How parents encouraging their anxious children to face their fears can be helpful and healthy

I know some might be thinking is it good to encourage our children with anxiety? We don’t want to push them too far and cause their anxiety to spiral in a negative way, but we want to help our children. I have two children that suffer from anxiety. It’s at times a major thing for them…a lot of it is socially related stemming from an incident that happened in middle school to my oldest. Before that, they didn’t have this anxiety.

It’s tough as a mom to sit back and watch them struggle with them. We’ve gotten them the help with a counselor and all. They’re getting better with it.

Now when helping a child with this you don’t want to shove them into something fast. Go slow. Let me repeat that so that everyone can hear it. GO SLOW. This makes it easier for the child to face the ear without being overwhelmed so much.

Another thing you want to do is to go at their pace. Never make a child face their fear. I don’t care what it is. This is a big no-no. Make it clear to them that you will be right there with them as they face their fear.

Encourage them. I don’t care if you think you look like a dork. BE A DORK! Cheer them on. Let them know how brave they’re being.

Pray over them.

It can be so helpful for your child to know that you’re on your side. The boost of confidence it will give them will be the best thing ever. It might take 10 times for them to get up enough courage to do face the fear, but you know what else they will gain confidence. Confidence that they’re safe and also in you. They’ll know they can come to you with anything and you’ll be there.

Allyson is a published author, blogger, wife and mom to 4 kids. Three of her children are on the autism spectrum. She suffers from anxiety and panic attacks. On her blog, you can find her writing about being an author, her faith, and family. She resides in Indiana with her loving husband and four wonderful children, dog, and three cats. She’s addicted to knitting and coffee.

You can follow Allyson on her website, Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest and Instagram.

2 thoughts on “How parents encouraging their anxious children to face their fears can be helpful and healthy”

We are all unique and have different levels of fear. I love how you say “GO SLOW” when helping a child with anxiety. That works for adults, too. Trying to rush things along will only worsen the situation. Great message.