Facing Mighty Fears About Trying New Things by Dawn Huebner

Author:Dawn Huebner
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Jessica Kingsley Publishers
Published: 2022-04-21T00:00:00+00:00

Some additional tips

1. Make trying new things part of your family’s ethos. Have everyone talk about “something new I tried today” or create a giant poster each family member can contribute to. Keep it positive. Bravery is an admirable attribute, not a chore. Celebrate adventure, willingness, and effort, regardless of how things turn out.

2. Be aware of your child’s “comfort zone.” Then imagine a “growth zone” just beyond it. Your goal is to teach your child to move past apprehension and uncertainty, to take one small step into their growth zone. When a child does this often enough, it becomes routine.

3. Break challenges into small steps. Rehearse them with your child. It is far better for a child to successfully take a small step than to “fail” at a larger one. If your child balks, use the language of steps. You might say, “That’s a big step, let’s think of a smaller one.” Avoid all-or-nothing thinking. Even small steps signal progress.

4. Stay calm in the face of your child’s big feelings. Remember that anger is often a cover for fear. Empathize with your child, neither pushing past nor capitulating to their feelings. You’ll find additional resources about helping children manage big feelings at the back of this book.

5. Remember that much of your child’s apprehension is related to uncertainty. Normalize this. Help your child gather information, remembering that facts mitigate fears. At the same time, know that not all questions can be answered, and that needing to know every detail with absolute certainty is part of a broader anxiety pattern.

6. Be playful. Teach your child to imagine the “best case” scenario. Play the “what if” game in reverse, concocting outrageous, fanciful, wonderful possibilities. Laughing releases tension and relieves fear, making it more possible to move forward.

7. Refer back to the three steps often. They are the key to breaking free of the pattern your child is in.

You can do this. Your child can do this. I’ll be rooting for you.

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