Resources for Childhood Behavior/Anxiety Concerns
Toddler/Preschool age:
Behavior Concerns:
- Parenting the Strong-Willed Child by Forehand and Long
- Solve Your Child’s Sleep Problems by Ferber
Anxiety Concerns:
- Freeing Your Child from Anxiety by Tamar Chansky
- Breaking Free of Child Anxiety by Eli Lebowitz
Elementary age:
Behavior concerns:
- Everyday Parenting Toolkit by Alan Kazdin
- Your Defiant Child by Russell Barkley
- Taking Charge of ADHD (3rd edition) by Russell Barkley
Anxiety concerns:
- Freeing Your Child from Anxiety by Tamar Chansky (for more fear-based avoidance) or
- Freeing Your Child from Negative Thinking by Tamar Chansky (for “worriers”)
- Breaking Free of Child Anxiety by Eli Lebowitz
- Dawn Huebner series: What to do when you worry too much (anxiety) or What to do when your brain gets stuck (OCD-specific)
- The Relaxation and Stress Reduction Workbook for Kids by Lawrence Shapiro
*The “What to do when” series published by Magination Press are great for kids 6-10ish and cover all sorts of great topics like fear, anger, social skills, negative mood and more
Adolescents:
Behavior concerns:
- Your Defiant Teen by Russell Barkley
Anxiety concerns:
- The Shyness and Social Anxiety Workbook for Teens by Jennifer Shannon
- Talking Back to OCD by March
- Breaking Free of Child Anxiety by Eli Lebowitz
*Many of the workbook style “instant self-help for teens” series are great resources for teens
Other resources:
For any ADHD specific questions or concerns: https://chadd.org/for-parents/overview/
ATParenting Survival Podcast: childhood anxiety/ADHD by Natasha Daniels
ADDitude Podcast: childhood ADHD
These are just a sampling of resources – there are so many great resources available. But no matter what type of resource, you’re looking for something that promotes evidence-based principles, which means no guaranteed, miracle cures or making you feel bad about or scared of pursuing treatments recommended by research or your pediatrician. Good resources should focus on validating your experience and also helping you and your kids develop skills and supports to be successful over time. Feel free to watch my thrilling video about evaluating advice if it’s helpful: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jUXYLimaeKo&t=21s
How do I know if I need professional help?
Trust your gut and err on the side of getting support if it’s feasible – if your child’s anxiety, mood, academic functioning, or behavior are disrupting your daily routine, talk with your pediatrician about potential referrals for an evaluation.
A good therapist should be able to do an evaluation AND then give you clear, understandable feedback about:
- whether your child is outside of developmental norms and whether they meet criteria for specific diagnoses
- what kind of supports/intervention they recommend, including the type of therapy they use
- what the research support is for their proposed intervention and where you can get more information from major national organizations (for example: American Academy of Pediatrics, EffectiveChildTherapy.org, CHADD.org, Tourette’s Association of America, etc)
For some guidance on what kind of treatment you’re looking for or how to find a therapist, check out:
https://chadd.org/for-parents/overview/
spacetreatment.net