Casey, the fourteen year old narrator, knows just what it's like to be miserable. It started slowly: backing away from birthday parties, avoiding the Fourth of July fireworks, leaving before the end of movies. By second grade, stomach aches and tantrums before school seemed as common as strawberry jelly on toast. Then, just before her fourth grade chorus concert-as her mom was braiding her hair-Casey puked. No concert. No post-concert ice cream with her friends. Only a night filled with tears. Everything changed that next morning. Casey and her mom had had enough! The days of being timid were over. They got mad and decided then and there to solve the puzzle called worry. Casey expresses a serious commitment to the task, but couples it with feisty, irreverent humor, as she releases a gaggle of characters and their stories. The narrative offers cautious kids (and their sometimes worried, often frustrated parents) a realistic guide for stepping into the new and scary experiments that arrive at each developmental stage, right up through the teen years. Will her frightful encounter with the snarling dog keep her forever from walking to the bus stop, or the ominous storm clouds end her fun at the water park? Will an asparagus-dog with cheese get her into the clubhouse-building project? Can you really talk to your worry like it's a squirrel? Will Lindsey's coaching to "loosen up and scream" actually help her handle the scary-but-awesome one-minute and fifty-two second Yankee Cannonball roller coaster? In PLAYING WITH ANXIETY: CASEY'S GUIDE FOR TEENS AND KIDS, the companion book to Reid Wilson and Lynn Lyons' parenting book, ANXIOUS KIDS, ANXIOUS PARENTS: 7 WAYS TO STOP THE WORRY CYCLE AND RAISE COURAGEOUS & INDEPENDENT CHILDREN (HCI Books, 2013), Casey includes stories of everyday encounters-imagining warm chocolate chip cookies coming out of the oven, brother Elliot's MARSH MAN comic book-as well as surprising feats-the accidental discovery of Post-it Notes, Benjamin's uncle Steve's jump from the helicopter, blind Eric Weihenmayer's climb of the Seven Summits-to show the reader how to face the trials of the middle years. Contents: Table of Contents Introducing Myself Chapter 1: A Glob of Caterpillars Pull Your Back Brakes First! Boo Runs Scared Be Afraid—Be Very Afraid Spray, Slap, and Play Dead Chapter 2: Don’t Climb That Tree! Wearing Your Genes Mom Decides to Change Her Ways Chapter 3: Stop the World! I Want to Get Off Imagine That! A Cooked Spaghetti Noodle Taking the Stage Chapter 4: Great Expectations Oh, Hello, Worry! You Again? Chapter 5: Chatting with the Squirrel A Mouse—On My Shoulder Chatting with the Squirrel “I Know You’re Just Trying to Do Your Job” Knocking a Fly Out of the Park Chapter 6: Becoming Unglued What DOESN’T Work The Blind Leading the Blind Not Knowing, and Then Growing Why You Should Change Your Mind Chapter 7: Taking Your Brain for a Walk Stepping into It on Purpose Chapter 8: I Say Uncomfortable, You Say Vomit Gripping onto Fun Cooling Out How Not to Do It Bridget’s Way Chapter 9: Wrestling with Asparagus “Hang On… We’re Going In!” Wrestling with Asparagus How to Enjoy the Movies You Can Get There from Here The Best Present Ever Chapter 10: Chutes and Learners The Reminder Bridge Santa Claus Eats an Ice Cream Taking the Sting Out Chapter 11: Answering the Bell A Hasty Retreat How Not to Be Alarmed Chapter 12: The Show Must Go On! And Then What Happened? About the Authors: Reid Wilson, PhD, is Clinical Associate Professor of Psychiatry at the University of North Carolina School of Medicine. He is author of Don’t Panic: Taking Control of Anxiety Attacks and the coauthor of Stop Obsessing! How to Overcome Your Obsessions and Compulsions. Lynn Lyons, LICSW, is a licensed clinical social worker and psychotherapist in private practice and a sought-after speaker and consultant. She specializes in the treatment of anxiety disorders in adults and children, including generalized anxiety, phobias, social anxiety, obsessive compulsive disorder, and performance anxiety. |