Anxiety Resources
Cook Children's is here to help support your child through their anxiety and concerns. Below you'll find guidance and tips from our family to yours.
What are anxiety disorders?
Anxiety disorders can cause extreme fear and worry, and change a child's behavior, sleep, eating, or mood.
Important anxiety topics for families
- Anxiety (for teens) | Cook Children's
- Anxiety disorders (for parents) | Cook Children's
- Anxiety disorders fact sheet (for schools) | Cook Children's
- Stigmas of mental health care in children | Cook Children's
- Critical role of pediatricians in the mental health crisis | Cook Children's
- Quick guide to generalized anxiety disorder | Child Mind Institute
- Quick facts on generalized anxiety disorder | Child Mind Institute
- Generalized anxiety disorder in kids | Child Mind Institute
- Generalized anxiety disorder - self-care | MedlinePlus
- Generalized anxiety disorder: when worry fets out of control | National Institute of Mental Health
- Anxiety and children | The American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry
- Panic disorder | Cook Children's
- Panic disorder factsheet (for schools) | Cook Children's
- Guide: panic disorder | Child Mind Institute
- Quick facts: panic disorder | Child Mind Institute
- Panic disorder | MedlinePlus
- Panic disorder in children and adolescents | The American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry
- 5 Ways to shake shyness (for teens) | Cook Children's
- Social anxiety (for teens) | Cook Children's
- Social anxiety factsheet (for schools) | Cook Children's
- Guide: social anxiety disorder | Child Mind Institute
- What is social anxiety disorder? | Child Mind Institute
- Obsessive-compulsive disorder (for parents) | Cook Children's
- Obsessive-compulsive disorder (for teens) | Cook Children's
- Obsessive-compulsive disorder (for kids) | Cook Children's
- Obsessive-compulsive disorder factsheet (for schools) | Cook Children's
- Kids and OCD, the parents role in treatmente | Child Mind Institute
- Parents guide to OCD | Child Mind Institute
- What does OCD look like in kids? | Child Mind Institute
- Obsessive-compulsive disorder In children and adolescents | The American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry
- Separation anxiety (for parents) | Cook Children's
- Quick guide to separation anxiety | Child Mind Institute
- What is separation anxiety? | Child Mind Institute
- Separation anxiety | MedlinePlus
- Test anxiety (for teens) | Cook Children's
- Back-to-school anxiety | Child Mind Institute
- Classroom anxiety in children | Child Mind Institute
- Back to school anxiety | Cook Children's
- Addressing chronic stress and trauma in schools | Cook Children's
- Facts for families: school refusal | The American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry
- School violence: What students can do (for teens) | Cook Children's
- Someone at school has a weapon, what should I do? (for teens) | Cook Children's
- Talking to kids about gun violence | Cook Children's
- How to help children and parents after mass shooting | Cook Children's
- How parents and children can process a school shooting | Cook Children's
- Parenting & back to school: emotional safety starts at home | Cook Children's
- How to talk to kids about school shootings | Child Mind Institute
- Going to a therapist (for teens) | Cook Children's
- Going to a therapist (for kids) | Cook Children's
- Taking your child to a therapist | Cook Children's
- Behavioral treatments for kids with anxiety | Child Mind Institute
- Guide to behavioral treatments | Child Mind Institute
- 10 ways to manage everyday stress (for teens) | Cook Children's
- Childhood stress: How parents can help | Cook Children's
- Coping with stress (for teens) | Cook Children's
- Stress (for kids) | Cook Children's
- Stress and chronic pain | Cook Children's
- Estrés y el dolor crónico | Cook Children's
- How to help children and teens manage their stress | American Psychological Association
- The power of mindfulness | Child Mind Institute
- How mindfulness can help caregivers | Child Mind Institute
- The art and science of mindfulness | Child Mind Institute
- Helping teenagers with stress | The American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry
- 7 Holiday Mental Health Tips for Families | HealthyChildren.org
- 10 tips for parenting anxious kids | Child Mind Institute
- What are the different kinds of anxiety? | Child Mind Institute
- Raising a child with mental health struggles | Cook Children's (Raising Joy Podcast)
- Be mindful to stress less | Cook Children's
- Feeling good about yourself (self-esteem) | Cook Children's
- Stress less: Eat, play, sleep | Cook Children's
- Try yoga to lower stress | Cook Children's
- What to do when you feel stressed | Cook Children's
- How to model healthy coping skills | Child Mind Institute
- Helping your teen with depression | MedlinePlus
- Healing From Trauma | Cook Children's
- Anxious Kids, Anxious Parents: 7 Ways to Stop the Worry Cycle and Raise Courageous and Independent Children by Reid Wilson & Lynn Lyons
- Bloom: 50 Things to Say, Think, and Do with Anxious, Angry, and Over-the-Top Kids by Lynne Kenny & Wendy Young
- Freeing your Child from Anxiety, Revised and Updated Edition: Practical Strategies to Overcome Fears, Worries, and Phobias and Be Prepared for Life – from Toddlers to Teens by Tamar E. Chanksy
- Making Your Worrier a Warrior: A Guide to Conquering Your Child’s Fears by Daniel B. Peters
- Parenting Your Anxious Child with Mindfulness and Acceptance: A Powerful New Approach to Overcoming Fear, Panic, and Worry Using Acceptance and Commitment Therapy by Christopher McCurry, PhD
- The Anxiety Cure for Kids, Second Edition: A Guide for Parents by Elizabeth DuPont Spencer, Robert L. DuPont, and Caroline M. DuPont
Coping skills for kids
Distorted thinking
How to Make a Coping Skills Bag
Mindfulness Strategies and Techniques
Imagining Your Feelings are Like Clouds
Belly Breathing and Pinwheel Breathing
Art Journaling: Drawing Your Feelings
When your feelings get too big
Our community created these coping cards to give you an activity to try when your feelings get really big or overwhelming. These activities will give your body and your brain a chance to catch up to the feelings and help you know why you feel the way you do.
Additional resources for families
Raising Joy podcast
We encourage you to subscribe to our Raising Joy podcast, which aims to encourage hope and resilience among children and teens. Available on the following networks:
Behavioral health services
Our licensed experts provide psychology and psychiatry services for families whose children and adolescents, ages 2 to 18, are experiencing behavioral, neurodevelopmental and emotional challenges.
Need help finding information?
Finding health information you can trust can be confusing and overwhelming. Let us help. A Cook Children's librarian can send you up to date information from reliable sources.