Whether you are a parent with a toddler or a teenager, you’ll find plenty of useful info in this new release to help you help your offspring sail through the often-challenging years of adolescents.
In her most recent book, Chicken Little the Sky Isn’t Falling: Raising Resilient Adolescents in the New Age of Anxiety, author Erica Komisar, psychoanalyst, clinical social worker and parenting guidance expert, offers readers a comprehensive guide filled with compassionate and practical advice to help parents guide, educate and connect with their children on a wide range of current topics including gender identity, anxiety and depression, disordered eating, social media and bullying.
For those parents who may think their child (or children) still has a few years to go before reaching the adolescent years, in Chapter 1 titled The Age of Anxiety, Komisar writes: “While many of us have long believed that adolescence essentially meant the years between 12 and 18, according to adolescent researcher Lawrence Steinberg, adolescence is now thought to begin as early as nine or ten and end later at around 25.”
In an age of increasing anxiety across all generational cohort, children – ages nine to 17 – may be particularly vulnerable. “We are asking children to handle more — more stress, more stimulation, more pressure, more choices and more decisions — without giving them a secure foundation of support, emotional security, and real and meaningful connections,” writes Komisar.
She devotes an entire chapter to Embracing Normal Adolescence and describes it as “a three phase adventure.” Grandparents, too, will find useful info including why we shouldn’t ask our grandchildren the often posed question: “So, what do you want to be when you grow up?”
There are also takeaways that adults can incorporate into their own “age of anxiety.”
She writes about the potential issues surrounding sensory overload and having too many choices, pointing out that “Too many choices create anxiety and the feeling of being overwhelmed. It’s not empowering; it’s paralyzing.” Enhancing mental health with yoga.
This easy-to-read 288-page paperback covers everything from academic and social pressures, social media and technology usage, increased social isolation and family pressures. And, as her final chapter clearly suggests: It’s Never Too Late.
Chicken Little, the Sky Isn’t Falling: Raising Resilient Adolescents in the New Age of Anxiety is available from Amazon.com
About the Author
Erica Komisar, LCSW, is a clinical social worker, psychoanalyst and parent guidance expert who has been in private practice in New York City for over 30 years. As a psychological consultant, she brings parenting workshops to schools, clinics, corporations and childcare settings. She is also a contributing editor to the Institute for Family Studies. She is a frequent contributor to The Wall Street Journal, The New York Daily News, The Washington Post and The Huffington Post.
Erica lives in New York City with her husband and is the mother of three adolescent children. For more info check out her website
