Your Anxious Child

Carolyn Broudy, MD is a psychiatrist who specializes in expecting parents and families with children 0-5. She is the director of The Family Connections Center in Northampton, MA (www.thefamilyconnectionscenter.com). In this interview she discusses the anxiety that natural comes with having an infant and some of the problems that parents encounter. She is an expert both infant development and in the psychological challenges of parenting.

The topic of anxiety in the preschool child is continued with an interview with Dr. Claudia Gold. She is a pediatrician and a writer and currently specializes in early childhood mental health. She is the author of The Silenced Child: From Labels, Medication and Quick-Fix Solutions to Listening, Growth and Lifelong Resilience, Keeping Your Child in Mind: Overcoming Defiance, Tantrum and other Everyday Behavior Problems by Seeing the World Through Your Child's Eyes and most recently The Developmental Science of Early Childhood: Clinical Applications of Infant Mental Concepts from Infancy Through Adolescence. More information about Dr Gold can be found on her website: claudiagoldmd.com  

Elizabeth Haske is a teacher and parent living in Sophia, Bulgaria who has just written a book for anxious children When Worry Takes Hold. In this interview we talk about her  new book which highlights the importance of mindfulness and breathing. We also discuss the special considerations needed when dealing with an anxious preschool child.

Beth Maloney is the author of Saving Sammy: Curing the Boy Who Caught OCD and Childhood Interrupted: The Complete Guide to PANDAS and PANS.    She has written two very important and helpful books describing and explaining how a strep infection can lead a child to develop OCD, tics and other difficult behaviors. More information can be found at bethalisonmaloney.com

Lesley Koplow, M.S., L.C.S.W. talks with me about what I consider to to be relatively neglected topic in discussions of anxiety which is the preschool child. She is the Director of the Center for Emotionally Responsive Practice at Bank Street College in New York City. Her book Bears Bears Everywhere! Supporting Children's Emotional Health in the Classroom will be a focus of our conversation. She has also written Unsmiling Faces: How Preschools Can Heal and Creating Schools That Heal:Real-Life Solutions.

Sharon Selby is a therapist who specialized in anxious children and she just written a book for parents and children, Surfing the Worry Imp's Wave. This is an important book for parents and children to read together in order to establish a common vocabulary and strategy for dealing with anxiety. Her book comes with supplemental activities and worksheets that are available on her website www.sharonselby.com

Dawn Huebner, PhD is a psychologist in Exeter, N.H. who has written several extremely popular workbooks for elementary school children dealing with anxiety, such as What To Do When Your Brain Gets Stuck: A Kids's Guide to Overcoming OCD. In this podcast, she discusses her new book, Outsmarting Worry geared towards 9-13 year olds. This book will an important resource for children in this transitional age where they have outgrown material that might have worked in elementary school but are not ready for more adult oriented books. Dawn Huebner has a distinct talent in speaking to children at their developmental level. 

Emily Hodos is a Neuromovement Consultant and Licensed Brain Gym Instructor. There are some anxious children who do not seem to make enough progress with psychotherapy. In this interview, Emily Hodos provides an additional consideration about your anxious child which is that there  may be some problem in their sensory and motor development which is playing a role. Interestingly, those children who have not integrated some of the reflexes they were born with, may have a more anxious disposition. In this interview, Emily Hodos explains this interesting perspective. More information about Emily Hodos can be found at Tendril Kinetics (tendril kinetics.com)

Denise Stack is the past president of the International OCD Foundation and has been a leader in bringing OCD into public awareness. She is talking today about how OCD may show up in the classroom and what teachers and parents can do in response.

Sebern Fisher, MA is an internationally recognized expert on the use of neurofeedback in the treatment of developmental trauma. She is the author of Neurofeedback in the Treatment of Developmental Trauma: Calming the Fear-Driven Brain. In this discussion she talks about when a parent should consider neurofeedback for their child. She also discusses how trauma of different types can create a "fear-driven brain". Neurofeedback is an important treatment modality that has something quite distinct to offer.

Lynn Lyons, LICSW is a psychotherapist in Concord New Hampshire. She has co-authored with Reid Wilson, PhD two books Anxious Kids, Anxious Parents: 7 Ways to Stop the Worry Cycle and Raise Courageous & Independent Children and Playing with Anxiety: Casey's Guide for Teen and Kids and more recently Using Hypnosis with Children: Creating and Delivering Effective Interventions.  She is is sought after speaker and consultant. Her website is lynn.lyonsnh.com where additional material, including DVDs can be found.

In this podcast we will talk about perfectionism in childhood with two psychologist from the Department of Psychology at Smith College. Do you have child who rips up her homework because it wasn't done perfectly? This may be the podcast for you.

Tracy Anglada is the parent of two children with bipolar illness and the author Intense Minds: Through the Eyes of Young People with Bipolar Disorder  and Brandon and the Bipolar Bear. She also has a website bpchildren.org which contains many useful resources including a 4 part webnair for teachers on bipolar illness. Her book Intense Minds is an extremely useful and important book in conveying what it is like for children for struggle with bipolar illness. In this interview we have the chance to talk about anxiety in children with bipolar illness which may occur in as much as 2/3 of all children with this condition and has some distinctive features.

Karen Levine, PhD is a Psychologist in private practice and Instructor in Psychology at the Harvard Medical Center. She and Naomi Chedd, LMHC have written several books including Replays: Using Play to Enhance Emotional and Behavioral Development for Children with Autism Spectrum Disorders and most recently Attacking Anxiety: A Step-by-Step Guide to an Engaging Approach to Treating Anxiety and Phobias in Children with Autism and Other Developmental Disabilities. Dr Levine practices in Lexington, MA and she can be found on the internet at drkarenlevine.com In this podcast Dr Levine will talk about how to help children with developmental challenges overcome their fears and phobias. 

Lawrence Cohen, PhD is the author of several books on the importance of play in parenting. His recent book the opposite of worry: The Playful Parenting Approach to Childhood Anxieties and Fears  is the topic of this podcast. More information is available at www.playfulparenting.com

Captain Tom Bunn, MSW, LCSW is a pilot who has flown for the Air Force and several commercial companies. He is also a licensed therapist. His book SOAR: The Breakthrough Treatment for Fear of Flying  has highly praised. You can learn more about his program at www.fearofflying.com

Alan Goldberg,EdD is a expert on performance anxiety and the author of two book, This is Your Brain on Sports with David Grand and Sports Slump Busting. His web site competitiveedge.com contains a ton of useful material including some informative videos. If you have an anxious child, it is quite likely you will run some performance anxiety whether it involves a sports event, a school play or perhaps dealing with a standardized test. You will get some useful ideas from this podcast.

This podcast is a departure from the usual 5 minute podcasts. Today we begin an occasional series of interview with professional with have a distinct perspective on helping anxious children. Dr Ken Talan is a child psychiatrist who has written a well received book Help Your Child or Teen Get Back on Track   and he currently teaches a  workshop for parents entitled "Parents Resilency Training-A Path To More Peace of Mind". Further information about Dr.Talan can be found on his website kentalan.com

In this episode I talked about the problem of what to do if your anxious child doesn't want any help.