Mr. Wells reached out to me about his new book and shared a copy. I liked this book with lots of exercises and tools for the young people in your life, your own teens included! It’s not meant to replace therapy but to provide some thoughtful activities and exercises for teens.
Here’s the scoop:
Many teens appear fine on the outside.
They keep up with school, show up for their friends, and answer “I’m good” when anyone asks. Underneath, something else may be happening. They feel overwhelmed, stressed, or stuck in their own thoughts, but they may struggle to put it into words and don’t always know what to do with it.
The Teens’ Guide to Navigate Emotions was created for this exact moment. It doesn’t lecture, it doesn’t label, and it doesn’t ask teens to explain what they’re feeling first. Instead, it gives them something they can use on their own, in their own space, at their own pace.
Inside, teens will learn how to:
- Calm Overwhelming Thoughts – Simple tools they can use when their thoughts start racing or emotions feel overwhelming
- Handle Stress in the Moment – Short, guided exercises that can help them reset and work through difficult moments
- Make Sense of What They’re Feeling – Reflection prompts that help them understand their emotions without judgment or pressure
- Build Confidence and Self-Esteem – Practical exercises for developing a stronger sense of self and feeling more comfortable in social situations
- Work Through Anger and Frustration – Strategies for recognizing intense emotions and responding to them more intentionally
- Strengthen Communication – Tools for expressing thoughts, feelings, needs, and boundaries more clearly
- Build Practical Coping Skills – Useful ways to handle anxiety, overthinking, stress, and other challenges as they come up in everyday life
- Feel Less Alone in What They’re Going Through – Relatable real-life examples that remind teens they aren’t the only ones dealing with difficult emotions
Created for ages 12-18, this 340+ page guide combines relatable explanations and real-life examples with 40+ CBT-based exercises and tools, including guided activities, action steps, and reflection pages. Teens can use the book independently or with support from a parent, caregiver, educator, counselor, or other trusted adult, giving them practical tools they can return to whenever they need them.
Me again!
(Just a note that CBT stands for Cognitive-Behavior Therapy, which primarily focuses on how your thoughts can affect your feelings and consequent actions).
This is a hefty book of over 300 pages and I’ll be gifting it to our school’s wonderful Student Support Clinician.
Thank you, Mr. Wells, for sharing your work with me!
About the Author:
Ethan Wells is an author passionate about helping teenagers better understand their emotions, build confidence, and develop practical skills for navigating life’s challenges. Inspired by his own experiences growing up, Ethan often reflects on how much he would have benefited from having access to the kind of emotional guidance and support he now hopes to share with others. That perspective inspired him to create resources that make emotional well-being feel more approachable, relatable, and manageable for young people.
Through his writing, Ethan aims to turn complex emotional concepts into simple, engaging, and actionable strategies that teenagers can apply to their everyday lives. Drawing on evidence-informed approaches, including Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT), he focuses on encouraging self-awareness, emotional resilience, and personal growth without overwhelming readers with complicated terminology. His hope is that every teenager who picks up his work walks away feeling a little more understood, a little more capable, and better equipped to handle whatever life brings their way.
