Changing the Family Dance

Lynn Lyons

Anxiety can be a very persistent master. When it moves into families, it takes over daily routines, schoolwork, and recreation. To make matters worse, the things adults (including many therapists and school staff) do to help anxious children can actually make the anxiety stronger. Fortunately, research shows that what we teach children about risk, danger, uncertainty, and problem-solving makes a huge difference in whether they go on to become anxious or depressed teens and adults. In this workshop, you’ll explore concrete counterintuitive strategies that normalize worry for families, including how to help children, teens, and their families:

• Expect worry to show up and talk to it
• Learn to be unsure and uncomfortable on purpose
• Stay focused on what they want, not what they want to avoid
• Remember their skills and strengths to keep moving forward

Lynn Lyons, LICSW, specializes in the treatment of anxious families and is the coauthor of Anxious Kids, Anxious Parents and Playing with Anxiety: Casey’s Guide for Teens and Kids. She’s the author of Using Hypnosis with Children: Creating and Delivering Effective Interventions.