Helping Your Anxious Teen: Positive Parenting Strategies to Help Your Teen Beat Anxiety, Stress, and Worry

This book coveys the message that powerful change can happen when we are brave and step into unknown. There are many books available in the market about teen anxiety, however this book is the most helpful in terms of clarity of text and conveying the message so clearly. I have read this book twice in order to help my daughter cope with her generalized anxiety. Scenarios and examples provided at the beginning of each chapter are very realistic and activities throughout the book are very helpful. My daughter was able to apply the strategies and manage some of her anxieties and fears related to perfectionism during high school phase.This book is divided into 10 chapters and starts with an introduction on adolescent fears and their anxieties. Then it talks about tips and strategies about what to do and not to do in order to help a teen as a teacher or parent. Next chapters go into details about various forms of anxiety including tried and tested strategies from Dr. Josephs many years of practice in this field. My favorite part is the last chapter that creates a road map for parents to apply Cognitive Behavior Therapy principles that can potentially prevent a teen from developing an anxiety disorder.Parents of middle school and high school kids would benefit from this book because it teaches strategies in Cognitive Behavior Therapy that can help a teen getting past being scared so they can learn new things.

I came across this book three weeks ago and I haven't been able to put it down ever since. I have lived with anxiety for the past four years... and I have read many books and done a lot of research on the subject with hopes to find ways to help me cope with my anxiety, but I haven't come across quite anything like this book. I have found it to be very easy and straightforward to read, but at the same time concentrated with useful knowledge and techniques essential to overcoming anxiety. I have been practicing these techniques whenever feeling very anxious, and I have to admit that I have already noticed some changes on how I react to daily stress... This book has helped me realize that I always have a choice to "step back" and reflect on whatever may be happening at that given moment, and then make a decision on how I react to it. I am so happy that I found this book.

THANK YOU for writing this book. I now have tools in my toolbox that I didn't have before and have needed. The sample statements and questions throughout the book will be so helpful for a new way to communicate in an empathetic way that then also allows me to challenge thinking with my teen. Developing a "ladder approach" to identify the teen's fears and develop an exposure approach to face them step by step will be so helpful. I can't say enough good things about this practical and helpful guide.

This book offers practical advices, not just theories. It teaches parents what to say and do. Highly recommend.

Pleased

This is an incredibly helpful book for any parent with an anxious child. It is an easy read with so many tools to not only help , but understand your child. I highly recommend this book.

Although this book is for parents, I have also used it as an educator with students struggling with anxiety. As the parents of two very anxious children, one who also has OCD, Dr. Joseph’s book not only helped me to understand my teenager daughters’ anxiety but practical advice on how to help them cope. I love the way the book is organized so that I could easily access the chapters relevant to the issues my daughters have (perfectionism, panic, worrying). They both read certain chapters with me and found the techniques easy to understand and apply. This book opened the door of communication and we have had ongoing conversations since reading it together I feel that I have become more patient and understanding now that I understand how their fears take over making them feel powerless. In turn, my daughters have learned how to recognize their fears and make a choice on how they will respond to them. I highly recommend this book to parents of teens who struggle with anxiety. As both a parent and an educator for over 20 years, this has been one of the most helpful and practical books I have read on dealing with anxiety.

Reading “Helping Your Anxious Teen” is as reassuring as having a consultation with an experienced therapist. Dr Josephs anticipates your questions, helps you understand your child’s anxiety, and most of all, gives you practical advice for parenting. As a psychologist, I especially like the tone, format, and clearly presented cognitive-behavioral information in the book. The author has a kind, empathic point of view while giving clear steps for parents to handle their child’s anxiety. There are a few phrases that stuck in my mind, such as, “to beat anxiety, we have to do the opposite of what it wants us to do”. There are chapters focusing on worrying, avoidance, social fears, perfectionism, irritability, panic, and stress in the family. You can read the whole book, or look immediately at the area most concerning to your child. This is one of the most useful self-help books I have read in a long time. I will be ordering waiting room copies and recommending this book to parents!

Thanks

Just hope it helps

I thought that the book was very easy to read and understand. The tips are already starting to help our teen.

very well written, practical parenting book

This book couldn't have come at a better time for us. My son had been extremely anxious on the run up to his end of year exams. Accompanied by a whole host of irrational fears. The book helped us to understand that simply saying "don't worry everything will be fine", is far from helpful!!! Packed with practical tips to help combat the many forms of anxiety that children face daily.