How to soothe an anxious child 

Compassion is essential when dealing with a child's anxiety. It goes hand in hand with resilience, a psychologist tells Marjorie Brennan

Self-care enables parents to better address their children's emotional needs. Picture: iStock

When clinical psychologist Dr Malie Coyne came to write a book on how to deal with childhood anxiety, there was no shortage of case studies that she could draw on. However, she was also keen to share her own experiences as a mother of two girls aged six and eight, and, as she describes herself, ‘a bit of a control freak’. 

In her new book, Love In, Love Out: A Compassionate Approach to Parenting your Anxious Child, Coyne talks about how her own anxiety was exacerbated when she became a mother, words that will resonate with parents everywhere.