From Anger to Action: Powerful Mindfulness Tools to Help Teens Harness Anger for Positive Change

It’s no secret that teens experience a wide array of crazy emotions during puberty and beyond, but is there a better way to handle anger? In From Anger to Action, author Mitch R Abblett PhD guides the reader how to better manage and control these strong emotions for your highest good. The author explains that anger is a very normal emotion to experience and how teens can embrace it rather than fight it. Anger is energy and the book guides the reader on how to better channel the energy into self-advocacy, social action, and productivity for positive changes.

The guide book is broken into three major parts. In the first part, the author covers Listening to your Anger, followed by Look for your power, and leap toward change.

Each chapter has three key features, Real talk (real teens telling their stories), Give it a Go (practice exercises), and Profile in Power (anecdotes and quotes from celebrities on how they used anger for good.
Before the chapter ends, the author provides a Nav Check, these summarize the key elements and what to expect coming up. One of the things I really liked about the book is the way it is written with smaller chunks of information. Kids and teens are so overwhelmed with activities, sports, and school homework the last thing they will want is a long self-help book. This information is presented in small amounts that are perfect for busy teens to read in small doses.

While the book is geared toward teens, adults who have battled anger issues can find beneficial meditations and exercises they can adapt and use as well. The teens that utilize the book will be able to learn coping mechanisms but also potentially see themselves in the stories from other real teens and experiences. Most teens I know learn best this way (including my own teen daughters) and the book demonstrates great examples.

If you are looking for help with your teen, I recommend this one in the Instant Help Solutions series. The book helps teens embrace the darker side of anger, normalizes it, but then assists on how to change that anger into positivity.

~review by Amber Barnes

Author: Mitch R. Abblett PhD
Llewellyn Publications, 2019
pp. 168, $16.95