Mindfulness for Anxious Kids : A Workbook to Help Children Cope with Anxiety, Stress, and Worry

Help your child stay calm when anxiety takes hold. In The Mindfulness Workbook for Anxious Kids, two licensed psychologists offer fun and effective mindfulness and emotion regulation activities to help kids cope with anxiety, panic, stress, fear, and worry.

Between school, friends, and just growing up, it’s normal for kids to feel worried or anxious some of the time. But if your child’s anxiety is getting in the way of achieving goals or living life, they may need a little extra help managing stress and difficult feelings. This workbook is a great place to start.

The Mindfulness Workbook for Anxious Kids provides engaging and evidence-based activities grounded in mindfulness practices and dialectical behavior therapy (DBT) to help kids stay calm and balance their emotions—whether they’re at school, with friends, or at home. Using the skills outlined in this workbook, your child will learn to manage anxiety associated with daily life, anxiety disorders, and trauma. The workbook also addresses specific anxiety issues, such as panic, separation anxiety, social anxiety, and phobias.

Emotions can be confusing, and negative or difficult emotions are often the cause of anxiety in children. But emotions cannot be avoided. This workbook will help your child make friends with their emotions, understand them, and use them effectively.

This book has been selected as an Association for Behavioral and Cognitive Therapies Self-Help Book Recommendation—an honor bestowed on outstanding self-help books that are consistent with cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) principles and that incorporate scientifically tested strategies for overcoming mental health difficulties. Used alone or in conjunction with therapy, our books offer powerful tools readers can use to jump-start changes in their lives.

Catherine Cook-Cottone, PhD, is full professor at the University at Buffalo, State University of New York; as well as a practicing psychologist. She has written two books on mindfulness and yoga for self-regulation—one for mental health professionals and one for school personnel. Cook-Cottone is on the scientific program committee for the Symposium on Yoga Research, and a consultant to the United Nations Foundation, UNICEF, and Africa Yoga Project. She is founder and president of Yogis in Service, Inc.

Rebecca K. Vujnovic, PhD, is clinical associate professor at the University at Buffalo, State University of New York; as well as program director for the school of psychology’s MA program. In addition, Vujnovic maintains a small private practice, specifically working with children using mindfulness techniques to manage anxiety, stress, and worry.

Foreword writer Christopher Willard, PsyD, is a psychologist and educational consultant based in Boston, MA, specializing in mindfulness. He has been practicing meditation for twenty years, and leads mindfulness and mental health workshops internationally. He currently serves on the board of directors at the Institute for Meditation and Psychotherapy, and is president of the Mindfulness in Education Network. He has presented at TEDx conferences, and his thoughts have appeared in The New York Times, The Washington Post, www.mindful.org, and elsewhere. He is author of Child’s Mind, Growing Up Mindful, Raising Resilience, and three other books. He teaches at Harvard Medical School.

Catherine Cook-Cottone, PhD, is full professor at the University at Buffalo, State University of New York; as well as a practicing psychologist. She has written two books on mindfulness and yoga for self-regulation'one for mental health professionals and one for school personnel. Cook-Cottone is on the scientific program committee for the Symposium on Yoga Research, and a consultant to the United Nations Foundation, UNICEF, and Africa Yoga Project. She is founder and president of Yogis in Service, Inc.

Rebecca K. Vujnovic, PhD, is clinical associate professor at the University at Buffalo, State University of New York; as well as program director for the school of psychology's MA program. In addition, Vujnovic maintains a small private practice, specifically working with children using mindfulness techniques to manage anxiety, stress, and worry.

Foreword writer Christopher Willard, PsyD, is a psychologist and educational consultant based in Boston, MA, specializing in mindfulness. He has been practicing meditation for twenty years, and leads mindfulness and mental health workshops internationally. He currently serves on the board of directors at the Institute for Meditation and Psychotherapy, and is president of the Mindfulness in Education Network. He has presented at TEDx conferences, and his thoughts have appeared in The New York Times, The Washington Post, www.mindful.org, and elsewhere. He is author of Child's Mind, Growing Up Mindful, Raising Resilience, and three other books. He teaches at Harvard Medical School.