And as parents, we teach our children about water safety and road safety—we make sure they wear their armbands and that they know they must hold our hands and look both ways before crossing the road. But are we taking the time to incorporate body safety into our parenting conversations? I understand, it’s an intimidating topic to discuss. What should I say? How should I say it? I can’t even imagine anything bad happening to my child—it’s too scary to think about, etc. But avo

"It’s time for us to take the Worry Monster down once and for all and turn our worriers into warriors. Here are the 10 steps to do it:" Anxiety has become a regular part of our society and daily lives for our children (and ourselves). Worry and fear cause our children to feel bad, often cause parent-child conflict and stress, keep our children from fully experiencing life, and fully reaching their potential. As a psychologist, parent of worriers, and a pretty good worrier mys

"Worries are “What if?” thoughts. When children say them aloud, parents tend to respond with reassurance. “Don’t worry. That’s not going to happen.” If reassurance is going to work, it will work right away. But worry-prone kids are rarely satisfied with a quick bit of reassurance. Rather than trying to reassure your child, one coping strategy is to help your child vividly imagine other possibilities." Every worry-prone child I’ve ever worked with has had an exceptionally viv