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Helping Your Anxious Child: A Parent's Step-by-Step Guide
Paperback
Series: The Calm Mind, Book 13
General ParentingMental Health
Publisher: Independently Published
Published: Jan 15 2026
Pages: 262
Weight: 0.71
Height: 0.65 Width: 6.00 Depth: 9.00
Language: English
Your child's anxiety is loud. Your love is strong. But you're stuck between two fears: comforting them so much that anxiety grows... or setting boundaries that feel harsh.
This book gives you a third option: calm, practical leadership, so you know exactly what to say, what to do, and how to help your child build real confidence.
In Helping Your Anxious Child, psychologist Dr. Lila Hart blends evidence-based CBT, nervous-system regulation, and mindfulness into a step-by-step approach for real family life, school mornings, bedtime battles, reassurance loops, tantrums, separation anxiety, and more.
Inside you'll learn how to:
- Separate your child from the anxiety (the worry alarm) without minimizing their feelings
- Co-regulate first, so your child can borrow your calm until they build their own
- Stop reassurance spirals and accommodation with compassionate, clear boundaries
- Use scripts by age (preschool, school-age, tween/teen) for the moments that matter most
- Handle sleep issues, school drop-offs, social fears, needles/medical visits, night fears, sensory overwhelm, and screen-time anxiety
- Build gentle, consent-based exposure ladders that grow bravery without forcing
- Partner with teachers, address bullying safely, and know when to seek professional support
Plus: a full 6-week plan that tells you what to practice each week, so you don't have to guess your way through anxiety.
Includes printable tools and templates:
- Quick-reference Situation → What to Say / What to Do scripts
- Age-based script bank
- Exposure ladder worksheet + sample ladders (drop-off, social, bedtime, needles)
- Progress charts and a one-page weekly tracker
Important note: This book is educational and not a substitute for medical or mental health care. If your child is severely impaired, struggling with trauma, OCD signs, eating issues, or safety concerns, Dr. Hart encourages professional support.
Calm isn't a gift, it's a skill. And you can help your child build it, one brave step at a time.
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