Chapter 5 - Same Old Worry, Very Different Responses

Ack! Where did the last week go? Thank you all for continuing to read and share reflections - great conversations on Chapter 4 - please be sure to check them out and provide feedback!

Chapter 5 is a meaty chapter that may push you a bit out of your comfort zone, but I use these strategies with students ALL the time and they can be very effective!  Here are the main concepts:

• Externalize the Anxious Worries - this is talking to your worry and even naming it to give it a character. I usually try to get students to name it something that makes them giggle because that helps to take its power away!
• Ways to talk to Worry: Expect it, Take Care of It, Boss it Around. Each may work better in certain situations.
• They talk more, you talk less - this helps us as parents to NOT get over-involved and instead empower our kids to be problem-solvers.  Coaching, without reassuring the worry.
• Beware the content trap - instead cue to externalize.

Take action:

• Watch out for "safety chatter"
• Plant the seeds of externalizing and talking back to Worry
• Model the process of talking back to Worry

Good luck!