Book excerpt: While growing up has never been easy, today's world presents kids and their parents with unprecedented challenges. The upside, posits Maureen Healy, is a widespread acknowledgment that emotional health, resilience, and equilibrium can be learned and strengthened. Healy is an expert on teaching skills that address the high sensitivity, big emotions, and hyper energy she herself experienced growing up. Three simple steps are key — Stop, Calm, and Make Smarter Choices. While not always easy, these steps are powerful, and Healy shows readers exactly how to implement them. Children move from acting out or shutting down, experiencing frequent physical symptoms such as head- and stomachaches, or hurting themselves or others, to recognizing they are being triggered, feeling their emotions, and using mindfulness strategies to respond from a calmer place.