Posts Tagged "anxiety"

Fight-Flight-Freeze: A Natural Ladder from Anxiety to Freedom

Fight-Flight-Freeze: A Natural Ladder from Anxiety to Freedom

Our fight-flight-freeze response is much maligned. An article in Psychology Today says this "survival-oriented acute stress response" offers three options that amount to: battle, escaping, or becoming paralyzed and "numbing out." All three have negative connotations in our culture; and since none rely on reason, no wonder we see this fight-flight-freeze response as a primitive piece of mental...

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Safe, Not Scared

Safe, Not Scared

The world can be a dangerous place. It can be wonderful, too. Both are true. The key to raising children who love being in the world despite the danger is training. For a shining example, look up at night. The space station currently orbiting the globe is without doubt a dangerous place with countless hazards beyond human control. But the astronauts love being up there because they know how to...

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How To Help a Perfectionist Child

How To Help a Perfectionist Child

Saying, "That's OK. It doesn't have to be perfect," does not help a perfectionist child. I explain why in this Q&A with a mother of a 12-year-old perfectionist daughter, though the explanation applies to most ages. Question:   My biggest issue is my precious 12-year-old girl. She is a delight with a heart of gold and a perfectionist – however that is her down fall. She takes what...

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Unraveling Tension

Unraveling Tension

  What do you do when something just has to get done, and you and your child get all knotted up over it? Dr. Lawrence Cohen, author of Playful Parenting and co-author of The Art of Roughhousing, suggests this, reprinted from his newsletter with permission. His analogy of an actual "knot" helps you unravel the tension. The Knot of Tension   A Knot of Tension is a set of distressing...

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