AND THE CHALLENGE GOES ON

Two weeks! That is how long it has taken me to complete the challenge…well, not complete exactly but make it through at least half of it. Honestly, folks, I am simply not a “textbook” kinda gal. As I said before, give me fiction and I thrive in the adventure of a new world or experience, pass me non-fiction and I most often can be found snoring by chapter two. Perhaps I just haven’t read the right books, I will allow for that possibility, but if I may be blunt, I simply prefer fantasty to reality in any of my given days.

Eitherway, I have completed one of my book challenges, Tamar E. Chansky’s Freeing Your Child From Anxiety, and have included my review below. It was not too hard of a read and I discovered a neat trick. If I read it during the early morning or in the outdoors, I was able to stay awake for more than two chapters at a time. So yeah for me!

However, Eckhart Tolle’s A New Earth, is another matter entirely. While it too is not a hard read, with its small words and easy explanations of a generally well thought out philosophy, it is proving not to be the sort of book you pick up and speed through. It requires digestion, analysis and application. So, for now that one is still, as they say, “on the table”..

In the meantime, enjoy my take on Tamar E. Chansky’s Freeing Your Child From Anxiety …

Freeing Your Child From Anxiety
Written by Tamar E. Chansky, Ph.d.
Published: 2004, Broadway Books

This is quite a pocket full of detail. Offering incredibly insightful scenarios and thoughtful discussions on Anxiety, Chansky has written an exceptionally informative book which at no time confused this (oh, so easily confused) reader. As I made my way through her book, I was constantly struck by how clearly this author understands the topic and how easily she was able to guide me through its many intricate characteristics and nuances without losing me in the chaos of statistics and psycho-babble, or appearing to lecture from a podium. Her chapters lead you carefully through the subject with deep concern for clarification and comprehension. From the start Chansky’s intent is clear; she wants you to understand and appreciate all that it means to be an anxious child as well as the parent of an anxious child while still providing an effective plan of action to better manage the situation.

I strongly recommend this book to any parent who is trying to guide their child(ren) through the sometimes overwhelming fog of fear. Freeing Your Child From Anxiety offers guidance on identifying anxiety and when and where to turn for help once you have. Then, not to leave you fluttering in the wind, the book also takes you through detailed chapters on common childhood fears and worries such as Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD), Separation Anxiety, Social Anxieties or Ritual to Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD). Rounding out the full package, this book takes you beyond the diagnosis and works with you so that you can develop and act upon strategies to help you and your family manage these same anxieties. While Tamar E. Chansky stresses the need for professional diagnosis in all possible cases of anxiety she also offers her readers tools so that they can help themselves and their loved ones make it through this sometimes paralyzing and silent mental stalker. This was a grade ‘A’ book.

Favourite line from the book…

Remember the goal: it’s not to talk your children out of their fears, its to teach them how to talk themselves through their fears. (page 9)