Anxiety is one of the leading mental health struggles for children and adolescents, but working through it as a family can help immensely. Author, counselor, and speaker Sissy Goff has been working with children and their parents at her practice for thirty years on these very topics and has helped countless families cope and navigate anxiety together—even in the wake of The Covenant School shooting, when Sissy read The Jesus Storybook Bible to grieving families and shared that even when our world feels scary and uncertain, God is there for us all.
Quotes
“We're now looking at one in four kids dealing with anxiety. Girls are twice as likely, one in three adolescents, and one in three parents, and women are twice as likely… and anxiety has an amazing ability to spread. The more we can stop it when we are contributing to the source, I think the better it is for the kids that we love.” - Sissy Goff
“When we can calm ourselves down, we have more of an ability to help the kids we love calm down, too. And sometimes that includes doing our own work, taking our own deep breaths, separating from the kids for the moment, just to help ourselves settle so we can help them settle too.” - Sissy Goff
“It helps [kids] see we're not perfect so they don't have to be overwhelmed by this burden of perfectionism, that we're all working towards health together. And I think our best tool in doing this work against worry is the peace of God that transcends our hearts and minds.” - Sissy Goff
“That profound, simple reminder of who He is and the fact that we have this place in His kingdom I think can take away our anxiety of having to think that we're in charge, because we're simply not. And Someone much wiser and kinder and gentler and stronger than we are is in charge. And His kingdom is coming to fruition.” - Sissy Goff
Guest’s Links
Sissy Goff’s Facebook
Raising Boys and Girls website
Resources Mentioned in This Episode
Daystar Counseling Ministries, Inc.
Raising Boys and Girls Podcast
Connect with Sally Lloyd-Jones
Jesus Storybook Bible Facebook
Jesus Storybook Bible Instagram
*Episode produced by Four Eyes Media*
