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Pushing Through Fear:
Learn How to Identify and Help Your Child Cope with Anxiety

Up to 20% of children will struggle with anxiety, which makes anxiety the most common mental health issue that children face. But anxiety can be difficult to identify at times. Some children appear happy and well-behaved, while other children can be disruptive and act out.

Anxiety can come in many different forms. It can involve situations such as being shy or uncomfortable in public, being fearful about personal safety or the well-being of a loved one, concerns about germs or persistent worrying about many different things. When anxiety is left untreated, the problem often becomes worse, and for some, anxiety can even become debilitating.

Recording of Workshop:

(Video no longer available)

Recommended Resources

Websites:

Flashcards:

  • Feelings Flashcards by Todd Parr (I will usually hide them around the room, or use them as ‘stepping stones’ for the child to walk or jump on)... they don’t have to be used for “flashcard” only purposes
  • Feelings in a Flash, Emotional Intelligence Flashcards by Pint-Size Scholars

Books for Parents:

  • Helping Your Anxious Child, 2nd Edition (Rapee, Wignall, Spence, Cobham & Lyneham, 2008)
  • Freeing Your Child From Anxiety, Revised and Updated Edition (Chansky, 2014)

Books for Children:

  • What to Do When You Worry Too Much: A Kid’s Guide to Overcoming Anxiety (Huebner & Matthews, 2005)
  • What to Do When You Feel Too Shy: A Kid’s Guide to Overcoming Social Anxiety (Freeland, Toner & McDonnell, 2016)
  • What to Do When You Don’t Want to be Apart: A Kid’s Guide to Overcoming Separation Anxiety (Lavallee, Schneider & McDonnell, 2017)
  • What to Do When Your Brain Gets Stuck: A Kid’s Guide to Overcoming OCD (Huebner & Matthews, 2007)
  • The Anxiety Workbook for Kids: Take Charge of Fears and Worries Using the Gift of Imagination (Alter, Clarke & Burns, 2016)
  • The Worry Workbook for Kids: Helping Children to Overcome Anxiety and the Fear of Uncertainty (Khanna, Ledley & Chansky, 2018)
  • I Bet I Won’t Fret: A Workbook to Help Children with Generalized Anxiety Disorder (Sisemore, 2008)
  • Say Goodbye to Being Shy: A Workbook to Help Kids Overcome Shyness (Brozovich & Chase, 2008)
  • Scaredy Squirrel (Watt, 2008)
  • A Spot of Blue (Bos & Margolese, 2013)
  • Sam’s Big Secret Coping with Fear: Story and Tools (Margolese & Bos, 2016)
  • The Great Big Book of Feelings by Mary Hoffman and Ros Asquith
  • American Girls book: The Feelings Book (for older girls)
  • Lion’s In a Flap: A book about feeling worried by Sue Graves and Trevor Dunton (specific to anxiety)
  • Worries Go Away by Kes Gray and Lee Wildish (specific to anxiety)
  • Listening To My Body by Gabi Garcia (focuses on physical feelings in the body)

Apps:

  • Daniel Tiger Feelings Game (Might be a charge has option to play music based on feelings, sing songs, draw pictures, etc.
  • Touch and Learn – Emotions (Gives child choice of 4 pictures to choose from)
  • Breath, Think, Do with Sesame (teaches deep breathing and helps with problem solving)

This workshop was presented by Dr. Jennifer Long, Psychologist and Krystal Ratte, Psychologist. Dr. Long and Krystal Ratte focus their clinical practices solely on the assessment and treatment of children and adolescents.