The Anxiety Cure for Kids: A Guide for Parents and Children

This book is an excellent guide to communicating with a child about anxiety and learning to overcome it. My daughter embraced the book's concept of the dragon (an externalization of the anxiety she felt) and the wizard (the calm, rational voice that confronts the anxiety), which gave her the language to use in talking about her anxious feelings. The book's practical advice gave us strategies for coping. And the stories about other children and how they overcome their anxieties reassured my child that she was not alone in her struggles. Moreover, the authors provide essential background information and first rate advice about the treatment choices available to parents confronting these issues.

My 6 year olds therapist recommended this book to me to understand anxiety and different ways to handle it. Boy the Dragon is such a wonderful and easy way to deal with it. The therapist said "This is the anxiety Bible for young children" and I can see why she says that. I have never experienced anxiety in children or adults so this is starting me off from the beginning and I am getting a hold of it and tackling it quick. Great read for parents that do not understand anxiety!

My daughter (now 12) was diagnosed with Obsessive Compulsive disorder at age 9. Given that OCD is an anxiety-type disorder, and my daughter had always had fears and anxieties around certain things, I bought this book. We found it even more helpful than the OCD-specifc books. The etiology of anxiety and OCD are similar, and this book helps the child evoke the power of their own though process. By becoming the "boss" of their thoughts, they can reduce the power of their anxieties/obsessions. Basically, it takes the foundation of cognitive-behavior therapy and puts it into a kid-friendly context. Read the opening "Letter to Kids with Anxiety" to your kid. That's what I did, and she was hooked.

I can attest first-hand that the authors' methods of dealing with situational or specific anxiety in children works. My oldest son, now 14, had many fears, including thunderstorms and severe separation anxiety. We tried traditional "talk" therapy for many years with several different therapists, with no success. We finally found a cognitive therapist who was able to work with him with great success. My middle son has recently been in therapy with Elizabeth Spencer to handle anxiety about sleeping away from home, a problem he continued to have despite talk therapy with three different therapists. Elizabeth was able to get to the meat of my son's anxiety, help him understand why his brain was reacting the way it was, and what to do to overcome it. I'm please to report we had our last appointment today, and my son has had a summer of successful sleepovers and a week-long vacation, all without any anxiety.

I have read many books on anxiety as I have a 12 year old who has suffered with Anxiety for years. This book was by far the most useful, and well thought out. It gives you detailed information on what causes anxiety. It also gives you lots of infomation on the different solutions: When to seek professional help, what different medicines do. It includes specific tips to help your child. The use of the Dragon (Your Anxieties) and the Wizard (the smart guy that can help you overcome them) helped explain in my son's terms the feelings he as been having. Its like the light bulb went off for him. The journal keeping has been a huge help to him as he tackles his dragon. This book is a must have for parents of children suffering from Anxiety.