PSP 333: Should You Tell the School About Your Child’s Anxiety or OCD?

PSP 333: Should You Tell the School About Your Child’s Anxiety or OCD?

Parents often ask me if they should tell the school about their child’s anxiety or OCD. The answer isn’t a simple yes or no. There are things to consider. Like does their anxiety or OCD impact their academic performance or ability to function at school? Is there a chance that they will be mislabeled or misunderstood due to their anxiety or OCD? In this week’s AT Parenting Survival Podcast I explore the areas to consider when weighing the pros and cons of telling the school about your child’s anxiety or OCD.

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How to Teach a Child with Anxiety or OCD to Advocate for Themselves

How to Teach a Child with Anxiety or OCD to Advocate for Themselves

There may be times that our kids have to advocate for their needs when it comes to their anxiety or OCD. Learning how to find their voice and communicate their needs is a huge skill that will benefit them throughout life. When our kids depend on others to advocate their needs they can become disempowered. Learning how to be their own voice can take time. These skills don’t show up overnight, rather they are built one small step at a time. Advocating their needs doesn’t mean everyone caters to anxious avoidance or compulsions. It means they know what help they need to excel. They know what environmental factors are impeding their progress. They know what tweaks can be made that will make them thrive – and they voice them. In this week’s Youtube video for kids and teens I discuss why it’s important to advocate for their anxiety or OCD needs and how to start doing it!

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How to Help When Your Child’s Anxiety Gets Triggered by Other Anxious People

How to Help When Your Child’s Anxiety Gets Triggered by Other Anxious People

Your child has spent a lot of time and energy learning how to cope with their anxiety. Perhaps they feel like they can finally manage their anxiety. But then someone near them starts to spiral out of control. Anxiety can feel contagious, especially when someone near them is panicking. How can they be around them, while keeping themselves grounded? In this week’s Youtube video I talk to kids and teens about ways to keep their own anxiety in check when someone near them is anxious.

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PSP 331: The Biggest Misconceptions Parents Have About Child Anxiety and OCD Therapy

PSP 331: The Biggest Misconceptions Parents Have About Child Anxiety and OCD Therapy

When your child is in therapy or you are searching for an anxiety or OCD therapist, you might have expectations and assumptions about how treatment should go. Often those expectations and assumptions are inaccurate. I invited therapists Dr. Josh Spitalnick and Marti Munford from Anxiety Specialists of Atlanta, to sit down with me on the AT Parenting Survival Podcast to discuss the most common misconceptions they see among parents.

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Helping Kids with Anxiety or OCD and Sensory Processing Issues

Helping Kids with Anxiety or OCD and Sensory Processing Issues

Helping Kids with Anxiety or OCD and Sensory Processing Issues This episode is for educational purposes only and is not intended to replace the guidance of a qualified professional. Anxiety and OCD don’t live in a bubble. Often kids with anxiety and OCD have sensory processing issues as well. It can help to understand what is sensory, what is anxiety, what is OCD and what […]

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PSP 330: Tips to Travel Internationally With Kids with Anxiety or OCD

PSP 330: Tips to Travel Internationally With Kids with Anxiety or OCD

When your child is struggling with anxiety or OCD it can feel overwhelming to travel internationally. How will their anxiety handle all the change? Will their OCD be triggered? Helping our child with anxiety or OCD is a marathon not a sprint, and life should still be lived and enjoyed. In this week’s AT Parenting Survival Podcast I discuss my tips, tricks and hacks to traveling internationally with kids who have anxiety or OCD.

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PSP 329: What to Do When Your Child with OCD or Anxiety Won’t Discuss it

PSP 329: What to Do When Your Child with OCD or Anxiety Won’t Discuss it

Often parents give up before they even start because their child with OCD or anxiety refuses to talk. It is easy to think there is nothing you can do if you can’t get your child to discuss their anxiety or OCD. But there is always a place to start, always.

