Worried No More: Help and Hope for Anxious Children / Edition 2

by Aureen Pinto Wagner

Overview

About 13% or over 6.5 million children and adolescents in the US suffer from serious anxiety, making it the most common emotional problem in youngsters. Anxiety in youngsters is commonly misdiagnosed as attention-deficit disorder (ADD). The good news is that anxiety is the most treatable emotional problem. Success rates with early recognition and proper treatment are excellent! Countless parents, schools and healthcare professionals have come to rely on Worried No More to help youngsters with anxiety reclaim the joys of childhood. In her landmark and highly acclaimed book, Dr. Aureen Wagner brings scientifically proven and time tested cognitive-behavioral strategies into the everyday lives of children and families. Her creative, warm and user-friendly approach appeals to children and adults alike. She identifies the red flags and early warning signs of anxiety, and how to tell normal from problem anxiety. Worried No More is packed with information and valuable step-by-step guidance to help children cope with worry, school refusal, separation anxiety, excessive shyness, panic, disasters and tragedies, phobias, obsessions and compulsions.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780967734798
Publisher:	Lighthouse Press, Incorporated
Publication date:	06/01/2005
Edition description:	2nd ed.
Pages:	256
Product dimensions:	8.46(w) x 10.96(h) x 0.67(d)

About the Author

DR. AUREEN PINTO WAGNER is Director of The Anxiety Wellness Center in Cary, NC, Adjunct Associate Professor at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and member of the Scientific Advisory Board of the International OCD Foundation. Dr. Wagner is a clinical child psychologist, anxiety treatment expert and sought-after international speaker who is recognized for her unique Worry Hill(R) treatment approach. She is the author of several highly acclaimed books on anxiety and its treatment.

Table of Contents

Chapter 1	Children in the shadow	11
Chapter 2	The many faces of anxiety	14
Chapter 3	Anxiety: Normal and necessary	16
	Normal fears and anxieties in children and adolescents	17
	Normal rituals and superstitions	20
	Age differences in expression of anxiety	20
	When does anxiety become a problem?	21
	When does anxiety become a disorder?	22
Chapter 4	Anxiety problems and disorders in children and adolescents	24
	Separation Anxiety Disorder	24
	Generalized Anxiety Disorder	25
	Specific Phobias	26
	Social Anxiety/Excessive shyness	27
	Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder	27
	Pediatric Autoimmune Neuropsychiatric Disorders Associated with Streptoccocal Infections (PANDAS)	29
	Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder	30
	Panic Disorder	32
	"School Phobia"	32
	Which anxiety disorder is this?	34
Chapter 5	Disorders associated with anxiety	35
	Depression	35
	Tourette Syndrome	35
	Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder	36
	Autism and Asperger's Syndrome	37
	Trichotillomania	38
	Body Dysmorphic Disorder	39
	Delusions, hallucinations and psychosis	40
Chapter 6	The far-reaching effects of anxiety	41
Chapter 7	Warning signs and signals	44
Chapter 8	What causes anxiety disorders in children?	47
	The Fuel for Anxiety	48
	The Anxiety Triad	48
	The Vicious Cycle of Avoidance	49
	Reactions and responses of parents	50
	Stress	51
Chapter 9	Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy for anxiety	53
	Cognitive elements	54
	Behavioral elements	60
	Physical elements	68
	Can young children participate in CBT?	69
	Social Skills Training	71
Chapter 10	Medications for anxiety in children	74
Chapter 11	What parents can do to help	77
	The 3 P's: Proactive, positive and preventive	78
	The 3 S's: Security, structure and stability	80
	Self-reliance	82
	Communication	83
	Appropriate attending	84
	Corrective Learning Experiences	86
	Setting a positive example	91
	Unhelpful reactions and responses	92
Chapter 12	What school personnel can do to help	93
	Education and training	94
	Early detection	94
	Establishment of helping partnerships	95
	Assessment	97
	Consultation and appropriate referral	98
	Provision of a physically and emotionally safe environment	99
	Management of anxiety in school	100
	Preventive strategies	103
Chapter 13	Helping anxious children in school: An action plan	105
	Identify specific concerns	105
	Develop helping partnerships	105
	Conduct systematic assessment	106
	Consult and/or refer	108
	Define and prioritize target behaviors and goals	108
	Design problem-focused interventions	110
	Cultivate the child's treatment-readiness	111
	Apply interventions	112
	Evaluate and modify	112
	An action plan for School refusal/Separation anxiety	113
Chapter 14	Finding the right community partners	124
	Barriers to effective partnerships	126
	Working through the obstacles	129
	Engaging reluctant children	130
Chapter 15	Specific strategies for anxiety-related problems	134
	Normal anxiety	134
	Back to school anxiety	135
	Coping with trauma, tragedy, war and violence	136
	Separation anxiety	138
	School refusal/Tardiness	138
	Reassurance seeking	139
	Perfectionism	140
	Obsessions and compulsions	140
	Writing and reading difficulties	141
	Inability to complete assignments and homework	142
	Social anxiety/Excessive shyness	142
	Panic	143
	Difficulty shifting gears	143
	Refusal to speak in school	144
	Performance/Test anxiety	144
	Tics	144
	Meltdowns and explosiveness	145
	References	147
	Resources	149
	Support Organizations	151
	Forms and tools	153
Form 1	Corrective Learning Experiences Worksheet	155
Form 2	Parent-Teacher Log	157
Form 3	Home Behavior Observations	159
Form 4	School Behavior Observations	161
Form 5	My Thoughts and Feelings	163
Form 6	The Feeling Thermometer	165
Form 7	My Fear Ladder	167
Form 8	Exposure Progress Record	169
Form 9	RIDE Up and Down the Worry Hill Memory Card	171
Form 10	Facing My Fears	173
	Index	175

