A Kid's Guide to Overcoming Anxiety (What-to-do Guides for Kids)

This book can help provide a child with information and strategies to reduce anxiety.

The author first provides the child with reassuring insight as to why "worrying" sometimes becomes problematic for a person. The author then proceeds to outline a very child-friendly cognitive-behavioral plan for overcoming anxiety.

At our child and family counseling clinic, we use cognitive-behavioral therapy as one component of treatment, and we often use this book as an adjunct to therapy. For example, we might ask that the child and parent read the book together as a way to review some of the techniques that the child has learned and practiced in therapy. Taken home, the book serves as a concrete reminder of strategies to be used in daily life. I have had parents tell me that, after termination of therapy, their children ask to periodically read this book and do the exercises; some children have even lent the book to friends.

I believe that this book would also be good as a stand-alone book for parents to purchase for use with their own children. I would recommend that the parent and child read the book together, one section at a time, giving the child time between sections to reflect on the information and practice the recommended strategies. Keep in mind that just reading it will often not be sufficient; usually the parent will have to see that the strategies are actually used in day-to-day life, when and where they are needed. If the parent has difficulty doing this, then they might want to seek professional help, but this book will definitely give them a good start.

I highly recommend it. My child dove right into it, related to it, and really liked the activities. A good, easy read for any parent or child dealing with anxiety, with helpful, kid friendly techniques for working through it.

Absolutely the best thing for my 6 year old daughter suffering from PTSD after a major accident. I never thought she would be independent again and this book gave her the language and knowledge she needed to fight her worry bullies.

My 10yr old son started having anxiety issues following a long bout with illness. We did contact the local counseling center, but it was going to take 4 weeks to see the therapist (we live in a very rural area). We got this book hoping to find some way to help him deal with his worry. It made all the difference in the world. We would work on it a little at a time each day, and he would practice the skills. By the time we saw the therapist my son already had a "tool chest" of skills to use. He is doing well now and still practices the skills. I can't say enough good things about this book. If your child is having difficulty with worry, this should be the first book you go to!

There were two very good techniques we used quite successfully in about a week. The tomato analogy helped my little 10 year old worrier understand how repeating the same questions over and over was just making her worries bigger and bigger. We also set a specific time to discuss her worry and if she mentioned it prior, I just said, "is it time to talk about that yet?" And she learned to keep the worry in its designated space. This helped our family so much!

Helped kiddo be able to take control of his actions and "be in charge" of something. He has managed to kick most of his worry buddies to the curb. Love that her books help the kids understand their emotions in words and examples that make sense to them. Every time he reads one of her books he comes to me and tells me something new that he's learned.

This book has been fantastic. Within a few days we saw major improvements. "Worry time" has become a staple for us. I can't say enough good things about this book. It's like it was written specifically for my son!

Fantastic resource for children with anxiety. Book is written simply towards a child (a child could read on their own). But the book takes the topic of anxiety seriously. Tips for children are great ones. Highly recommend for children who worry a lot.

My daughter recently started having some anxiety. I went online to find some resources. I read all the reviews on this book and it didn't disappoint. My daughter looked forward to sitting down every night and reading this w/her dad and I. The book used examples that made perfect sense to my 10 year old and also did a great job of helping her dad understand anxiety (which if you've never had anxiety it's hard to really understand how debilitating it can be). It's taught us all some great tools to help her and given her the power to help herself! I would recommend it to everyone!

My daughter has been dealing with severe anxiety and this has been a blessing! highly recommend for any child who is struggling with worrying! She particularly loves the parts where you draw pictures relating to what you are learning.

To Dr. Huebner I extend my greatest, heartfelt THANK YOU for writing this book!!!! I purchased it just a week ago for my 12 year old daughter who has suffered with anxiety since the age of 3!!!!!! We are now on the road to 'recovery' in learning how to overcome worries through reading this book.

