Playing with Anxiety: Casey's Guide for Teens and Kids

Definate a Great book , I got the book for my daughter. I had been searching for something to help her through her anxiety for about 3-4 years. Especially during test time when her anxiety levels would get worst. Ever since she got the book and started reading it, I have seen a change in her. She tells me she is able to understand the book and its very funny. Feels more confident , less stressful when facing things especially school work and test. It's great when you come across a young writter that has and is going through the same things as you. My daughter tells me "Mom, Casey gets me, she understands what I am going through, and she makes me feel that it's ok to be different, Thanks" . I smile when she said that because she has always thougth she was the only one in th world going through this and no one understood her. As a worry and concerned parent I give thanks that there are books/workbooks like this one that can help my child cope with her anxiety and help her feel normal again. Will highly reccomend this book to any parent that wants to help their child who suffers from minor to heavy anxiety. Thanks Casey for writting and sharing your experiences to relate with young teens.

If your child is dealing with anxiety this s a great book to read with them! Tons of tools, breathing exercises and ways to help manage anxiety.

This book did amazing things for my 9 year old who struggles with OCD and panic/anxiety. We tried medicine and therapy in the beginning and it wasn't helping much. We decided to start from scratch and form a plan to help her manage on her own. This book was a small part in that plan and helped in a huge way. I haven't read it myself, but my daughter read it everyday for a week until finishing it. It's been weeks and she still talks about this book, especially when situations pop up, she will say "Well, Casey says...", it has really got her talking. I think she loved reading a book that was in the eyes of someone she could relate to and it has really been a good tool in helping her to learn to manage this stuff, especially as young as she is. Thank you for this book! There needs to be more out there like this!

Integrating Reid Wilson's approach to treating anxiety and OCD in my practice has helped my patients. His approach changes the patient's frame of reference about their anxiety/OCD to help patients make rapid and lasting changes. Recently I began working with adolescent patients with OCD. Finding a book for bibliotherapy that teens would read without feeling like they were reading a book for young children was a challenge. Recently I attended one of Reid's workshops and he referred to the book 'Playing with Anxiety' he co-authored with Lynn Lyons. It is available in paperback or for Kindle (99 cents - a bargain). I read the book yesterday and found the book to very readable. The book is suitable for teens (some young adults), and parents. The book describes Wilson's approach to treating anxiety disorders in an easy to read and understandable way while not seeming like a kid's book. I highly recommend this book to teens struggling with anxiety, their parents and counselors.

This is a wonderful book, and I wish it had been available to me when I was first trying to cope with my own anxieties. Even more, I wish this book had been available when I was raising my own worried children. Wilson and Lyons provide innovative and leading edge information about taming overwhelming worries. They manage to provide a comprehensive overview of contemporary anxiety treatment, including genetics, environment, the role of avoidance and paradoxical intention, and methods for motivation--all in a fun, well-written and child-friendly prose. I’m also impressed that the authors are essentially giving this book away, (although it is meant to be a companion to “Anxious Kids, Anxious Parents.”--but can stand alone as well), so that the information can be available without regard to costs. I believe one of the greatest gifts we can give our children is the ability to feel more comfortable with uncertainty. This book makes a huge contribution towards that end.

My oldest son (12 yrs) has struggled with anxiety for a while, but this summer it went over board. He struggles with things like locking the doors, checking them over and over again, germs, tests, ect. This book has been great for both of us, and he's not big on reading. This was written in a way that let's my son know that it's ok to worry, and he's not the only one to ever feel this way. It doesn't explain how to not worry, but explains where the worries come from and what to do with them. He's not even finished the book and he's already much calmer.

I'm a middle school counselor and a parent gave me a copy of this book. It's so good I ended up buying 3 more copies for my school. It uses very easy to understand and interesting (sometimes amusing) examples of what's going on with worry and anxiety to help a kiddo understand what it's all about and strategies to work with that are realistic and encouraging.I can't recommend this to others (parents and professionals) enough!

Playing with Anxiety lifts a very serious problem into the realm of manageable every day problem solving in a manner that is kid friendly, humorous and very practical. The authors utilize meaningful metaphors, such as understanding flexibility being like a cooked instead of a rigid uncooked spaghetti noodle, to make their points towards identifying useful distinctions without sounding condescending. The step-by-step explanations, as in learning how to expect worry, are punctuated with captivating humor and honesty.I have been using this book since it was published, finding it to be thorough, well written and readable, especially in the fact that's appropriate for both kid and teen audiences, not just younger children. It is a great resource for therapists, parents, kids and teens!

Clear conceptualization and explanations of what drives anxiety and what slows it down and stops it. I work with children and use this approach with that and find it very helpful!

Casey’s guide to worry helped me the whole time. I talk to my worries and there’s so many more things that I have learned. This has helped me in my past and is going to help me in my future. The two things that probably helped me the most was talking to my worry and bridging back to my past successes. I’m so sad that I am done this book but now I finally know so much more about worry. I used to beg my mom to never do things, but now I know that that does not help. This book is amazing. Five Stars for sure! -April, age 8

While I thought it was nicely written, my son was bored by it. It felt like I was forcing him to read this with me, and he usually loves when we read together.

Helpful information for varying ages.

This was an easy read which was very helpful and easy to understand. It didn't read like a textbook which was nice. I would highly recommend it!