A few weeks ago, we had the enormous pleasure of hosting Dr. Dave Anderson, Vice President of Public Engagement and Education, and Senior Psychologist at the Child Mind Institute, on the Keystones of Development Speaker Series. The insights he offered are practical, relevant and necessary for EVERY primary care provider.

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Today's tip is around anxiety, one of the most common mental health concerns we hear in the office. If you only have 3 minutes to talk anxiety in your practice, here are some tips from Dr. Anderson.

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Remind families that:

• Anxiety is a normal and adaptive response that we all experience
• Anxiety is problematic when it gets in the way of a child's ability to function (you can ask more questions to probe for this)
• Anxiety disorders have a couple of things in common:
  
  • Difficulty tolerating uncertainty
  • Avoidance
• There is no way to make anxiety go away, but children can:
  
  • Learn to recognize when they're feeling anxious
  • Learn to manage their symptoms without avoidance
  • Unlock bravery and get comfortable being uncomfortable

You can view this clip around anxiety HERE and the complete recording HERE.

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Plus, Child Mind Institute has a series of videos for preschoolers, elementary school students, middle schoolers and high schoolers on mental health. And videos for parents, too.

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