Transforming Anger to Personal Power: An Anger Management Curriculum for Teens

Book excerpt: This results-based resource provides professionals with eight highly-effective lesson plans for teaching anger management to teens. Each lesson can stand alone or be used as an eight week anger management program. Designed and tested for small group settings, the lessons work for classroom lessons. Originally, co-facilitated by a substance abuse professional and a seasoned special education teacher, the focus is to help young adults realize that they have the power to take control of their lives and emotions. This work addresses the impact substance abuse has on the brain and emotions. Many teens believe they were "born angry' and cannot change. These lessons teach youth that they have the power to choose healthy responses to anger. Through engaging lessons, teens learn to, *use empowering language, *to take responsibility for their behavior, *and to understand the social, cultural, and personal influences that shape their thinking. Appendices include a reproducible pre/post-test and sample charts to use in the lessons. The lessons draw from several bodies of knowledge including cognitive intervention techniques, Eastern philosophy, brain research theories, and educational psychology.