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When Your Child’s Faced with Anxiety or OCD Struggles Do They Give Up Before They Begin?

When Your Child’s Faced with Anxiety or OCD Struggles Do They Give Up Before They Begin?

How does your child talk to themselves when faced with anxiety or OCD struggles? How they show up to these anxiety or OCD issues can make all the difference. Do they cheer for themselves or do they cheer for anxiety or OCD? In this week’s Youtube video I talk to kids and teens about how our internal dialogue around anxiety or OCD is crucial.

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PSP 328: Dealing with School Refusal with Dayna Abraham 

PSP 328: Dealing with School Refusal with Dayna Abraham 

School refusal can be one of the hardest aspects of anxiety or OCD. It can impact so many areas including your child’s education and your employment. With everyone so stressed, it can be hard to respond in an intentional, effective way. That is why I brought Dayna Abraham, author of the new book, Calm the Chaos, onto the AT Parenting Survival Podcast. She has a talent for breaking things down into simple steps.

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PSP 327: Reducing Inflammation to Improve Mental Health

PSP 327: Reducing Inflammation to Improve Mental Health

We are hearing more and more about how inflammation is implicated in many mental health issues including anxiety and OCD. But what does that mean? Are there ways we can see if our child is struggling with inflammation? Are there things we can change in their diet or lifestyle that will reduce inflammation?

I don’t know those answers, but I do know someone who does! That is why I invited Dr. Ann Kulze, a renowned physician and founder of the Healthy Living School to come and talk to us. Dr. Ann has been featured on the Dr. Oz show, Oprah and Friends Radio, Time, and WebMD sharing her expertise in this area.

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Social Anxiety vs Shyness

Social Anxiety vs Shyness

Social anxiety and shyness are not the same. Yes, many people with social anxiety also struggle with being shy, but one is not the other. People struggling with social anxiety (myself included) have the fear of judgment, criticism and rejection. We are consumed with what people think, if we belong and how we fit in. Some people with social anxiety are shy, but many are not. In this week’s YouTube video I talk about the difference between social anxiety and shyness.

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PSP 324: How to Help Kids with Anxiety or OCD Transition to College

PSP 324: How to Help Kids with Anxiety or OCD Transition to College

How to Help Kids with Anxiety or OCD Transition to College This episode is for educational purposes only and is not intended to replace the guidance of a qualified professional. Going to college can bring a mix of emotions. Many kids feel excitement and some trepidation. But kids with anxiety or OCD can be overwhelmed with the transition. They can worry about being far from […]

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PSP 323: Raising a Child With Chronic Health Issues and Anxiety or OCD

PSP 323: Raising a Child With Chronic Health Issues and Anxiety or OCD

It can be difficult having a child with both chronic health issues and anxiety or OCD. Often there is a symbiotic relationship between them. Anxiety and OCD can hijack health issues and make them worse. Stress and worry make health issues worse. It is a vicious cycle that some kids struggle to break. In this week’s AT Parenting Survival Podcast I talk about how to help a child with both chronic health issues and anxiety or OCD.

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This Grows Social Anxiety (Is your child doing this?)

This Grows Social Anxiety (Is your child doing this?)

The fuel that grows our child’s social anxiety comes from the assumptions they make. Sometimes it isn’t the social interaction itself that is the struggle, it’s what they tell themselves afterwards that can be immobilizing. In this week’s YouTube video for kids and teens I discuss a common behavior that grows social anxiety and how they can avoid doing it.

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PSP 321: How to Create Effective Social Anxiety Exposures

PSP 321: How to Create Effective Social Anxiety Exposures

Social anxiety shows up differently for each person. Social anxiety is about the fear of rejection, criticism or embarrassment, but it goes much deeper than that. The core fear can be different for each person. I am raising three kids with social anxiety and have social anxiety myself. However, our core fears are all different. In this week’s AT Parenting Survival Podcast I’ll explore the many faces of social anxiety and how to craft effective social anxiety exposures based on those fears.

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