Emotional Regulation for Teens: Increasing Agency
This session includes emotional regulation activities for teens, helping older students build agency by focusing on what they can control and taking one small action. They watch a short video, unpack a discussion about two students who respond differently to a disappointing grade, and play a quick game where they weigh two ways to handle a stressful moment. The takeaway is a practical control mindset for managing stress.
Extension activity
- Skill
- Self-Regulation
- Goal
- Managing Stress
- Grade level
- Middle & High School
Get everything you need to teach the skill
These materials are part of a no-prep session designed by our clinical team, with all the structure, scaffolding, and support you need to teach included.
Engaging materials
Video lessonIncreasing Agency
In this video lesson, students learn how to build a sense of control over their lives to reduce anxiety by cultivating a healthy control mindset, surrounding themselves with supportive people, and moving their bodies.
- Extension activity
Increasing Agency
In this interactive flashcard activity, students review what agency is, why teens can feel powerless, and how supportive people and physical exercise help them feel more in control and less anxious.
Plus everything you need to teach them
Warm-up
- Video: 4-7-8 Breathing2:13
- Video: Obstacles into Opportunities Visualization1:19
- Video: Yoga Pose Library
Session Opener
Guiding Question: How can a person increase agency?
Practice
- Discussion Question
- Role-Play Activity
- Mini Game
How to use it with your students
- 1Watch Play the video lesson so students see the skill in action.
- 2Practice Try the skill together with a discussion prompt, role-play, or mini game.
- 3Extend Use the extension activity to help students carry the skill further.
What's Covered
In this lesson, students learned that agency, the sense of having some control over their own lives, can help lower feelings of anxiety. They practiced focusing on the steps and actions within their reach when facing a hard situation, rather than dwelling on the parts they could not change. They also looked at how a healthy control mindset shapes the way they respond to setbacks.
Key Terms
- Agency
- Your ability to take meaningful action and have some control over your own life. When you focus on the steps you can actually take, you feel more in control and less anxious.
- Control Mindset
- Choosing to focus your thoughts on the parts of a situation you can actually act on, instead of dwelling on what is out of your hands. This shift helps lower stress because you see steps you can take.
Sample IEP Goal This Session Supports
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Managing Stress
Learner will recognize signs of stress in their own body or thinking (e.g., tight chest, racing thoughts, feeling overwhelmed) and apply a self-selected strategy (e.g., deep breathing, positive self-talk, taking a break) to manage the feeling in 4 out of 5 opportunities independently/given X prompt(s).
Send this tip home to support generalization
At home or in the classroom, when a student feels stuck about something stressful, try asking what one small action is within their control right now. Naming a single doable step can make a tough moment feel a little more manageable.
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More Self-Regulation Activities
Frequently asked questions
Is this intervention free?
Yes, this ready-to-teach session on Increasing Agency is free. You can access this intervention free for 14 days through the Everyday Speech Session Library. Every user gets three free sessions, but you can get more or extend your access by sharing the Session Library with friends and colleagues.
What ages is this for?
These materials are designed for middle and high school students.
What's included?
You'll get access to your choice of warm-up videos, a session opener, a core material on Increasing Agency, three practice prompts, and an extension activity, Increasing Agency.
What skill does this intervention teach?
This ready-to-teach session is on self-regulation - more specifically, managing stress.
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