• Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar

Parenting Blog

...best job in the world

Dealing With Your Child’s Anxiety Problems

March 30, 2023 By Lor

child talking to father
If your child has anxiety problems, what are you supposed to do? As a parent, your instinct may tell you to shelter him or her from whatever it is that is causing the anxiety. That is what I would do. But is it the right thing to do?

According to Bruce Hirsch, a counselor at the Frostig Center in Pasadena, CA, the first step in dealing with a child with anxiety problems is to go slowly. He notes:

The first thing I do, especially with an anxious child, is to go very slowly. Because if you immediately focus on their anxiety, you’re going to make the child more anxious. I try to create a very non-threatening environment. If they don’t want to talk much, that’s okay. They may want to do a little drawing instead, or play a game. Then I usually test the waters because all kids are different. I might say, “Gee, Mom and Dad said that you have a lot of trouble falling asleep at night, what do you think about that?” If the child withdraws at that point, I don’t push. Other kids may be relieved that someone’s finally addressing the anxiety so that they can talk about what’s going on.

I totally agree with this approach. What I said in the beginning of this post – sheltering the child – may not be the best wording possible but the idea is the same. At the outset, support and acceptance is what a child with anxiety needs.

What is your take?

Originally posted on April 26, 2008 @ 7:54 pm

Filed Under: Emotions, Relationships

Lor

Primary Sidebar

Categories

Parenting Resources

  • Baby Mum-Mum
  • BBC Parenting
  • Child proof your oven
  • Customer Service Call Centers
  • Daddy Drama
  • Eco Child’s Play
  • Environmom
  • Families.com
  • Metro Dad
  • Mindful Momma
  • My Sweet Babboo
  • NextGen Parenting
  • Parenting tips
  • Parenting.org
  • Peanut Butter and Jelly
  • Raising Kids
  • Raising Small Souls
  • The BlogFathers
  • The Parenting Post
  • Waste-Free Lunches