Superheroes Aid Angry Boys

Superheroes have problems, too. Did you know the Incredible Hulk suffered physical abuse at the hands of his father? The beloved anime character Naruto was orphaned and shunned by his village. And Spiderman’s Uncle Ben was murdered by a thug. The natural feelings of anger welling up in all these characters ultimately resulted in their determination to, if not seek revenge, sublimate their feelings to the fight for good.

All children experience anger, and they should be encouraged to allow themselves these feelings. But when their emotions consistently emerge in extreme, disruptive and inappropriate behavior, we must teach them how to manage the feelings. Insisting her child stop having angry feelings , then yelling or punishing him when he expresses the emotion, is the most damaging measure a parent can take.  Anger

“. . . can be triggered by embarrassment, loneliness, isolation, anxiety, and hurt.” says Richard Niolon, PhD, Professor at The Chicago School of Professional Psychology and writer of PsychPage.

However, children displaying consistent, extreme anger problems that affect their everyday lives may have Oppositional Defiant Disorder. Youths challenged with this condition exhibit ongoing defiant behavior towards teachers, parents and other authority figures. More than likely, these children have experienced some sort of trauma, neglect or sense of powerlessness.

One of our therapists at Intercommunity Counseling Center took on a group of eight-year-old boys who had been acting out in home and school, and elected to use the idea of superheroes to progressively tackle their anger issues. Dr. Lawrence Rubin, PhD, wrote the book Using Superheroes in Counseling and Play Therapy, which describes creative methods to help children devise their own coping strategies after identifying with a favorite superhero. Like many angry children, most superheroes have a backstory. If a child discovers common ground with a particular character, he can learn how that hero resolved his own difficult history, then mimic the positive behaviors. They get to enjoy this process through drawings and creative imagery.

The Superheroes To the Rescue group formed by our counselor comprised children who consistently talked out of turn, yelled, fought, threw tantrums, broke the rules and generally had low impulse control. Learning their own triggers for anger was the first step, and sprang from a guided visualization: pretend you are stuck in Spiderman’s web, then identify what “bugs” you.

Next, the counselor helped the children to discern differences between appropriate and inappropriate responses to anger. In the moment, effective actions include taking a deep breath, taking a break, deciding what to do next, talking to someone or getting help.

Finally, the ICC therapist facilitated the boys in the creation of their own long-term coping strategies and cool-down techniques. They employed deep breathing, stress balls, hitting a pillow or other soft item, and talking to friends and parents.

“One hero that all kids were able to identify with was Superman, so we used his ‘super cool breath’ to demonstrate deep breathing as a calming technique. We also focused heavily on the Hulk and how to use ‘super strength’ for good rather than harm. We shared the Hulk's story of how he used his strength for bad to harm innocent people, break things, aggress toward others when he got angry and that it's normal because when we are mad, we tend to say and do hurtful things. But later he learned to channel that energy for good to save people's lives and learned to express his anger only for saving other people.” An offshoot of this study of the Hulk included using Hulk hands to smash away angry thoughts.

Within the group, one boy stood out among the others, both at the beginning and end of the process. This young man was so extreme, that even among the group of children with anger management problems, he became an outsider. At some point, he was eliminated from the group, but later welcomed back. Using the techniques suggested by our ICC therapist, he gradually became a standout in his excellence: he apologized for his behavior, became attentive, generous and encouraging of his peers. The boy has had no reported trouble since leaving the group. Nor have the other members.

Because of Intercommunity Counseling Center’s willingness to empower our therapists with the freedom to use new and inventive methods such as these, clients are more likely to function at an optimum level, affording them the potential for healthy, happy lives.