If you have a child with anxiety or OCD they are bombarded daily with horrible, upsetting thoughts. This sea of overwhelming images and ideas can drown kids and pull them into a dark abyss. It can be hard to cope with anxiety or OCD when you are constantly fighting these thoughts.
Kids will often ask what they can do to get some relief from these thoughts, images and ideas. One of the best weapons I have used in my practice is teaching kids to create a “world.”
How to Help Your Child with Anxiety or OCD Advocate for Themselves As much as we want to protect our child from anything and everything, it is important that we teach them how to advocate for themselves. This is especially true when our kids have anxiety or OCD. They need to know how to articulate how they feel and what they need. This is true […]
PSP 195: How to Help Your Child Maintain Progress with Anxiety or OCD So your child has just crushed their anxiety or OCD. You are feeling on top of the world and so are they. Now what? This is often when the ball is dropped. It is often when the seeds of the next infestation of weeds are left to grow, unchecked and unmanaged. But […]
Helping Kids Who Need to Take Medication for Anxiety or OCD Some kids will need to take Insulin to address their Diabetes, and some kids will need medication to help address their anxiety or OCD. But many kids and teens might feel nervous about the idea of medication. In this week’s Youtube video I talk about why some kids with anxiety or OCD need medication […]
Should You Tell Your Child They Have Anxiety or OCD? Many parents worry about telling their child they have anxiety or OCD. Some worry about potentially labeling their kids. Some worry that it will make their child feel different. Others worry about the stigma the child will face. In this week’s AT Parenting Survival episode, I dive deep into the pros and cons of telling […]
Empowering Our Kids with Anxiety or OCD to Help Themselves We want the best for our kids. We want our kids to blossom and live a happy fulfilling life. But when our kids start to struggle with anxiety or OCD we might think that rosy picture is gone forever. We might think we have to “cure” anxiety or OCD for them to be well again. […]
How to Stop Catastrophic Thinking in Kids with Anxiety What if you die while I sleep? What if I throw up at school? What if I trip and everyone laughs at me? What if an asteroid hits the earth? What if I fail this test and grow up to be homeless? Catastrophic thinking takes our kids out of the now and puts them firmly into […]
How to Help a Child with Anxiety or OCD Who has a Hard Time Making Decisions Kids with anxiety or OCD often have a hard time making decisions. This can be for many different reasons. An anxious child might worry that they’ll miss out if they make the “wrong” decision. They might not feel confident in their ability to make their own decisions. A child […]
Helping Anxious Kids Who Crumble Under Pressure Anxious kids crumble under pressure for a variety of reasons. They might worry about deadlines and school work. They might worry about the social pressures of being called on or being watched. They might fear being less than perfect or being worse than others. They might have difficulties making decisions, worried about picking the wrong choice. In this […]
Preparing Our Anxious Kids for an Uncertain School Year There is one thing for sure, next school year is completely uncertain. Will kids go back to school? Will they wear masks? Will school be online or in person? There are more questions than answers when we look ahead. So how do you help an anxious child who craves consistency and stability when reality is anything […]
Helping Anxious Kids Who Hate Losing The board game goes flying, the game control gets thrown or the ball gets kicked out of the yard. That’s how many anxious kids cope with losing, it’s just simply too much to handle. It’s not surprising that some anxious kids hate losing. Anxious kids can hold themselves to a higher standard than others. They must give their best, […]
How to Help Anxious Kids Help Themselves It is hard to watch our anxious kids suffer. It is hard to stomach their pain. It is very tempting to swoop in and protect them. To soften their fall. To protect them from feeling discomfort. But that is robbing them of the opportunity to build their skills. I find that the best way to help anxious kids […]
Moving our Kids with Anxiety or OCD from Dependency to Resiliency We all do things for our kids. But there comes a time when we do too much. We inadvertently send a message that they are not capable of doing things for themselves. Ironically this directly impacts their ability to independently fight their anxiety or OCD. In this episode of the AT Parenting Survival […]
Helping Kids Who Get Scared of Strange Noises “What was that?!” – is usually how it starts. A Bump. A thump. Anything unusual (or not that unusual) sends our children’s anxiety into a tailspin. Anxiety is on high alert. It is quietly scanning the environment for anything and everything that doesn’t sound “normal.” Unfortunately that includes noises like the air conditioning, the ice maker or […]
Three Ways to Help Anxious Kids with Picky Eating If your child is anxious, they are more likely to be a picky eater as well. This makes sense if you really think about it. Anxiety loves to scare our kids. It’s too dark. It’s too dangerous. Anxiety likes to whisper things about food too. It’s too chewy. It’s too smelly. What if’s like to have […]
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