Tired of Anxiety A Kid’s Guide to Befriending Difficult Thoughts & Feelings and Living Your Life Anyway

by Coyne, Lisa; Cassidy, Sarah

• ISBN13: 9781803880808
• ISBN10: 1803880805
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2022-11-14
• Publisher: Pavilion Publishing and Media Ltd

Summary

Tired of Anxiety is a step-by step guide for children on how to do the things that matter to them despite anxiety. Based on principles of Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT), the book uses evidence-based clinical techniques and describes them in accessible, child-friendly ways to ensure that families have a toolkit for working positively with anxiety over the long term. By acknowledging that difficult thoughts and feelings are a normal part of being human, rather than something we must try to stamp down or wish away, the authors normalise the everyday struggles of anxious young people so that children can learn to ‘make friends’ with their own anxiety and get on with the more important work of actually living and enjoying their lives. The text is presented in a visually appealing style, with frequent opportunities to engage with the material and a suite of supporting audio meditations.

Author Biography

LISA COYNE is the Founder and Senior Clinical Consultant of the McLean OCD Institute for Children and Adolescents at McLean Hospital, Massachusetts, and an Assistant Professor at Harvard Medical School. She is the Founder and Executive Director of the New England Center for OCD and Anxiety, a Past President of the Association of Contextual Behavioral Science (ACBS) and the author of several books. SARAH CASSIDY is an educational, child and adolescent psychologist who specialises in the assessment and treatment of learning and emotional/behavioural difficulties. She is the Founder and Director of the Smithsfield Clinic, a private practice for young people and their families using largely ACT (Acceptance and Commitment Therapy) and RFT (Relational Frame Theory) treatment methods. She lectures in Psychology at Maynooth University and trains ACT therapists throughout Ireland.

Table of Contents

Introduction for parents or other trusted adults 1. Getting to know your anxiety 2. Our brains as threat detectors 3. More on mindfulness 4. Control and avoidance 5. Values and what you care about 6. Building a better compass 7. Letting go of the fight with anxiety 8. Other things you can do when Frank comes to town – defusion 9. More practice at stepping back from your anxiety 10. You are the place that your thoughts come 11. Really going after your anxiety 12. Nobody’ s perfect! 13. Commitment – saying yes and meaning it