Making Sense of It All: Anxiety, Parenting, and What Actually Helps
Real world reflections from the clinic, the home, and everywhere in between. For parents navigating anxiety and big emotions in their kids.
The Threat Telescope: Understanding Your Child's Anxiety in the New Year
As we step into 2025, many of us are reflecting on how to better support the anxious children in our lives. One concept I find particularly helpful is what I call the "Threat Telescope."
Imagine your child is holding a telescope backwards. Just as this makes distant objects appear smaller, anxiety does the opposite – it magnifies potential threats while shrinking the view of resources, support, and coping abilities. Through this threat telescope:
- A class presentation becomes a guaranteed humiliation
- A playdate morphs into a minefield of social rejection
- A maths test transforms into a measure of their entire worth
- A new situation appears impossibly overwhelming
But here's what's crucial to understand: Each child's threat telescope is uniquely calibrated. Some children might find social situations particularly magnified, while others might zoom in on academic challenges or changes in routine. This is why a one-size-fits-all approach to anxiety support often falls short.
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