Addressing strong emotions.

With the current climate in our country, our children are expressing a wide range of emotions, some with concern for their own safety, or that of family and friends. For mentees, these are real feelings that are impacting their lives. Youth are looking to us to help them understand what they are seeing and hearing from other adults.

Your role as a mentor is to remain calm, express empathy for their concerns and work with them to help them understand where their emotions are coming from and how they can manage those emotions

In thinking about these types of conversations, spend some time preparing strategies to address tough topics or specific concerns.

Use the Teaching Tolerance graphic organizer Responding to Strong Emotions to develop a plan. You know your young person-- consider the emotional responses likely to emerge. Add others you think might emerge and list potential response strategies