The book is so specific to my child that it is haunting (as if the author were in our home when she wrote it.) The experiences and feelings that go along with anxieties and worries were RIGHT ON TARGET from the child's perspective, to the parents response/frustration.

Truly this book is a blessing, as I am sure Dr. Huebner is to those who know her!!! This book has opened up a new communication channel with my daughter and I. As we huddle together to read and learn, we are drawn closer together, gaining strength to conquer her worries!

Dr. Heubner is WONDERFUL to have written such books that empower her readers!!!! My deepest thanks to this author.

If there was something, anything I could say about this author and her books that was negative...it would be a lie. I just can't believe how great her books are. We love them. They're helpful, kid and parent oriented, and always give such great correlations and ideas for helping kids. You have to love them. Buy one and you'll want to buy every book Dawn Huebnew writes. She's great! Her books are "the best." (No, I don't know her. No, I don't work for her.)

We purchased this book along with "Talking Back to OCD: The Program That Helps Kids and Teens Say "No Way" -- and Parents Say "Way to Go" and "What to Do When Your Brain Gets Stuck: A Kid's Guide to Overcoming OCD (What-to-Do Guides for Kids)" for our 7 year old daughter that suffers from intrusions (OCD) and anxiety. This is a great book for younger children. Our daughter likes the activities and the reminder that she isn't alone. These are great books!

A frightening book about anxiety: pictures of monsters, a fierce dog, a "worry box" with chains on it, a bad guy on TV - not just on TV but coming out of the TV. Some of the writing is also scary:

"Sometimes bad things really do happen, like someone dies or parents get divorced or your best friend stops liking you" (p. 19).

"If you are a child who worries a lot, you know that worries can make your body feel bad. Worries can cause a sick feeling inside. They can make your stomach hurt, and make your head ache, too. They can make you sweaty and cause your heart to pound. Worries can make you feel shaky or dizzy, like you are going to faint or throw up" (p. 22).

Terrible. Don't share this book with an anxious child.

My daugher has been struggling with excessive worrying for 3 years. We were recommedend What to Do When You Worry Too Much: A Kd's Guide to Overcoming Anxiety from a family member whose therapist even recommends it to adults because of the clear and easy to understand explanations and methods. It is wonderful. My daughter was amazed and said, "It is like someone has been living in my brain." It has helped us place boundaries on her worry, given her skills to "bully" the worries away, and she is going to sleep more nights without needing to come find me. She is winning the worry battle because if this book! Thank-you. As a note to parents, yesterday, we have also found that my daughter has PANDAS which is an OCD/tic disordered caused by strep. If your child suddenly has these symptoms along w/ any of the following problems like extreme separation anxiety, bed wetting, helucinations or other unexplained uncharacteristic behaviors after strep or other infections find a doctor who specializes in PANDAS...there may be a cure for your child!

This really helped my daughter. She was 6 when she was worrying like crazy. Some of the activities in the book helped her understand how to turn off her worries. It also help me verbalize what worries are to her and how they can interfere with life and school.

One work sheet had pictures of worry monster type things that she did get scared of (being 6) so we skipped those pages. It was a very helpful guide for me while we went through this.

This really helped my daughter. She was 6 when she was worrying like crazy. Some of the activities in the book helped her understand how to turn off her worries. It also help me verbalize what worries are to her and how they can interfere with life and school.

One work sheet had pictures of worry monster type things that she did get scared of (being 6) so we skipped those pages. It was a very helpful guide for me while we went through this.

My daughter, who is a known worry-wart really loved this book. She was a 6th grader who had to switch schools. She was having so much worry that she was sick to her stomach and vommiting. I even succomed to trying an anxiety medication. This book helped her through a tough time and the best part about this book is that it was funny! My daughter didn't feel alone after reading this book and it was a "Break-Through" in her over comming her anxiety.

