If your child seems to experience their emotions intensely or has frequent meltdowns, you’re not alone. Many parents struggle when their child has difficulty calming down, especially if they also tend to throw tantrums.

These challenges can be frustrating and exhausting, but there is a solution. Pediatric occupational therapy can help your child learn how to develop healthy coping strategies. Keep reading to find out how our team can help your child build the skills they need to manage their emotions and behaviors more effectively.

What Is Emotional Regulation?

Emotional regulation is the ability to understand, manage, and respond to our feelings in a healthy way. If you’ve ever been angry and took a deep breath to calm yourself down, you were practicing emotional regulation.

When a child has trouble with emotional regulation, they might overreact to small frustrations or feel overwhelmed by situations that others might handle calmly. For example, they might have a meltdown when asked to stop playing or when things don’t go their way.

Learning how to regulate emotions is key to helping your child cope with stress, frustration, and disappointment in a healthy way.

What Is Behavioral Regulation?

Behavioral regulation is closely related to emotional regulation, but it involves how well a person can control their actions, especially in response to their emotions. If you’ve ever been frustrated with someone but chose to walk away instead of arguing, you were practicing behavioral regulation.

Children who struggle with behavioral regulation can give in to impulsive or disruptive behaviors such as hitting, yelling, refusing to follow directions, or throwing things during a tantrum. These behaviors are often a result of struggling to manage intense emotions and can cause problems at home, in school, and with friendships.

Many Conditions Can Lead to Trouble with Emotional & Behavioral Regulation

A lot of times, there’s an underlying condition that makes it difficult for children to regulate their emotions and behaviors. For example:

  • Autism spectrum disorder (ASD): Children with ASD may struggle with sensory overload, leading to meltdowns or shutdowns.
  • Sensory processing disorder (SPD): Children can also experience emotional and behavioral challenges if they have trouble with different sensations in their environment, like bright lights, loud noises, or rough clothing.
  • Developmental delays: The ability to regulate your emotions and behavior are developmental skills. If a child has a developmental delay, it can make it more difficult for them to self-regulate.

Pediatric Occupational Therapy Can Help Children Learn Self-Regulation Skills

The good news is that pediatric occupational therapy can help children improve their emotional and behavioral regulation. Our expert therapists use activities and strategies to help children understand their feelings, develop healthy coping skills, and learn how to manage their responses to different situations.

Occupational therapy also focuses on helping children become more aware of their bodies, emotions, and surroundings, which can reduce sensory overload and improve their ability to stay calm and focused.

Through guided play, sensory integration techniques, and calming exercises, we can teach children skills they can use in everyday life to manage big emotions and make better behavior choices.

Reach Out to First Steps for Expert Support

If your child struggles with emotional or behavioral regulation, our team at First Steps Pediatric Therapy is here to help. We offer expert pediatric occupational therapy services to help children develop the self-regulation skills they need to thrive.

Call us today at (720) 989-0179 to schedule an evaluation and find out how we can support your child’s development and overall well being.