Parenting will be the most rewarding and underpaid job you will ever do. Unfortunately parenting doesn't come with a parenting manual. When you add anxiety and/or OCD into the mix, parenting can get pretty overwhelming. Don’t worry. We’ve got you covered.
Your daughter clutches her chest. She is struggling to breath. She is looking pale. Sweat gathers on her forehead. Her eyes fill with fear. You have seen this look before. In fact you see it multiple times a week. Your daughter isn’t having a medical emergency, she is having a panic attack. Having a child with panic attacks can leave you feeling powerless. How are you supposed to help a child who feels like they are dying?
Kids birthday parties. Play dates. Mommy groups. If those words create a small knot in your stomach you are not alone. Social anxiety is a major struggle, but when you add parenthood to the mix you can suddenly find yourself walking in a social minefield. Being a mom with social anxiety catapults you into a sea of social interaction that is hard to avoid. The guilt of not being social is now not only about you, but about your kids. Ouch. That makes it even harder to deal with it.
Your daughter comes home from school and half her eyebrows are gone. You are giving your son a bath and you notice a patch of hair missing from the back of his head. Your teenager picks at her skin until she creates scabs. This behavior can freak parents out! I know – it freaked me out. When scabs started showing up on my daughter’s forehead I didn’t know what to think. Why does she keep getting scabs in that one area? Then one day I saw her little hand digging deep into her skin. My heart sank. “What?”She said staring at me with big eyes. “I like to pick.” She said simply. She is not alone. Many of us have a child who pulls hair or picks skin. And many of us feel desperate to make them stop.
My name is Natasha Daniels and I am a Child Therapist and mother to three vibrant, challenging and insightful children who keep me on my toes! I have spent the last thirteen years working with children and families in my private practice Hill Child Counseling.
Kids are my passion – especially anxious kids and kids with OCD. Having been an anxious kid and now raising three anxious kids of my own, I get anxiety and OCD on a very personal level. I have dedicated my practice and my writing to helping kids with anxiety/OCD and their families.
I am the author of Anxiety Sucks! A Teen Survival Guide and How to Parent Your Anxious Toddler. I am the creator of AnxiousToddlers.com and AT Parenting Survival Courses for Anxiety and OCD. My work has been featured on various sites including Huffington Post, Scary Mommy and The Mighty.
I am humbled to have millions of parents, therapists and educators visit my site each year. The more education we can spread about childhood mental health, the better all our children will do!
I am an active member of the International OCD Foundation (IOCDF) and have attended their advanced OCD training through the Behavior Therapy Training Institute (BTTI). I also remain active with The Anxiety and Depression Association of America (ADAA).
Follow my work and subscribe to my podcast, my Youtube Channel and my weekly E-mail Newsletter. Join me in my Private Facebook Group for parents raising kids with anxiety and OCD.
