N OT E WO R T H Y
WINTER WARMER SHEDS LIGHT ON WORRY WOES
1 2 3 4 5 6 7
4
5
6
7
Mary Duty, Tim Morris, Suzanne Cabot, Susan Tejpaul, Molly King Kelly Corroon, Jenn Burraway, Jane Jackson Marvin and Evelyn Batres, Dr. Art Jenkins Michael Hyman, Jennifer Grant-Hyman Lin and Michael Liu Renee and Jim Farrell Giorgio and Mariella Cuccolo
FA L L 2 0 1 6
This year’s Winter Warmer brought parents together to learn more about the number one mental health disorder in the U.S.—anxiety. Featured speaker Lynn Lyons is a licensed clinical social worker and psychotherapist who specializes in the treatment of anxiety disorders in adults and children. She is also the co-author of Anxious Kids, Anxious Parents: 7 Ways to Stop the Worry Cycle and Raise Courageous & Independent Children. Ms. Lyons’ engaging presentation focused on breaking the generational cycle of worry and techniques we can use to help our children tackle anxieties head-on. Ms. Lyons explained that the tendency to worry may have a genetic component, but it can also be learned. In other words, a worried parent can create a worried child simply by exhibiting behaviors that reflect their anxieties. “Pay attention to what you are modeling. What you say matters,” she said. Ms. Lyons also explained, “Anxiety demands certainty and comfort.” As parents, it is tempting to address the situation prompting anxiety in our children. She advised that rather than helping children address an anxiety-provoking situation, or the content of their worry, parents should help children change the process of their worry. For an anxious child, the content of their worry will change over time, but the process will not. While one in eight children in the U.S. has a diagnosable anxiety disorder, Ms. Lyons was clear that parents can have a positive impact on managing and reversing their children’s tendency to worry. “The good news here,” she said, “is intervention works.” By teaching a child how to constructively manage anxiety, parents are helping their children make changes that will have a long-term positive impact on their lives. Ms. Lyons recommends seven steps to achieving this: expect to worry, acknowledge the worry when it is present, face uncertain and uncomfortable situations on purpose as a way of moving forward, breathe to help relax and aid mind/body connection, know what you want to achieve, take action on your plan, and reflect on prior successes. With support from and positive role modeling by parents, these seven steps have proven to ease anxiety and help children (and adults) mitigate their daily stresses.
13