Are you accidentally making your child’s anxiety worse?

In this powerful clip from our Chaos to Calm masterclass, Sharon Cameron, Child Counsellor and Animal Assisted Therapist, explains one of the most common mistakes loving, well-meaning parents make when trying to help their anxious child—avoidance.

It’s natural to want to protect our children from discomfort or distress. But as Sharon shares, avoiding difficult situations can actually reinforce anxiety and rob children of the chance to build confidence, resilience and self-esteem.

💡 Want to learn what to do instead—and how to help your child face challenges with strength and support?

🎥 Watch the full masterclass: Chaos to Calm. It's free!
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Transcript

one of the biggest mistakes that loving
caring parents can make
which can actually make our children's anxiety worse now
Sharon the biggest mistake is avoidance so avoid
avoidance. I think it's so tempting as a parent
if our child is starting to feel uncomfortable
or not wanting to do something
um is to not do it
we don't wanna see our child
none of us wanna see our child feeling uncomfortable or feeling um
in pain or distressed
uh by
by avoiding though we're actually feeding our child's anxiety
the problem with that is that not only has he missed out on doing it
um so he's not feeling confident
but it's told his brain that he is not capable of doing it
and that it's something that he should be scared of
and next time he's trying to do something hard
all that information is stored away
um making it more difficult for him to do something next time
self esteem and that pride only comes from within
it only comes from them actually doing something
mastering independence that it facing a challenge and conquering it
and every time we step in to protect our children from the frustration
or or validate their fears
we are actually denying them the opportunity to have that life
affirming feeling that
that actually builds her self esteem
and as Sharon says
you create the success story that you can use next time