Managing Parent Anxiety

Recently, I was featured in an article on UpJourney titled, “How to Stop Enabling your Grown Child.” My take on that particular matter was that it is the parents’ anxiety that leads them to enable their children. While this article was focused on adult children, a lot of the content is applicable to parents of children of all ages, and is a common challenge for parents seeking psychological assessments for their children. Here’s a glimpse of my contribution:

Often we enable our children because we’re worried that if we don’t do something for them, then it won’t get done and something bad will happen as a result. While there can be some truth to that in rare cases, it is important to realize and own that this is your anxiety talking.

So when you find yourself worried that your grown child won’t make something happen and you feel that urge to enable them, ask yourself: “Are other grown children able to do this on their own? Do they all need their parents to do it for them? Did I need my parents to do this for me?”

I continue on to discuss the downward spiral of thoughts that can occur as well as ways to reframe your anxious thoughts. Please click here to read the full discussion.

I challenge you to challenge your anxiety and to consider when you may benefit from additional help, such as your own therapy, parent support group, or even self-help books. Often when our children are experiencing challenges, like anxiety, we do everything we can to help them, such as making doctors’ appointments, signing them up for services, etc. It’s a no-brainer when it comes to our kids! But what about the parents? Take care of yourself too and let us know if we can help you find any providers in your area!

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