“I cannot imagine a more timely book for parents in these troubled times. . . . [It] informs, supports, and prods parents to manage our own fears and learn practical skills to help our kids grow up confident and resilient in a sometimes-scary world.”
— William J. Doherty, PhD, author of Take Back Your Kids: Confident Parenting in Turbulent Times
WHEN THE WORLD FEELS LIKE A SCARY PLACE: Essential Conversations for Anxious Parents & Worried Kids by Dr. Abigail Gewirtz
Moderated by Dr. Betsy Schulman
Register in advance.
In a complicated world, big issues make both parents and children anxious—from disturbingly routine active shooter drills at school, to frightening news about climate change, pandemics, social justice issues, and violence. It’s all too easy for parents to feel at a loss for how to equip their child to deal with it all in a healthy way.
Join Abigail Gewirtz, Ph.D., an award-winning child psychologist and leading expert on families under stress from the comfort of your home. No babysitter needed! Parents, get a clear and practical guide for discussing distressing topics in a calm, reassuring, and productive way that will help kids comprehend and process the world around them.
Dr. Gewirtz sets the stage by giving parents tools to understand their own feelings before turning to their children’s. Here she explains:
- How what happens in the world can affect parenting
- Why a parent’s background and personal experience affect their responses to stress
- How a parent’s anxiety transmits to their children
This is followed by a series of real-world essential conversations, actual dialogue scripts, talking points, prompts, and insightful asides. Each is tailored for different ages from three to eighteen and guides parents towards a constructive conversation without sparking anxiety in their children.
And Dr. Gewirtz’s sound advice can be put into action right away; for example: Let the child lead the conversation (and don't tell more than the child needs to know) as well as Check in with yourself to make sure your own anxiety doesn't color the conversation. She also offers:
- Exercises to help parents balance the desire to protect children with the need to nurture independence
- Techniques to detect common anxieties and ideas for how to approach the conversation
- Ways to identify and nurture children’s opinions, thoughts, values, and goals by using anxiety as a motivating signal rather than a reason to shut down
- Perspectives on how bad things happening in the world affect children and how parents can raise engaged and confident kids despite them
- Different ways children react to stress and ways parents can read the signs
In this indispensable book, Dr. Gewirtz coaches parents through the hard conversations about violence and bullying, climate and environmental stressors, relentless tech and media exposure, economic inequality, and political polarization and equips them with a newfound confidence to help children stay resilient—even when the world feels like a scary place.
Click here to register.
Tickets:
$5 for one virtual ticket. Register by Friday, December 4.
*Welcome by Nicki Golos, Shalom Baby Co-Chair, Havdalah led by Cantor Jennifer Boyle of Temple Beth Tikvah and author discussion and Q&A moderated by Dr. Betsy Schulman.
ABOUT DR. ABIGAIL GEWIRTZ
Dr. Abigail Gewirtz is a child psychologist and professor at the University of Minnesota’s College of Education and Human Development (ranked the world’s third-leading institution of its kind). Her career has been devoted to developing and testing award-winning, skills-based parenting programs to promote children’s resilience. Dr. Gewirtz has consulted for and presented to national and international organizations, including the US Congress and UNICEF, on parenting. She has conducted research in the US, Asia, the Middle East, and Africa, and has been invited to speak throughout the world on parenting in times of stress. For more information, visit Dr. Abigail Gewirtz at abigailgewirtz.com