Karen Young Books & Products

Anxiety has excellent intentions – to keep us safe. Its timing, however, can be terrible.

Then there’s the issue of how it shows up. Because it doesn’t always arrive with gentle ‘here if you need!‘. Sometimes it can show up as tears, tummy aches, perfectionism, avoidance, anger, defiance, withdrawal, trouble walking through the school gate, or a door slam with enough force to change the weather.

Anxiety will always try to keep our children safe. They’d be in trouble without it. There would be nothing to steer them away from tricky decisions, tricky people, and things that are genuinely dangerous.

The problem is that sometimes it can misread a situation as ‘dangerous’, when really that situation is, ‘brave, growthful, important – but so hard right now.’

Sometimes, it keeps them safe by convincing them to stay small:

Don’t try.
Don’t go.
Don’t risk it.
Make sure.
Get someone else to do it. 
You don’t have what it takes.

And because we love them, it’s normal to want to make the discomfort disappear. But brave doesn’t grow from never feeling anxious. It grows when children discover: I can feel anxious, and as long as I’m safe, I can still take the next step.

The key for them is knowing when to step forward and when to step back. 

The key for us is knowing when to believe their anxiety, and when to believe in them. This can be so tough!

In Raising Brave: Strengthening Young People Through Anxiety, we’ll use the neuroscience of anxiety to understand what young people need during those everyday moments that feel hard, but are safe – when anxiety gets shouty and so convincing.

Together, we’ll explore how to embraven all young people without pushing too hard, or letting anxiety make the decisions including:

• where anxiety comes from, what happens in the brain and body when it takes over, and how to use this to build their brave;
• how to respond to anxiety in the moment without shaming, forcing, or letting anxiety squeeze out their capacity for brave,
• the many faces of anxiety, including sick tummies, sore tummies, anger, avoidance, defiance, and shutdown, and reassurance-seeking (‘but what if …’ on loop) – and what to do.
• the things all loving parents do that can inadvertently make anxiety bigger – and what to do instead;
• the toughest moments – when school feels tough, when boundaries get pushed – and how to move through this;
• practical strategies children can use to move through anxiety, uncertainty, and big feelings.
• how to hold warm, loving boundaries without getting pulled into power struggles;
• practical strategies children can use to move through anxiety, uncertainty, and big feelings.

Because the goal isn’t to raise children who never feel anxious. We couldn’t even if we wanted to. 

Anxiety will always tell them who they can’t be, and what they can’t do.

Our job is to make sure it’s never the only voice they believe.

WHAT IF I CAN’T MAKE THE ‘LIVE’ ONLINE SESSION?

Not to worry! You’re covered. Everyone who registers gets 30 days access to the recording, so you can watch it when life is being a little less … life. 

WHEN WILL I RECEIVE MY LINK?

Once you’ve made your purchase, Zoom will send you a separate email with all the details you need. Keep an eye on your inbox – and maybe your junk folder because sometimes important emails like to live, you know, dangerously.

OKAY, GIMME THE DETAILS:

WHEN: Thursday 10 September
TIME: 1pm – 2:30pm AEST
WHERE: Online. So come as you are. Or as a pirate. Entirely up to you. 

🌏 Not in Brisbane? See what time that is for you.