MINDFULNESS
7 Ways to Help Your Anxious Child
When children are afraid about the unknown (new school, new grade, new house, etc), how do you handle it? Do you reassure them and say, “it’ll be okay, don’t worry about it” or do you try to help them process their thoughts and feelings? Our children need to know we understand how they feel. Don’t try to fix the worry or dismiss it; instead, validate their feelings and empathize with them. Here are additional ideas to help you with this process. 1. Read: “The Very Hungry Caterpillar” to get your child thinking about caterpillars and butterflies. 2. Invite your child to draw a caterpillar, a cocoon, and a butterfly. 3. The other day I was helping one of my young clients with her fears. I decided to use my caterpillar/butterfly puppe
Got anxiety? Don’t relax!
As Sophia came into my office she said, “I don’t know what’s going on, but in the past few days I’ve been feeling miserable. My arms and legs are tense, my fingers and toes are numb, my stomach is in constant pain, and I feel like two walls are crushing my head on each side. My face feels like a dripping faucet of sweat and my heart is ready to jump out of my body anytime.” As I spoke with her, it was evident she was experiencing a severe anxiety episode that was lasting too long. She said she didn’t understand why it was happening; she denied having negative thoughts and was having a difficult time speaking. I had previously taught her some basic Mindfulness exercises and suggested we do them right then. We began with deep breathing as she
