Learning to Feel Good and Stay Cool: Emotional Regulation Tools for Kids With AD/HD

Judith M. Glasser, PhD, is a clinical psychologist who has worked with children and their families for over 30 years. She specializes in the assessment and treatment of AD/HD in children. For many years Dr. Glasser has been interested in the different kinds of difficulties children experience when they have AD/HD. Many of the children she works with struggle with learning how to handle their feelings; this book is for them.

Kathleen Nadeau, PhD, is a clinical psychologist who has specialized in working with kids and adults with ADHD for many years. She is the founder and director of the Chesapeake ADHD Center in Silver Spring, MD, and the author of many books on ADHD for kids, teens, adults, and professionals. Dr. Nadeau is a frequent lecturer on topics related to ADHD, both in the United States and abroad.

This book is directed at children, but parents who want to help their youngsters with AD/HD build up self-esteem while learning to keep their temper might want to read it with them. The accessible text opens with a discussion of various feelings, including happy, bored, angry, calm, ashamed, followed by suggestions for "staying in your feel good zone," "feel good tools for specific upset feelings," and more. Illustrations are sprinkled throughout, and there are a few charts with fill-in blanks. Back matter has tips and resources for parents; the further reading for kids lists mostly other titles from the publisher of this book. Suitable for self-help and parenting collections.
—School Library Journal

Sadness for many children can be like, say, a mud puddle. Sadness for children with ADHD, however, can be more like an entire ocean of permanent black ink. That's because children with ADHD generally have an even tougher time dealing with emotions than others. Their reactions may be more intense or they may display a seeming over-reaction to a seemingly small issue. The thing is, the issue doesn't feel small to them and the emotions can loom large, like a monstrous ocean. And that's exactly why Judith Glasser and Kathleen Nadeau created the book Learning to Feel Good and Stay Cool: Emotional Regulation Tools for Kids with AD/HD. The book kicks off with a rundown on common emotions complete with a pop quiz of a scowling face or a happy grin to help kids learn to recognize them. Cartoons proliferate throughout the entire book, as do interactive exercises and super-short chapters, making the book itself an ADHD-friendly read. Geared for kids ages 6 to 11, the book is set up to read in tandem with parents, although older children may do well reading it on their own. A few special notes for parents and exercises for parents at kids at the end round out the tome.
—AnxietyFreeChild.com

Presented in bite-sized pieces, clear and encouraging, this handy guide to emotional regulation is packed with good ideas. From recognizing the slippery slope to the aptly named Upset Zone to figuring out what to do once there, children with AD/HD (and their non-AD/HD siblings and peers) will benefit from the many strategies presented by Dr. Glasser and Dr. Nadeau. For both children and the adults in their lives, working through this readable book will be time well spent.
—Dawn Huebner, bestselling author of What To Do When You Worry Too Much

Learning to Feel Good and Stay Cool" provides the tools that kids need when they are upset. By offering concrete examples, Glasser and Nadeau not only help kids react when situation arise, but also teach them how to design an action plan to recognize triggers and avoid problems in the future. Written in language kids can understand, this book offers the reassurance that life can get better.
—Patricia O. Quinn, MD, Developmental Pediatrician, Washington, DC

In “Learning to Feel Good and Stay Cool”, Judith Glasser and Kathleen Nadeau have written an amazingly clear, helpful and non-judgmental resource for kids (and their parents) who have any difficulty managing or regulating their emotions. Glasser and Nadeau have found a very effective way to describe and explain to kids, in a way that they can relate to and understand, what emotions are, how different emotions feel and what causes them. They then provide specific strategies that kids can use to feel good, recognize times when they are becoming upset and find ways to calm down. In simple, clear, understandable and sensitive language, they provide guidelines for kids to use “feel good tools” to manage difficult emotional experiences, again enabling kids to understand how to help themselves and use guidance from others as necessary. The illustrations, charts, fill-in exercises, reminders and summary games further enhance this remarkable book. Reading this remarkable book provided me with new insights and ideas that I can use when working with parents. I highly recommend it for kids, their parents and any professionals who are helping them.
—Pat Harvey, LCSW-C, DBT Parent Coach, Consultant and Trainer, Co-author, Parenting a Child who Has Intense Emotions