Parenting Pointers: Anxiety-Free Kids

I recently had a chance to review ANXIETY-FREE KIDS: An Interactive Guide for Parents and Children by Bonnie Zucker, Psy.D., This book offers practical strategies for parents and children to work through to help relieve excessive anxieties and phobias.

Some worry is ok, but for some parents, they find that their children's worrying has gone to the extreme. The solutions are family-oriented, and this second edition offers two new chapters, on sleep and on parenting a child with anxiety.

If you have a child that's worryig too much, there are some things you can do. Dr. Zucker recommends:

·         Relaxing the body through calm breathing, progressive muscle relaxation, imagery, mindfulness meditation, and yoga

·         Conquering worries by using positive self-talk

·         Changing thoughts by recognizing thinking mistakes and errors

·         Facing fears through repetition, frequency, and prolonged exposure

·         Building confidence by strengthening self-esteem, discovering social power, and making proactive decisions

To learn more, and to help your child worth through his or her anxieties (and help you decide if it warrants professional help), check out the book!

About the Book: Anxiety-Free Kids (2nd ed.) uses a unique companion approach that offers two books in one—a practical, reader-friendly book for parents and a fun workbook for kids—this solutions-oriented guide utilizes the cognitive-behavioral approach to therapy and integrates the parent in the child’s self-help process. 

Research has shown that if left untreated, children with anxiety disorders are at higher risk to perform poorly in school, to have less-developed social skills, and to be more vulnerable to substance abuse. Covering the six most commonly occurring anxiety disorders—generalized anxiety, separation anxiety, specific phobias, social phobias, panic disorder, and obsessive-compulsive disorder—this book gives kids and parents successful strategies for achieving relaxation, conquering worries, challenging faulty thinking patterns, developing positive self-talk, and facing one’s fears.

About the Author: Bonnie Zucker, PsyD, is a licensed psychologist in private practice in Rockville, Maryland. Using a cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) approach, she has helped hundreds of children become anxiety-free. A respected psychologist in the treatment of anxiety, Dr. Zucker also is active in training mental health professionals on the treatment of anxiety disorders.