Health · Mental Health · 1 day ago
Parents can help children understand and navigate difficult feelings
Children can feel overwhelmed and believe they have no way to change how they feel.
The guidance describes how parents can help by exploring those feelings with their child instead of only distracting or fixing the problem.
It encourages children to treat thoughts and feelings as information, not unquestionable facts.
Children can learn to notice a thought, check whether it fits the facts and consider other perspectives.
The aim is not to avoid uncomfortable feelings, but to learn how to navigate them.
This can help children feel more able to understand their reactions and decide what to do.
The guidance presents this as a way to support mental health before problems become harder to manage.
Parents can help children understand difficult feelings rather than simply trying to make those feelings go away, Psychology Today says.
The article says children may feel overwhelmed and believe they can only wait for distress to pass.
It recommends helping children interpret their thoughts and feelings as information, not as facts.
Children can learn to examine their thoughts, check them against the facts and consider other perspectives.
- Who
- Parents and children.
- What
- The article discusses ways parents can help children understand and navigate difficult feelings.
- When
- Published October 10, 2026.
- Where
- Not stated.
- Why
- To help children understand themselves and learn ways to navigate their emotional experiences.
This story does not have two clearly opposing sides.
Good mental health is about navigating feelings, not not having uncomfortable ones.
We can help kids move from “this is too much” to “I can figure it out.
Toward is forward.
This story does not have a timeline yet.
- Publication date
- October 10, 2026
- Outlet
- Psychology Today
- Suggested approach
- Help children interpret thoughts and feelings rather than treating them as facts
Sources
Related news
Couples urged to consider consensual masturbation as a shared sexual option
Fathers’ Regret Can Reflect What They Lost in Themselves
Psychotherapist links anxiety, anger and creativity
Mother’s work commitment clashes with urgent care for her daughter
A Weekly, Structured Conversation May Help Couples Raise Concerns
Changes in communication and affection may signal marital withdrawal
Review says rising youth distress is real and services are falling short
Study links cannabis-related anxiety in mice to central amygdala neurons
Testing Hidden Assumptions Can Help Build Self-Validation
Young carers in Western Australia say care duties limit their childhood and studies
Behavioral parent training can help neurodivergent children, evidence suggests
