and body

⏸️ Pause & Process

Create space between feeling and reacting

🛠️ Coping Tools

Build a toolkit of healthy emotional regulation strategies

🎯 Long-term Skills

Develop emotional intelligence for life

🧠

Activity 1: The Emotion Brain vs. Thinking Brain

Understand the neuroscience of emotional reactions

🧠 How Your Brain Works:

Amygdala (Emotion Brain): Reacts instantly to threats—causes "fight, flight, or freeze"

Prefrontal Cortex (Thinking Brain): Makes rational decisions—but develops slower (not fully mature until age 25!)

The Problem: Your emotion brain is faster and stronger during teen years, making it hard to control reactions.

Describe a time your "emotion brain" took over. What happened?

What could your "thinking brain" have done differently?

⏸️

Activity 2: The STOP Technique

Learn to pause before reacting

STOP

Freeze. Don't speak or act yet.

TAKE A BREATH

Deep breath in, slow breath out (3x minimum)

OBSERVE

What am I feeling? What triggered it?

PROCEED

Now respond thoughtfully, not reactively

Practice: Your friend cancels plans last minute. Walk through STOP:

🛠️

Activity 3: Build Your Coping Toolkit

Develop healthy strategies for intense emotions

Healthy Coping Strategies (check the ones you'll try):

Physical release: exercise, run, punch a pillow, dance Breathing exercises: box breathing, 4-7-8 technique Journaling: write out what you're feeling without filter Talk it out: call a trusted friend or family member Cold water: splash face, hold ice, cold shower Grounding: 5-4-3-2-1 senses technique Creative outlet: art, music, writing, building Time out: remove yourself from the situation temporarily

My go-to coping strategy for anger:

My go-to coping strategy for anxiety:

My go-to coping strategy for sadness:

Your Reflection

1. Which emotion is hardest for you to control? Why?

2. How do you typically react when emotions are intense? Is it helpful?

3. What's one emotional control skill you'll commit to practicing?

Key Takeaways

🧠

Brain Development

Your emotion brain is stronger than your thinking brain until age 25.

⏸️

Pause First

Use STOP to create space between feeling and reacting.

🛠️

Healthy Coping

Build a toolkit of strategies for different emotions.

🚫

Not Suppression

Control means managing emotions, not ignoring them.

💪

Practice Builds Skill

Emotional control is a muscle—it strengthens with use.

🆘

Ask for Help

If emotions feel overwhelming, talk to a counselor.

Certificate of Completion

🏆

This certifies that

Participant

has successfully completed