Book Nook - Anxiety Coach: A Parent’s Guide to Treating Childhood Anxiety and OCD

 Prominent Researcher and Psychologist for supporting children and families experiencing Anxiety, Phobia, or OCD, Dr. Stephen Whiteside is the author of the upcoming book, Anxiety Coach: A Parent’s Guide to Treating Childhood Anxiety and OCD (Mayo Clinic Press / April 16, 2024). He works with parents on exposure treatments and helping children manage the new feelings they are experiencing.

I had a chance to review the book, which I thought would be helpful for my older daughter, who struggles with some anxiety issues, especially with certain tasks or changes in routine.

This book was largely based on walking parents through the steps of exposure therapy. The idea is that by preparing kids to face their fears in small, controlled doses, they'll build the coping mechanisms they need to eventually face them in "real world" situations.

This is actually something we had instinctively been doing with my daughter, and something that makes a lot of sense - but is most effective when done properly, so it's a good idea for parents to know that exposure therapy really entails. While some parents may be able to do it successfully on their own, there are obviously situations when you should be working with a professional.

If you have a child with anxiety, and want to learn more about how exposure therapy can work, along with specific examples, this book can be a great resource. Parents and guardians obviously have much more time with their kids than therapists or psychologists would, so knowing how to effectively use this strategy can go a long way towards helping kids make progress!

Stephen P. H. Whiteside, Ph.D. is a Board-Certified Clinical Psychologist, Professor of Psychology in the Mayo Clinic College of Medicine and Science, and Director of the Pediatric Anxiety Disorders Program at Mayo Clinic in Rochester, MN. He received a BA in Psychology from Northwestern University and Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology from the University of Kentucky before completing a pre-doctoral internship in Pediatric Psychology at the Geisinger Medical Center and a post-doctoral fellowship in Child and Family Medical Psychology at the Mayo Clinic. His research focuses on improving access to evidence-based care for pediatric anxiety disorders and obsessive-compulsive disorder through the development of effective and efficient treatments facilitated by technology. He has received research funding from the National Institutes of Health, the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, the International OCD Foundation, and the Mayo Clinic Center for Innovation. He has published over 80 scientific articles, co-authored the books Exposure Therapy for Child and Adolescent Anxiety and OCD, Exposure Therapy for Anxiety: Principles and Practice (2nd Ed), and Mayo Clinic Anxiety Coach: A Parent’s Guide to Treating Childhood Anxiety and OCD.