Around 15 per cent of children are thought to suffer from anxiety disorders, the most commonly identified emotional or behavioural problems among children. Based on techniques developed and practised by the authors, this book teaches parents how to use cognitive behavioural techniques with their children and in so doing, become their child's therapist, helping them to overcome any fears, worries and phobias. It addresses specific fears and phobias as well as general anxiety and 'worrying'; and provides step-by-step practical strategies; includes case studies, worksheets and charts. It is based on the authors' experience at their anxiety disorders clinic at the University of Reading and developed from a programme based on working almost exclusively with parents.

2007-04-12 Informative and Practical Guide

This book is a wonderful guide to children's fears and worries and what parents can do to help. This book manages the extraordinarily difficult task of condensing about 100 years of theory, research and practice into fear and anxiety into a short, concise and parent-friendly book. Part one of the book describes commonly diagnosed anxiety problems with case studies to illustrate, and then moves on to look at how genetics and learning contribute to the development of anxiety. Finally, there is a summary of the main thought processes that anxious children have that maintain their anxiety. Any parent of any educational background will find this distillation of the research literature easy to read and understand and it sets the scene for the practical advice in part 2 of the book. Part two is the self-help program itself and being delivered by two of the UK's leading child clinical psychologists, who both work in one of the top child anxiety clinics in the UK, you won't be surprised to learn that this section is fabulous. They guide the parent through spotting their child's anxious thoughts, challenging those thoughts and also useful techniques such as helping children to face their fears and problem solve. This section is all grounded in academic theory but is written for parents. The material is extremely accessible: throughout the book the authors illustrate the techniques with case studies, check lists, charts and guides. The final section addresses specific problems such as sleep disturbance and school avoidance as with the rest of the book offers practical and easily followed advice. To sum up, this is a lively and extremely practical book with which parents will be able to engage. The material reflects the vast experience of the authors but is pitched at exactly the right level for any reader. It is practical, empathic and comforting: reading it is like having your best friend sitting next to you telling you that 'everything will be Ok'. Any parent with an anxious child knows how distressing it can be, and how helpless you can feel to deal with the problem, this book is their lifeline.