I have taken my daughter to a therapist for anxiety, and this book has done more for my daughter in 2 weeks then 4 months of therapy. I can not say enough about this book. If I knew this book would help my daughter this much in such a short time, I would have bought it months ago and saved my money taking her to a therapist. I would give it 10 stars if I could

great workbook, concrete steps to help a child deal with worries by setting aside a "worry time"; imagining locking away worries for that worry time, etc. it gave my daughter more confidence that she had the tools to deal with her worries. i bought this book in conjunction with the story book "huge bag of worries." love them both

Really nicely written book to help little ones with their worries. It is written in a way that makes sense to a small child and is super fun to read too. My seven year old actually asks to read it when she gets home from school. Really a lovely book.

This is a wonderful tool for kids with anxiety. There are plenty of worksheets to do with you child that are entertaining. This book is all about the child. My daughter is 6 and has extreme anxiety about everything. She enjoys this workbook and enjoys the time we spend together reading it and going through the exercises.

Purchased for my second grade perfectionist. This work book has been very helpful to help her overcome her fears. She enjoys the worksheets and drawing areas in the book.She looks forward to practicing the strategies ,and is frequently participating in class room discussion since we have been reading this book. A great help!

My 10 year old daughter was having severe separation anxiety when she had to spend the night away from me for more than one night. This book was very helpful to her; she even took it along with her on her 5 day out of state trip. She loves the tomato plant metaphor, (that is if you "feed and water" your anxieties they continue to grow like a tomato plant)

Even after reading all the good reviews, I was still wary about whether this book would actually be helpful. Our son was worrying about everything and making himself physically sick. This book is easy to read and provides tips that actually do help. It truly did make a difference. We may not be worry free, but there has been a VAST improvement and it is great to see my son enjoying life more.

This book is incredibly useful in working with children who have anxiety disorders or who are just experiencing anxiety about a specific set of circumstances. I use this with my clients often-making copies for them and their parents. It has been very helpful in describing worry in such a way that they can understand. Highly recommend!!

My 9 year old has struggled with anxiety and getting easily angered. We started this book together this evening, and he didn't want to put it down. He's really enjoying the opportunity to sort out and express his feelings. He likes to draw, so this has been really fun for him too.

This is an excellent resource for helping children and pre-teens with anxiety. it had sections to draw your feeling after each chapter. Uses the "worry time" principle on allowing a set amount of time to worry each day for 15 minutes only. recommend it highly.

This book is outstanding, so much better than I could have hoped for. My 4.5yo is doing reading/math at a 3rd grade level. He has a few, very specific fears... he's anxious about whether we all get on the elevator at the same time at grandma's (though he can and has gone alone before), he's afraid of fire (because one time a spill on a burner made the smoke alarm go off), he's afraid of new playground equipment (even when he's done something just like that before). This book totally caught his attention, resonated with him, has become a part of our vocabulary for talking about these fears. The idea of the worry box (with visualization) and the set-aside worry time with a parent... so perfect. Helping us so much. I ordered any number of "worry" books and THIS is the one that is helping us.

This is an excellent little book that I bought for my oldest child, who really seems to get carried away with his worries and anxieties. He was diagnosed with ASD when he was 3, and, while greatly improved, still has some residual issues, worries and anxieties being some of them. This book has helped him so much, in part because he believes me now that OTHER kids worry too, not just him, and in part because it provides good strategies for dealing with worries.

When I have trouble with anxieties, rather than fight off negative thoughts, I kind of visualize them entering my mind, where I drop them on a leaf in a river and they float off into the distance. I tried to teach this to my son, but it wasn't particularly effective for him.

The ideas in the book worked much better with him. The idea of being strong against your worries, of treating them like a bully and defending yourself against them, is actually quite empowering. The idea that HE gives his worries power by tending them, like a tomato plant, makes him feel stronger each time he chooses NOT to spend time on a worry.

Anyway, I am so glad I came across this book, because it, in conjunction with a wave CD I purchased, has really reduced his anxiety about falling asleep.