Better help for parents of anxious kids and teens
DEB AGNEW
Anxiety Specialist
Strategic Psychotherapist
Clinical Hypnotherapist
DEB AGNEW
Anxiety Specialist
Strategic Psychotherapist
Clinical Hypnotherapist
SCHOOL REFUSALS? TEARS? MELTDOWNS? SLEEPLESS NIGHTS? STOMACH ACHES?
I've been there too. I know what it feels like to have a child who is paralysed with fear and worry. To be up all hours of the night at the ER. And the feeling of having your heart break in two when you see your child in so much pain. But I also know how it feels when things get better and what needs to change to get there.
At Better Anxiety Help, I’m committed to transforming the way families handle anxiety. Here’s how I can make a real difference for you and your child:
As parents, we don't want to see our children suffer. Sometimes, inadvertently our reassurances, accommodations, accidental rewards and modelling actually work counter to our good intentions and make anxiety worse. Let me be very clear - parents are NOT to blame for their child's anxiety. This is not your fault. Parents do however have a huge positive influence in making things better.
The real problem is that our current mental health system often leaves parents out of their child's anxiety care, despite being their most influential support. The traditional child therapy model is slow, expensive, inconvenient, with limited results. It relies on therapists to 'fix' your child, while parents receive minimal guidance. And when it comes to your child actually seeing a counsellor or psychologist, you typically only get 10 minutes at the end the session to discuss their progress, leaving you in the dark about how to reinforce learning and develop vital skills at home. You're essentially left out of the loop.
You are the most influential person in your child's life and someone they spend over 76% of their life with. This disconnect makes it challenging for you to help build your child's self-esteem and courage. It's time for a shift that empowers you and equips you with the tools needed to support your child effectively.
You need a proven, science-backed solution to stop anxiety from ruling your child's life that helps them regain control. My approach focuses on empowering you with the skills and tools to support your child in building life-enhancing skills and fearless ways of thinking and behaving.
You'll learn these essential coping skills to teach your child how to:
Anxiety has a common mantra or slogan and it goes something like this
"...blah blah blah and YOU CAN'T HANDLE IT!"
Anxiety is about overestimating the risk and underestimating your ability to cope.
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Lynn Lyons, international speaker on anxiety, likens it to a cult leader. Anxiety shows up and demands allegiance to its rules and ways. If you go along with the cult leader, everything is okay. The issue is when you disagree, then things are problematic. Anxiety begins to take over your family.
Anxiety thrives on the desire to create Comfort and Certainty. But life isn't certain. Life is full of uncertainty and change. So, if we want to raise independent and courageous kids, we need to teach them to plan and expect uncertainty. And be willing to feel unsure and uncomfortable sometimes.
The goal is not to prevent worry but to stop anxious fears from dominating our lives and our families.
Help your child better manage the unknowns of life, take back control and confidently confront life's obstacles with newfound resilience and ease.
Support children and teens to step outside their comfort zone, be okay with discomfort and connect authentically to others.
Whether it's at school, in sports, or in any high-pressure scenario, your child will learn how to 'handle it' effectively and speak to themselves in ways to overcome apprehension and harness their abilities.
Empower your child to courageously and independently handle ambiguity and new challenges, stepping outside their comfort zone and moving away from caregivers with confidence.
Support your child to overcome all-or-nothing thinking and embrace progress over perfectionism. Develop realistic expectations and flexibility, paving the way for increased self-confidence, improved emotional well-being, and a more balanced approach to challenges.
Equip your child with the tools and strategies to reset and reboot their nervous system and reclaim a sense of control and calm at times of distress and panic.
I also treat conditions that are often associated with anxiety including trauma, depression, OCD, insomnia and sleep disturbances.
Help your child release traumatic memories and phobias, reframe experiences and meet fears head on.
Anxiety and depression often go hand in hand. Action and activity are key to successful treatment. Your child's best defence is a hope and belief that things can improve and change. Help them move from a victim mentality and reframe their thoughts.
Help your child to identify and challenge irrational thoughts, beliefs and the triggers that contribute to their obsessive thinking and behaviours. Empower them to take control of their obsessive tendencies.
Help your child shut down their racing mind come bedtime and develop healthy habits around sleep.
Therapy is a very mixed bag. You’re not comparing apples to apples. If you are ‘shopping’ for services, you should be warned that not all hypnosis or psychotherapy is created equally. There is a VAST discrepancy amongst practitioners regarding efficacy and qualifications. And not all practitioners are registered or endorsed by an industry peak body. The right therapist makes ALL the difference.
Therapy needs to work for everyone, so it's best to test the waters. A FREE 20-min telehealth consultation, either by phone or Zoom, will help you decide if this is right for you and your child or teen. You'll get immediate answers to your questions, see if we connect and decide if it's a good fit and ticks all your boxes.
Join me online for your appointment. Change begins with you. I’ll work with you and your child or teen to develop a treatment plan that’s tailored to your personal goals and unique needs. I’ll also give you both an audio recording of the hypnosis component so you can listen to it on your phone and practice it at home. Repetition is the mother of skill.
Welcome to my clinical practice and website. I specialise in anxiety and treating parents, kids, teens and anxious families. I’m a qualified solution-focussed Strategic Psychotherapist and Clinical Hypnotherapist. I also received professional training and certification from Yale University in SPACE therapy (Supportive Parenting of Anxious Childhood Emotions). I have a Bachelor of Science degree in Psychology from Canada’s esteemed McGill University, in Montreal, Quebec.
In addition to my private practice, I also lead Brand and Marketing Communications for the Black Dog Institute, a world-leading mental health research organisation and medical research institute, promoting the prevention, management and treatment of anxiety and depression, particularly young people.
I'm also the mother of two teenage boys. I know what it feels like to have a child who is paralysed with fear and worry. To be up all hours of the night at the ER. And the feeling of having your heart break in two when you see your child in so much pain. But I also know how it feels when things get better and what needs to change to get there.
My practice is recognised nationally and internationally for providing effective psychological services that benefit the health and wellbeing of the community.
Get full session recordings downloaded to you and your teen's smartphone. How does that sound? Practice makes perfect. You get to amplify the effects of the LIVE Broadcast session by relistening to recordings between visits. We know that creating new habits and creating new neural pathways in the brain requires time, repetition and practice. This allows you and your child to ingrain new ways of thinking between appointments and solidify new habits and behaviours.
NINA GU
ABN 99 833 657 443
1 300 861 261
Although based in Sydney's beautiful Northern Beaches, I work via Zoom, so anyone anywhere in the world can access my services.
Northern Beaches, New South Wales, 2097 Australia
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