Parallel Session Proceedings »
4.2.11 Moving from “But What If” to “I Can”: Parenting the Anxious Gifted Child
Anxieties are a normal part of the human experience, but when a child’s worries create dramatic lifestyle changes for the entire family and long-term, pervasive problems with navigating the world, parents may not know what to do. The number of students who are negatively affected by anxiety has increased markedly in recent years, and parents need strategies to help them manage their symptoms and improve their children’s life outlook.
What may be most problematic, however, is that while anxiety and related conditions, such as depression, are treatable, fully 80 percent of students who suffer from the conditions may not be getting treatment. This presentation will consider how anxiety affects gifted children, and the implications anxiety can have on student’s well being.
Presenters will address a variety of strategies to help gifted students manage their symptoms and develop positive coping mechanisms. Presenters will help parents consider methods that may work in their homes, including meditation, simple breathing techniques, positive self-talk, reallocation of worry time, refocusing, reframing, visualization, yoga, and other techniques proven to be effective with students. Parents will consider how to make anxiety become the catalyst for positive thought and actions, resulting in increased resilience over time.