Help Your Anxious Child aged 2-12 years - parent course by Dr Amanda Mullin

About one in every five people will have problems with anxiety. Half of them will experience their first symptoms by age 11...

Early intervention is one of Dr Amanda's passions. By teaching our next generation the skills to understand and manage anxiety, we help build resilience and set them up for success.

PARENTS WANT HELP NOW - NOT LATER

I chose to start teaching online after running a series of parent only workshops. I was inspired by the feedback from those parents - about how the parent strategies they learned in our group workshop had led them to quickly and easily make incredibly positive and powerful changes at home.

Suddenly these workshops were not just a "nice to have'', or something to compliment treatment, but something that on it's own could make a significant difference. I'm excited about the journey ahead.

- Dr Amanda Mullin, Founder of Think Differently and Mindworx Psychology

Dr Amanda's big fat hairy audacious goal is to change lives for the better.

Anxiety can take many forms in children - from crying, to refusing to go somewhere, to emotional meltdowns or tantrums.

DOES MY CHILD HAVE ANXIETY?

Sometimes, anxiety can be disguised as difficult oppositional behaviours. Just as every child is unique, the way they manage anxiety can range from:

- crying

- meltdowns and tantrums

- anger and lashing out

- oppositional behaviours

- clinging

- constantly needing reassurance

- refusing to take part or try things

- withdrawing or being overly cautious

Anxiety can take many forms. Children can be persistent worriers, who seem to worry about everything, be excessively shy, avoid new challenges, be socially withdrawn and have trouble making friends. Children may have trouble concentrating, have difficulty getting to sleep at night, or try hard to be perfect.

For those parents with children trying hard to be perfect, there can be lots of emotional meltdowns at home, with a glowing report card and a puzzled look from teachers when parents try to explain that home life is challenging.

For others, coping day to day is managed by the child avoiding activities - or asking the rest of the family to act in different ways, or join them in missing activities so that the child can cope.

For many parents, it simply becomes exhausting, especially when there are siblings. Or when the child's anxiety means they also struggle to sleep. And the exhaustion leads to conflict and disruption to family relationships.

Parents often ask me what's normal and what's not.

Of course, anxiety disorders have specific criteria to allow for diagnosis.

But for me, as a parent and as a therapist, it's much more about whether your family is living a great life. It's about whether anxiety gets in the way - for you, or for your child.

It's about whether anxiety robs them of experiences, of friends or of opportunities to build the skills that will set them up to flourish in adulthood.

Anxiety is a normal part of life. As humans we will all be confronted with difficult situations in our lifetimes that lead to worry.

Research tells us that too much anxiety can often be helped and reduced by the application of skills and strategies. We know that certain types of anxiety are common at certain ages, but when anxiety persists, or when it gets in the way for your child, then early intervention and skill building can make a significant difference.

Join me in this online course, and enjoy learning skills, strategies and secrets to successfully helping your child manage and overcome anxiety.

Thank you for inspiring me. So many of you who live outside Sydney have been asking me to create this course for you.

There is more research emerging showing just how significant a difference it makes to teach parents these skills. Moving our workshops online allows us to help more families achieve their goals.

I know that when you are ready for change there is nothing like getting started with good, solid information that you can implement. It's empowering.

I will be involved as much as I can to help you succeed - that's why you'll find lots of extra tips and tricks in our dedicated Facebook Group, where I'll be popping in and out to answer your questions and support you.

Dr Amanda Mullin, founder of Think Differently and Mindworx Psychology

Dr Amanda Mullin is a Doctor of Clinical Psychology and the Founder and Director of Mindworx Psychology, an award winning private practice located in Sydney, Australia.

One of Sydney's leading speakers in the field of mental health, and with a family of her own, Dr Amanda is passionate about early intervention and about treatments that work.

FAQs

Who is this course designed for?

Parents of children aged 2-12 years old, who want to learn skills and strategies to help manage their child's anxious behaviour.

I'm already working with a Psychologist, do I need this course?

This online course is not designed to replace the one-on-one work your child will do with a Psychologist, but instead, to compliment it. For many parents, the time to ask questions and get involved in the process is often limited.

In addition, the research informs us that parent training in the right skills can bring significant change in itself!

This course all the information we want you to know to be able to help your anxious child - in bite sized chunks that you can read and refer to in your own time.

Why is the course 6 weeks long?

At no stage do we want parents to feel overwhelmed. The information is carefully paced based on Dr Amanda's experience in working with children and families. Each lesson creates a framework and builds on the one prior in terms of extending knowledge and skills

Is this online therapy?

No. Because Dr Amanda has not met your child she cannot provide tailored therapy. Instead the course is educational, designed to upskill parents and carers - the people who spend most time with a child. It is written to build practical skills. Parents will learn how to recognise anxiety, and a number of practical strategies to use with their child through the course, and supported in the facebook group.

What type of skills are taught?

The framework of the course is Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) - the gold standard worldwide in the treatment of childhood anxiety.

What if I'm not sure if my child has anxiety? Is this course for me.

Many parents are not sure if their child has anxiety that meets the criteria of an anxiety disorder. In the first module you'll learn all about anxiety - what's normal, and what's not.

This course isn't focused on labels of diagnoses - it's designed to empower and upskill you as a parent. That means when your child is anxious, you'll feel more confident in your ability to manage the situation - and help emotion coach your child through the challenges of life.

The course is designed to increase your confidence to help your child build resilience and navigate anxiety - now and in the future.

My child has a diagnosed anxiety disorder/complex mental health - is this course for me?

If you want to learn skills and strategies for helping an anxious child, this course will meet your needs. The course is not designed to replace one-on-work with a Psychologist. If your child has significant or complex mental health issues that include anxiety, then you may find that this course is helpful. If your child has significant mental health difficulties we recommend talking to your GP/Paediatrician about assessment.

How long will I have access to the course for?

Currently, our courses will be available to refer to for 6 months following completion.

Can I have a certificate of completion?

Yes of course, just let us know. We can monitor your completion and issue at the end of the course.

How much work is involved?

Less is more. This course is written for quality, not quantity - we understand your time is valuable. We'd rather you spent it with your family than online!

Each week you'll learn more about anxiety, and different ways to work with your child.
Dr Amanda will be introducing and explaining skills via a series of short videos, most are under 10 minutes long. Much in the way she does with parents one on one. You can watch them at your leisure on your phone, tablet or computer.

You will be able to refer to each lesson as often as you like, there are easy to understand worksheets for you to print out and use with your child. There are also downloadable summaries for you to share with your partner or other carers in your child's life.

BONUS!!! You can ask questions in our supportive Facebook group too. Dr Amanda will be on hand each week to answer questions and share your stories of success.

Content is organised into bite sized chunks to keep it manageable.

Testimonials

I recently completed the online course Help Your Anxious Child age 2-12 and found the content to be really useful. It was a great opportunity to develop my understanding of anxiety and the various ways it can present itself.

The online course gives you the confidence to put in place some practical steps to support your kids. The course had a combination of easy to listen to videos, worksheets and information to print off to refer back to as needed. I was left feeling positive and ready to assist my child to work through her challenges.

Vicki, NSW (Sept 2019)