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teeth." Alternatively, "Well, you have been (worried or upset) millions and zillions of times before, and you never died because of it."

The Time Projection

In a time projection, you have the child imagine his life after the "awful and terrible catastrophe" (after the feared outcome or consequence). For example, how the child’s life would be after losing the basketball game. The student imagines his life one month, six months, or one year into the future.

Help the Student Understand that Her Belief System is Unique

Another cognitive technique that we can use to minimize a perceived "terrible and awful" event is to help children see that every person’s belief system is unique. Ask, "How would 100 people react if they failed this test? Would they all be equally upset?" When the student acknowledges that each individual reacts differently, we can make apparent that it is the child’s individual reaction to the event what is causing her feel upset or angry (Zionts, 1996).

The Search for Control Technique

When the student claims that another child made him angry, look around on the floor pretending that you lost something. When the student asks, you answer, "Yes, your control… Somehow, you have lost your control over your feelings. We all have the ability to control how we feel, but somehow you have lost yours. How else could someone make you angry?" (Wilde, 1996, p. 62)

Help Anger-Prone Students Understand that Anger Control is a Source of Power

Develop in the student the belief that anger control is a source of personal power. Tell the child that, when we get angry with another person, we give control of our feelings to that person, making that person powerful. On the other hand, when we keep our self-control, and we do not let an external event or another person dictate how we are going to feel, we become the powerful person. Self-control means that we are in control of our own anger, and that we only experience the feelings that we choose to experience.

The Trust Me Technique

Use this technique to bring out to students’ attention that they are the ones deciding who influence their thinking. In the following example, Maria is upset because Dennis called her "retarded" (adapted from Zionts, 1996):

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