Make Your Worrier a Warrior: A Guide to Conquering Your Child's Fears

by Dan Peters

With this award-winning book, parents can team up with their children or teens to help them do the most courageous thing they will ever have to do: conquer their Worry Monster. Make Your Worrier a Warrior provides useful and comforting methods that parents can use to help their children create an anxiety-reducing "toolbox" to carry with them wherever they go. In building this foundation for their children, parents might even find that these strategies will work just as effectively to manage their own anxieties. Be sure to check out From Worrier to Warrior, which is the companion book for teens and tweens.

Genres: Parenting, Nonfiction, Childrens

204 pages, Paperback

First published November 30, 2013

About the author

Dan Peters, Ph.D., is a licensed psychologist who has devoted his career to the assessment, consultation and treatment of children, adolescents, and families, specializing in learning differences, anxiety, and issues related to giftedness and twice-exceptionality.

Dr. Peters is co-founder and Executive Director of the Summit Center, with offices in the San Francisco Bay Area and Los Angeles. He is author of Make Your Worrier a Warrior: A Guide to Conquering Your Child’s Fears (Great Potential Press, 2013), and the companion book for children, From Worrier to Warrior: A Guide to Conquering Your Fears. In addition, he is co-author (with Dr. Susan Daniels) of Raising Creative Kids (Great Potential Press, 2013). Dr. Peters is a regular blogger on Huffington Post.com and Psychology Today, and is a frequent media guest. He speaks regularly at state and national conferences and writes on topics related to parenting, learning differences, and education.

You can find him on Facebook.

Reviews

[Shannon · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great book for educators or parents with kids that are “warriors.” A lot of practical and useful knowledge to help anyone deal with anxiety.

[Danielle · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this book as part of a parent discussion group through my son's school district. The good thing about this book is that it arms parents with information about anxiety that they can use to explain and combat it with and in their children. My son is 10, and I've read large sections of the book aloud to him and he has responded well to the ideas and concepts presented.

The main thrust of this book is that the Worry Monster is a bully who causes us (children and adults) to doubt ourselves and can cause our emotions to spiral out of control. There are sections that focus on some of the physical manifestations of panic and anxiety, the mental processes that trigger those responses, and coping mechanisms that can be used to interrupt the anxiety cycle. There are many examples of different experiences with anxiety and positive responses that have allowed children to work through those struggles.

The reason I didn't give this book 5 stars was because I feel like it's a bit inconsistent. Some chapters are particularly useful, but others seem repetitive or just don't add to the concepts that have already been presented. I also worry that there's a fine line between supporting your child through anxiety and allowing anxiety to become the focus of your child's life. Overall, I think the coping mechanisms are helpful, but effort should be made to ensure that they don't play an oversized role in your child's life. On the other hand, I suppose how much to focus on these ideas is also driven by how much the child's life is already being impacted by anxiety and worry, so that's not so much a critique of the book as it is something to keep in mind as you apply what the book teaches.

[Sara · Rating 4 out of 5]

The best book on the subject I've read (and I've read quite a bit at this point). Short and to the point, but covering a wide range of information and tactics. Included a whole section on the increased incidence of anxiety in gifted children, including background and reasoning on this, ways it impacts them (being "twice exceptional"), and specific suggestions to help. I'd definitely recommend this book for anyone struggling with anxiety in the family, whether the children, the adults, or both.

[Anita Guerrero · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is so great. Research and strategies have come so far from when I was diagnosed with OCD. This book is great for kids and adults you are in the early stages of their fears and anxieties.

[Colleen · Rating 4 out of 5]

A great book for parents and kiddos who deal with a lot of worry.

[Celeste Batchelor · Rating 3 out of 5]

I found a lot of good, easy-to-understand information for parents of anxiety ridden children. Good explanations and tips o me dealing with this very real illness.

[Tina · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is excellent for those perfectionists and kids who worry about everything. I am definitely going to use it on my little perfectionist worrier.