As adults, most of us generally understand what being anxious or having anxiety means and how it feels. Adults may understand what another adult, therapist or a doctor may tell them about anxiety, but what about your children?
How Do You Tell Your Children About Anxiety in a Way That They Will Understand?
Summer Batte, an author, magazine editor and mother, faced her own challenges with this for many years. Summer’s daughter displayed signs of anxiety early on. As a parent you realize that while professionals are great, they don’t live with your children on a daily basis. They don’t see or speak to or have to work through the daily changes in a child’s behavior. Parents need to become the expert – the professional so to speak.
Summer spent time through the years researching and compiling every bit of information she could on anxiety and how she could help her child. This research and witnessing as a parent how adults spoke to her child about anxiety, led her to write her own book “Name and Tame Your Anxiety”.
This Book is Written in a Language For Kids
It details how parents can speak to their children about anxiety. How parents can let their children know there is nothing wrong with them for feeling the way they do – but on the child’s level, not using only medical terms and clinical language.
Part one of “Name and Tame Your Anxiety” discusses “Understanding Anxiety”, what it is, what causes it and the types a child may have. Part two, “Taming Anxiety” discusses how to not let your anxiety take over. This section also explains therapy and what a child may expect in a therapy session as well as medication and what can be expected if medication prescribed. Part three discusses “Talking About Anxiety” and how you can help your child self-advocate for themselves as they grow into an adult.
In this podcast episode, you will hear Summer and Annette discuss the book “Name and Tame Your Anxiety” and how it came to be as well as the best tips to help your child with anxiety.
Order your copy of the book “Name and Tame Your Anxiety” HERE
Listen to the full episode here!
Annette Hines has been practicing in the areas of Special Needs, Elder Law, and Estate Planning for more than 20 years. Ms. Hines brings personal experience with special needs to her practice and podcasts as the mother of two daughters, one of whom passed away from Mitochondrial disease in November 2013. This deep, personal understanding of special needs fuels her passion for quality special needs planning and drives her dedication to help others within the special needs community.