Freeing Your Child from Anxiety: Powerful, Practical Solutions to Overcome Your Child's Fears, Worries, and Phobias (Paperback)

~ Tamar E. Chansky (Author) "From the children: When I was little my mom worked the "graveyard shift" at the hospital..." (more)
Key Phrases: Master Plan, Worry Bug, Meany Brain (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Review

"...the master of providing clear, accessible, practical advice and guidance for wise and loving care of the anxious child." -- Jeffrey M. Schwartz, M.D. author of Dear Patrick: Letters to a Young Man, Brain Lock, and The Mind & The Brain

"Freeing Your Child from Anxiety is an excellent book, one of the best of its kind." -- Judith S. Beck, Ph.D., University of Pennsylvania

Product Description

If you are the parent of one of the millions of children with worry and anxiety: help is on the way. Anxiety is the number one mental health challenge facing our children today. Fortunately, there is good news for these kids and the parents who suffer along with them - anxiety disorders are also the most treatable mental health condition. With the powerful cognitive-behavioral treatments now available, there has never been more hope for anxious children's bright future.

Treatment is not about trying to cajole or talk kids out of their fears; it's about teaching them to see worry as a problem to be solved. Translating cutting-edge techniques into down-to-earth, empathic, user-friendly steps, Freeing Your Child from Anxiety equips parents, teachers and therapists with the information they need to recognize the red flags of anxiety in children and how they can systematically overcome the obstacles that anxiety imposes.

Empowering and insightful, Freeing Your Child from Anxiety, gives children - from preschool to high school - the action plan and the tools to take charge, unplug from anxiety, and plug into sound, realistic thinking. Learning the lessons from parents, children can reduce anxiety and even prevent anxiety disorders from taking hold.

Part One includes a primer on causes and mechanisms of transmission of anxiety messages in the brain - the how, when and where of seeking help for your child - a chapter on the worry tricks the brain can play, and finally the five step 'Master Plan' for overcoming anxiety.

Part Two goes in depth, with separate chapters for each anxiety subtype: panic, separation anxiety, social anxiety, generalized worry, phobias, trauma, and obsessive-compulsive symptoms. Also included is a chapter on habit behaviors and conditions which are typically exacerbated by stress, tics and trichotillomania.

Part Three expands the focus to anxious children at school, and with friends and siblings. Because nighttime can be a very anxious time, a chapter on managing nighttime fears and sleep difficulties is included.

Anxious children are especially sensitive to real life stress such as coping with illness, death, crime, and terrorism. Strategies for how to constructively discuss these difficult topics are included in a separate chapter.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 320 pages
• Publisher: Broadway (March 30, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0767914929
• ISBN-13: 978-0767914925
• Product Dimensions: 7.9 x 5.1 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 6.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (31 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #1,491 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

  Popular in these categories: (What's this?)

  #2 in	Books > Parenting & Families > Parenting > Emotions & Feelings
  #5 in	Books > Health, Mind & Body > Mental Health > Anxiety Disorders
  #7 in	Books > Health, Mind & Body > Psychology & Counseling > Child Psychology > Development

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

64 of 64 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A must read, June 3, 2004

By	Lynne Siqueland (Elkins Park, PA United States) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This is a must read book for parents of children with anxiety disorders. So many books tell you what to do but this one tells you how to do it. Its chock-full of practical and useful examples on what to say. Dr. Chansky tells you how to talk to your child about anxiety in kid friendly and parent friendly language. She gives parents a way to understand what their child is experiencing so they can help. Dr Chansky also gives advice on how to handle lots of difficult day to day situations. Though written for parents, this book is a great help for therapists by providing a language to talk to kids and treatment guidelines for the different anxiety disorders useful for even the experienced clinician.

35 of 35 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A miracle for me and my 8-yr-old, March 22, 2005

By	Ginny S. (Baltimore) - See all my reviews

From the first page, this book gave me inspiration. I have two children with anxiety disorder and I learned right away that some of the ways I was trying to "help" were actually making them more anxious. After showing the books' illustrations and ideas to my son, we are now working TOGETHER against the anxiety. The results are nothing short of a miracle! My daughter's anxiety is under control with medication, but we will soon be trying to take her off, and we have the tools to help her.

23 of 23 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent advice for all who struggle with anxiety, May 6, 2004

By A Customer

This book is a pleasure - full of excellent, concrete advice about how to help your child master his or her internal "worry brain". But what surprised me is how much insight it gave me about how to handle my own worries and anxieties. Although written for parents, Dr. Chansky's insights and advice would be helpful to anyone who struggles with fears or phobias. Excellent resource, beautifully written.