Taking on Anxiety: Nurturing Resilience in Kids

As parents, we strive to offer our children all that we can: new experiences and opportunities.  But anxiety whispers in their ears, “You can’t handle it.” How do we help our children learn to have confidence in themselves? Take risks?  Fail and try again? Critical life skills, yet anxiety undermines them all.  Spend an evening learning how to foster these skills in your children.  Learn how to identify anxiety and its messages so you can teach your children how to experience anxiety and lean into it, rather than running from it.  Learn to recognize how your well-intentioned responses may be contributing to your child’s anxiety, rather than dispelling it.  Come away from the evening with concrete strategies that will help you respond to your children in ways that help them grow and manage their anxiety. We will also discuss how to recognize signals that you may wish to consider seeking professional advice to help support your child.

  

Dr. Robyn Waxman, Ph.D. is a licensed psychologist who has been in private practice in Towson for the last twenty years.  Her work is uniquely informed by her background in both education and psychology.  Dr. Waxman graduated from Vassar College with a degree in Elementary Education.  Although she became certified to teach, she went on to grad school at The American University where she received her Ph.D. in clinical psychology.  Dr. Waxman completed a post-doctoral program in school-based mental health, which combined both of her passions.  She has spent her entire career working with children and adolescents, in various capacities. She has served as a consultant for several schools in our area and also goes to overnight camp every year and lives with 8th and 9th graders, while serving as a support consultant for 450 children.  In her private practice, she provides therapy to children and teens (and parents) for anxiety, as well as other issues.  Dr. Waxman also provides comprehensive evaluations for ADHD and learning disorders.    Dr. Waxman recognizes that most children have a strong team available to them and believes that she can best help kids by becoming a member of that team.  Dr. Waxman currently sits on the Board of the Maryland Psychological Association and is the editor of their quarterly journal, The Maryland Psychologist.