Knock Knock. Whose there? Anxiety! Anxiety loves to come knocking on your child’s door. In fact the very act of focusing on anxiety, causes anxiety to dig it’s claws deeper! That’s just cruel. So how do you help your child not focus on something that is wanting – no, DEMANDING their attention?
When you have anxiety or OCD – one of the biggest struggles is battling your thoughts. Constant thoughts. Nagging thoughts. Crippling, scary, overwhelming thoughts. They never stop. Teaching kids how to use mindfulness to cope with this relentless barrage of worries can be incredibly helpful. Mindfulness can help anxiety and OCD in many ways.
You have read all the anxiety books. You have filled your child up to the brim with coping skills for anxiety. You feel like you have done anything and everything to empower your child to crush their anxiety. So why do they refuse to use any of their coping skills? Why do they shutdown or worse, lash out when you try to offer them help?
Finding things that help kids with anxiety or OCD can be a challenge. Kids don’t always like to use the tools they are given and sometimes it can feel like nothing is helping.
One unexpected thing I have found to work incredibly well is…pets! Furry ones, wet ones, ones that tweet and ones that bark. Any and all pets can help kids with anxiety or OCD.
There are three words that can stop a parenting raising an anxious kid dead in their tracks. Back. to. School. Gulp. Going back to school is almost a universal struggle for those of us raising anxious kids.
Anxious kids have a hard time transitioning. They have a hard time separating, they have a hard time with stomach upset. All of which goes into high gear the minute school starts up again. The good news is there are some things you can do proactively to make the first day and the first months to come – more successful.
There is nothing harder than watching your child struggle. Unfortunately when you are parenting a child with anxiety or OCD you do a lot of that. And I mean a lot!
You made the decision that your child needs therapy. You talked to your partner about the benefits of child therapy and you are finally in agreement. You scoured your area for a good therapist. But now, your kid is refusing to go.
It can be so hard to watch your child struggle with anxiety or OCD. Perhaps you have read all the books and taught your child all the skills, but they are still not empowered to work on their issues. Empowering kids with anxiety or OCD can be an uphill battle.
Do you check for fevers nightly? Do you hear about lumps, bumps and sores? Does your child worry they are just hours away from impending doom and death? If this sounds familiar, you might be dealing with health anxiety. Health anxiety is not fun. It can make a child worry about every single bodily change.
Do you have a child with all or nothing thinking? If you do, you know what a rollercoaster ride that can be! I am having the WORST day. Fast forward two hours. I am having the BEST day ever! It is enough to give you whiplash. Seriously.
Do you have a child who always has to be perfect? Do they stress over being the top of their class, getting the most goals and making everything absolutely flawless. Sometimes when a child strives for perfection, they become even less successful. So, how do you help a child with perfectionism?
Do you have a “saver” at your house? A child who finds treasures on street corners and everywhere in between? It is normal for kids to love to collect things like rocks, leaves and small toys – but when does it cross the line? When are you dealing with children hoarders?
This week on the AT Parenting Survival Podcast we are dishing the dirt on how to tell the difference between developmentally appropriate behavior and hoarding behavior. I also talk about some concrete ways to help children hoarders not grow up to be an adult hoarder!
How often does your child partake in negative self-talk? How often do you hear things like:
I will never get that right!
I am so stupid.
You don’t love me.
I am so ugly.
I am such an idiot.
I always make you mad.
No one likes me.
I am so awkward.
I am so annoying.
Even if you aren’t hearing these thought out loud, many kids are constantly berating themselves silently.
Germophobia: How to Help Kids Who are Afraid of Germs There is an enemy lurking behind every doorknob, every toilet seat, every handshake and kiss. There is a deathly illness behind every shared sip and every shared bite. When kids are afraid of germs they live their lives like this. They live in terror that their next touch, taste or wipe will be their last. […]
Last week I had the pleasure of interviewing Dr. Ross Greene, the best-selling author of The Explosive Child. He is the originator of the Collaborative & Proactive Solutions (CPS) Model. We talked about how to help kids with anxiety and OCD using his approach.
Many people have asked me how his CPS model fits within the approaches of Exposure Response Prevention (ERP) and other strategies we often talk about on my site, in my podcast and on my youtube channel.
To help with this I have dedicated a podcast episode to exploring the use of CPS methods combined with strategies for helping kids with anxiety and OCD.
