Flitting on again due to visiting mum, decorating, unbelievably clingy DD2.
Buckets-I think Cyteen has hit the nail on the head that her statements don't mean what they might mean, even though they do signal real distress.
DS had terrible anxiety and doesn't now really. We tried:
Discussing worries in a time-limited way.
'Right, let's sit and see if we can sort out the tricky problem of the dark being frightening. And then we'll make dinner.'
Signals that worrying is not a full-time activity and can be moved on from ...
Rating worries 1-10. So how worrying is the dark if DS's toy tiger isn't scary and x is 10.'
Think about any previous anxieties and what was done to get over them.
Stress that worries are there all the time and so it's good to have skills to deal with them: mention very minor worries of your own. Remembering to post birthday cards on time, pay gas bill and so on ...
Build an armoury of skills that can be called on when anxiety strikes (like Kurt's picture)
Would she write worries down and then put them in a locked box? DS used to put his in my clasped hands and we'd lock it.
So, no dissing the worries, but a clear statement that they need to be discussed, worked on and not allowed to dominate life.
I know for DS, that while his worries were real, the fact that they could get my entire attention was appealing too.
If it would help to talk it through at all, just send me your number by FB email and I can call to chat ...
DS is also offering to send over his night-light. He also says to buy and paint a worry box together so that it feels like her very own. He thinks this would be better than a random box.