Editorial Reviews

Self-Help Book Recommendation, Association for Behavioral and Cognitive Therapies (2011)

A masterpiece! So clear and so practical, that this is the book every school must have and every parent of a child with anxiety should read and reread...provides priceless understanding of the process of excessive anxiety and how to control it.

-- John H. Greist, M.D., Distinguished Senior Scientist, Madison Institute of Medicine

A very helpful and practical book...immensely helpful to parents and teachers. I highly recommend it.

--Michael Jenike, M.D., Professor of Psychiatry, Harvard Medical School

A 'must read' because the book is accurate, clear and easily understood. It provides the practical answers that parents, teachers and counselors are looking for. The school chapter is particularly useful. Highlights are sections that focus specifically on what parents and schools can do to alleviate a child's anxiety. A hearty thumbs-up!

--The OCD Newsletter (Newsletter of the the Obsessive Compulsive Foundation)

An excellent, informative and valuable resource for teaching practical and problem-solving skills to professionals, parents and teachers...highly recommended to a wide readership. Dr. Wagner's book merits a prominent place for those who want a practical yet research-based way to effectively help children and adolescents.

-- The Reporter (Newsletter of the Anxiety Disorders Association of America)

From the Publisher

These two books build on each other. Written by a clinical psychologist specializing in cognitive-behavioral treatment for anxiety disorders, Help for Worried Kids introduces the topic of childhood anxiety disorders. The text opens with a discussion of the causes of childhood anxiety, its many "faces," and how to identify an anxious child. The second part is dedicated to the disorders themselves, with each chapter offering an in-depth examination that includes prevention, diagnosis, personal narratives, and advice on helping children gain control over fear and anxiety. A good selection of resources, check lists, and worksheets rounds out the text. This book is geared to concerned parents looking for help in determining whether their child's uneasiness is reason for concern. In contrast, Worried No More is geared not only to parents but also to school and healthcare professionals; it reads like a training guide for those with a daily need to understand and help children experiencing serious anxiety. Clinical child psychologist Wagner has a unique approach to making cognitive-behavioral therapy applicable to youngsters. As in the first edition, she begins by identifying normal fears and anxieties and considering when they become problematic. She then addresses the most common anxiety problems and disorders, discussing causes, therapies, and medications and what parents can do to help. Finally, she expands the strategies beyond the family to what schools can do. This book considers challenges and strategies in detail, carefully addressing how a parent can develop a systematic and goal-directed approach with the school to implement an effective action plan for the child there. Though both books are recommended for public libraries, Wagner offers far more tools, practical and well researched, for effectively helping anxious children and is recommended for academic libraries as well.-Kari Ramstrom, MLIS, Plymouth, MN Copyright 2005 Reed Business Information.

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