Seven Steps to Help Your Child Worry Less: A Family Guide (Seven Steps Family Guides) - Softcover

Hagar PhD, Kristy; Goldstein PH D, Dr Sam; Brooks PhD, Robert

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1886941467 ISBN 13: 9781886941465

Publisher: Specialty Press/A.D.D. Warehouse, 2003

Synopsis

This guide for parents offers practical strategies to help teach children relaxation techniques, correct ways of thinking to combat worry and anxiety, and empowering behavioral interventions. Parents are encouraged to understand why children worry and to recognize if a child needs help with excessive worry. Explained are how to create a plan to help a child, effective strategies to reduce worry, and how to build a child's self-esteem and confidence so he or she can become more resilient. Additional guidance for medical professionals and for teachers is provided.

About this title

About the Author

Sam Goldstein, PhD, is a clinical neuropsychologist and faculty member at the University of Utah. He is the author of Raising Resilient Children. He lives in Salt Lake City, Utah. Kristy Hagar, PhD, is a pediatric neuropsychologist at Children's Medical Center and an assistant professor in psychiatry at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center. She lives in Dallas, Texas. Robert Brooks, PhD, is on the faculty of the Harvard Medical School and is the coauthor of Raising Resilient Children. He lives in Boston, Massachusetts.

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.

Seven Steps to Help Your Child Worry Less

A Family Guide for Relieving Worries and Fears

By Sam Goldstein, Hagar Kristy, Robert Brooks, Richard A. DiMatteo

Specialty Press, Inc.

Copyright © 2002 Sam Goldstein, Ph.D., Kristy S. Hagar, Ph.D. and Robert Brooks, Ph. D.
All rights reserved.

ISBN: 978-1-886941-46-5

Contents

Introduction Seven Steps to Help Your Child Worry Less, 
Step 1 Why Do Children Worry?, 
Step 2 When Your Child Needs Help, 
Step 3 Geting Started: Helping Your Child Become an Active Participant in the Process, 
Step 4 Strategies to Reduce Anxiety, 
Step 5 Developing a Plan and Putting it Into Action, 
Step 6 Keeping the Plan in Place: Common Problems and How to Solve Them, 
Step 7 Instilling a Resilient Mindset in Your Child, 
Conclusion Mastering Worry, Fear, and Anxiety, 
Resources, 
Index, 
Special Addendum One A Guide for Medical and Mental Health Professionals Using the Seven Step Approach, 
Special Addendum Two Helping Children Worry Less: A Guide for Teachers, 

CHAPTER 1

STEP 1

Why Do Children Worry?

What is Worry?

As noted in the previous chapter, children can worry about many things. Although the kids on Bonneville Street each had different worries, varying in intensity and evoking different reactions, they all had one thing in common — they experienced a sense of uneasiness or discomfort about something that could happen in the future. They worried because they were uncertain about what would happen, or they worried because they made a prediction about what was going to happen that had an adverse or less than favorable outcome. For example, Lisa worried about the family trip (uncertainty), Marty worried about the next time he went to the dentist (the visit might be deadly), and Kathy worried about failing tests (bad outcome).

Why is worry important?

Worry can be considered a normal response to many situations. If children didn't worry (even slightly) about doing well — say, on a math test — then it is likely that they would not learn or perform as effectively. Mild worry can be a motivator to take action such as preparing for a speech, studying for a test, or training for a sports competition. A certain degree of worry also serves as protection and self-preservation. Children's worries about their own safety and the safety of their loved ones are common and can hopefully assist them in making choices that will keep them out of harm's way.

What is Fear?

Worry associated with harm as the result of a specific animate (e.g., animal) or inanimate (e.g., airplane) object, leads to fear. Fear is often accompanied by physical symptoms, including changes in heartbeat, blood pressure, and hormones. In the extreme situation, this is referred to as a phobia. A phobia results in a specific, isolated, and persistent fear of a particular object, animal, or person. Fears become phobias when efforts to avoid the perceived fear significantly interfere with daily life.

Temporary fears are common in children — many being age- or time-specific. Some begin with a startle reaction to a certain event during infancy or toddler years, and, in some cases, progress to simple phobias. Many years ago, a psychology researcher, John Watson, attempted to develop a phobia in little Albert, a young child. He exposed the child to a white rat and simultaneously banged a pot with a metal spoon behind the child's head. The child was startled and cried. After only seven of these exposures, whenever the child saw the rat, he began to cry. Fortunatel

Edition details

• Publisher: Specialty Press/A.D.D. Warehouse
• Publication date: 2003
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1886941467
• ISBN 13: 9781886941465
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 109