Your Anxious Child

Kelsey Torgerson Dunn, LSCW has just published when anxiety makes you angry in which she describes how angry outbursts in teens can sometimes be an expression of anxiety. Her book describes how to recognize when anxiety may underlie explosive episodes and what the teen, parent and therapist can do to help. As she points out, the fight part of the fight-flight-freeze response to danger is often overlooked and this book helps correct that

Dr Jennifer Jo Brout is the Director of the International Misophonia Research Network. She is the author of several scientific publications as well as a book for parents Regulate Reason Reassure: A Parent's Guide to Understanding and Managing Misophonia She has online classes for parents, adults and clinicians at misophoniaeducation.com

Cammie McGovern is the author of three novels for adults and two for young adults. Say What You Will is her YA book that includes a character struggling with OCD. Her book Hard Landings explores the territory for children with autism once they age out of disability services at 21. Every parent with an anxious child struggles with how much to push their child and how to find the right balance between protecting and preparing their child for adulthood. Knowing the environment you are "pushing your child into" is helpful in conveying the confidence to your child that they can master the next step. Hard Landings is a discussion of the wider context in which young adults with autism may live and it speaks to the importance of a fit between the child and their environment. 

In this interview, I talk with two experts on the topic of hoarding. Randy Frost, PhD published the first scientific study of hoarding in 1993 and book Compulsive Hoarding and The Meaning of Things with Gail Steketee was a popular best seller. Eric Storch has published extensively on the topic of OCD and related disorders in children. He is a Professor in the Psychiatry and Behavioral Science at the Baylor College of Medicine in Houston Texas. 

Dr. Eli Lebowitz has developed a parent based program, SPACE (Supportive Parenting for Anxious Children's Emotions). This innovative program helps anxious children by working exclusively through the parent. It has been proven as effective as individual CBT for children. For more information and a list of SPACE providers go to www.spacetreatment.net

Interoception is one the hidden senses that provides us with information about how are body is doing. In this interview Kelly Mahler will explain how Interoception is critical to understanding you anxious child, how it the basis for mindfulness and much more. Kelly Mahler has written several books on Interoception such as The Interoception Curriculum  and My Interoception Workbook:A Guide for Adolescents, Teens and Adults with Chloe Rothschild and Jarvis  Alma. She has a web site with many useful resources on the topic of Interoception https://www.kelly-mahler.com

Sometimes phobias and other forms of anxiety can be the result of your child's sensory system overresponding or underresponding to sensory input. In this interview, Ruth Goldfinger Golomb, LCPC describes the way in which problems with sensory regulation can be reflected in emotions and behavior. Helping Your Child with Sensory Regulation: Skills to Manage Emotional and Behavioral Components of Your Child's Sensory Processing Challenges by Suzanne Mouton-Odum, PhD and Ruth Goldfinger Golomb, LCPC. This book compliments their earlier book Psychological Interventions for Children with Sensory Dysregulation by Ruth Goldfinger Golomb and Suzanne Mouton-Odum. Suzanne Mouton-Odum, Ph.D in Houston Texas at Psychology Houston, PC, The Center for Cognitive Behavioral Treatment. Ruth G. Golomb, LCPC is at the Behavior Therapy Center of Greater Washington. 

Dr Sharon Saline is an expert on ADHD in children and adolescents. Her recent book What Your ADHD Child Wishes you Knew: Working Together to Empower Kids For Success in School and Life  is based on her interviews of children with ADHD. It is a book with  compelling stories and practical advice. Today she talked about the experience of anxiety with children who have ADHD. 

Joan Lovett, MD has recently retired from active practice but graciously agreed to do this interview. She is a behavioral pediatrician who has written two books on using EMDR with children: Small Wonders: Healing Childhood Trauma with EMDR and Trauma-Attachment Tangle: Modifying EMDR to Help Children Resolve Trauma and Develop Loving Relationships.  Among other things she creatively uses story telling to help children resolve early traumas. Her books are useful for both parent and clinician.   

Tom Bunn is a return guest to this podcast where in an early episode he talked about the fear of flying based on his earlier book SOAR: The Breakthrough Treatment for Fearing of Flying. He recently published Panic Free: The 10-Day Program to End Panic, Anxiety and Claustrophobia which is the topic of the current interview. His creative approach to panic utilizes the latest insights from neuroscience. His approach is especially useful for panic triggered by infrequent events such as flying, thunderstorms, trips to the dentist and getting shots.