If there was a reward for feeling anxiety,
I'm pretty sure I would be the world champion!
When I was a teen I didn't realize I had anxiety and neither did my parents.
I thought feeling horrible was normal (trust me—IT'S NOT).
It wasn't until I had very anxious kids of my own (surprise!) that I realized how important it was to learn how to overcome my own anxiety so that I could teach my kids to do the same.
Raising an anxious teen? I get it.
When my oldest daughter was in fourth grade her anxiety became uncontrollable.
It seemed that no matter what we tried, or what doctor we saw, or what medications we used—nothing worked. Her anxiety had completely taken control of her life. She was no longer functioning as a happy and healthy fourth grader. She stopped doing everything she loved. She stopped being her. She didn't want to live anymore. Her anxiety had completely stolen her life and joy.
Our last option was to take her out of school and enroll her in a full time anxiety rehabilitation program for kids and teens.
They told us she'd need six weeks to get better.
We spent almost five months there.
During those five months there were many times I felt hopeless. I believed my daughter's anxiety would forever control her and steal her happiness. I believed I would be a slave to her anxiety my whole life. We'd spent years trying to figure this out and I was exhausted.
Fast forward to now, five years later, and my daughter is crushing her life. She still has anxiety but we handle it so much differently. We understand her anxiety. We communicate about it. We talk to it. We don't let it rule our lives.
After my daughter's treatment program I one hundred percent believed that teens could overcome their anxiety if they just understood it.
So what did I do?
I went back to school. I studied anxiety—A LOT. I learned all about the brain and earned my Certification as a Life Coach. I developed tools working on my own anxiety and helping my daughter with hers.
Now I've helped thousands of teens with their anxiety.
I want every teen (not just my kids) to have the skills and strategies to live a life free of anxiety.
My passion and greatest gift I can give teens is the knowledge and power they need to overcome their anxiety, and the support to do it.