Helping Your Anxious Teen

Book excerpt: "... thoughtful tools for helping young people help themselves." —Library Journal Parenting a teen isn't easy, but parenting an anxious teen is especially challenging. Written by a psychologist and expert on adolescent anxiety, this essential book will show you what really works to overcome all types of teen anxiety and how to apply specific skills to support your teen. Most parents find it frustrating when common sense and logical methods such as reassurance don’t seem to work to allay their teen’s anxiety. They want to know: Why is anxiety so hard to get rid of once it takes hold? Why aren’t my efforts to help working? And how can I best help my teen break free from anxiety to become happy and resilient? This powerful book, based on cutting-edge research and cognitive behavioral strategies, will help you develop the know-how to effectively manage teen anxiety. You’ll learn the best ways to support your teen in overcoming problematic thinking and fears, discover what behaviors and coping strategies unwittingly make anxiety worse, and understand how anxiety is best defeated with surprisingly counterintuitive methods. Step-by-step guidance, along with numerous real-life examples and exercises, will help you to: Sensitively redirect your teen’s worries when they intensify Reduce social anxiety, perfectionism, and panic attacks Proactively address common triggers of stress and anxiety Implement a proven approach for decreasing avoidance and facing fears From overcoming minor angst to defeating paralyzing fear, you and your teen will feel empowered by radically new ways of responding to anxiety. With Helping Your Anxious Teen, you’ll have a wealth of research-backed strategies to lead you in being an effective anxiety coach for your teen.