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An Anxiety Workbook for Children


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Facilitator Notes

This is an anxiety workbook for children age 5-11. The story aboutMighty Moe relates directly to the material in the workbook, and can

be used as a reference to enhance the childs understanding of the

content. The language and concepts in this manual are concrete andhave been simplified to facilitate the childs comprehension.

Any child using this workbook should do so with the guidance of aparent, counsellor, or other qualified mental health professional.

Children should not be expected to work through this book on theirown. Although concepts have been simplified to maximize the childs

independent use of this book, support is still required to ensurecomprehension and maximum benefit.

The language in this workbook is broad. Specific reference is made toworries and a definition is given. Throughout the book, anxiety is

typically referred to simply, as BIG feelings. This allows for the childto attach their own personal meaning to their experience of anxiety.

For some children, anxiety presents as anger or intense sadness.Although the term BIG feelings is broad, the facilitator should help

the child identify this connection between feeling states while keepingthe focus on the root causes of the childs anxiety.

The Best Practice Guidelines for managing anxiety in this workbook

have been adapted to be fun, engaging, and child friendly. The

material in this manual is not intended to replace the advice ofprofessional mental health experts.

All Rights Reserved 2009

This book may only be reproduced with written permission from the

author.

Written By: Lacey WoloshynIllustrated By: Andrea Chamberlain

Contact Information:

[email protected]

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mailto:[email protected]:[email protected]


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Table of Contents

Story of Mighty Moe page 4

Book of Mighty Big Feelings page 30

What Big Feelings Do page 32

What Big Feelings Say page 35

Body-Mind-Feeling Chain page 40

Body Cues page 45

Body Tool #1: Healthy Choices page 52

Body Tool #2: Relax page 57

Thinking Tool #1: Positive Thoughts page 58

Thinking Tool #2: Put it on Paper page 60

Feeling Tool #1: Calm Down Plan page 62

Feeling Tool #2: Special Plan page 67

Putting it all Together page 71

Problem Solving page 75

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Moe was a kid just like any other.

He went to school everyday. He liked math and art the best,but he was not a big fan of homework.

He lived in a house with his family. He tried hard to getalong with his parents, but things were not always perfect.

He had lots of friends. Together, they would play soccer andother fun games.

Moe really was a kid just like any other or so it seemed.

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Moe seemedto be a kid just like any other, but he didnt feelthat way. He had something that made him specialsomething that made him different.

Moe had special powers. He was strong, fast, and creative,just as much as the next kid. But when Moes MightyPowers kicked in, he became extra strong, extra fast, andextra creative.

Having special powers may seem like a great thing, butthere was another side to Moes Mighty Powers.

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Having Mighty Powers meant that everything got really BIGin Moes mind. His thoughts and feelings got so big theywere often out of his control.

And when Moe gotscared, he gotMIGHTY scared!

When Moe got mad, hegot MIGHTY mad!

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Not only did Moe get mighty BIG feelings, but he was alsoscared of many, many things!

Moe was scared of being away from his family, dark rooms,needles, spiders, sharks, deep water, and his sisterskoodies, just to name a few.

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No matter how hard he tried, Moe couldnt get rid of hismighty big feelings. Moes family felt frustrated becausethey didnt understand why he was scared of so manythings. They said, Moe, why do you worryso much?

Moe was confused

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Worryis a feeling. Worries can be small or they can growto be very very BIG. Everyone gets small worriessometimes, and everyone gets BIG worries as well.

But some people get BIG worries A LOT. If you get a lot ofBIG worries, then it can be hard to do things like school

work, meeting new people, or playing with friends.

This made Moe scared and sad. He wondered

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One day, Moe was outside playing with his friend, Sam. Itwas getting late in the afternoon and Sam was tired ofplaying outside. Sam invited Moe to come over to his houseto play.

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Moe didnt know what to say. He liked Sam and wanted toplay with him more but he didnt want to go to Sams house.Moe was happy playing in his own yard because his momwas just inside the house and he could see her through thewindow. Moe felt safe when he could see his mom.

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Moe knew if he went to Sams house he wouldnt be able tosee his mom through the window and this made him feelscared.

Moe could feel his Mighty Powers kick in! His small feelingstarted to get bigger and BIGGER. His tummy was doingfunny things and his skin was getting hot and tingly all over.

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Moe started to back away from Sam

Moe turned and ran inside his house. Sam called to Moe andasked him to come back, but Moe was already gone.

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Moe felt horrible! He wanted to play with Sam and was madthat he couldnt. He was too scared to tell Sam the truthbecause he was afraid Sam would make fun of him. MoesMighty Powers had taken control again!

When Moe came inside, his mom asked:

But Moe said Moes mom.

I dont want to talk about it!! yelled Moe.

Moe knew he was being rude but he didnt care. All hewanted to do was hide his feelings from everyone.

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A few days later, Moe was at school and his teacher askedhim to read in front of the class. Moe hated reading in frontof the class. He thought he was a bad reader and that allthe kids would laugh at him if he made a mistake.

Moe was feeling very very scared inside. He could feel hisMighty Powers at work and his scared feeling was gettingbigger and bigger and BIGGER.

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Moes teacher handed him the book.

Moe could feel his tummy doing funny things and his kneeswere wobbly. His heart was beating so fast and so hard hecould hear it thumping in his ears. He was certain thateveryone in the room could hear his heartbeat thumping andsee his wobbly knees wobbling.

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Moe didnt want anyone to know he was feeling scared. Moetried to calm down but his Mighty Powers were takingcontrol and his scared feeling was getting bigger and bigger

and BIGGER!

Moe tried as hard as he could but he couldnt make his lipsmove to read the words.

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All the kids were staring at Moe, waiting for him to read. Hefelt sick to his stomach. Scared, and not knowing what elseto do, Moe yelled:

Moe was so scared and frustrated and angry that he rippedthe pages out of the book, threw them on the ground, andran out of class!

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As Moe ran down the hall he could hear all the kids laughingat him. He could also hear his teacher calling him to comeback, but Moe didnt care. He just wanted to hide hisfeelings from everyone, again.

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Moe ran and ran and ran.

Moe ran so fast and so hard he could feel his leg musclesburning.

Moe ran all the way home.

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Moes mom was at home when he got there. She wassurprised to see him home from school so early. Momsmom said:

Moes mom was scared and worried that something waswrong. She loved Moe so much and cared for him a lot.

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Moe didnt know what to do. Moe had Mighty BIG feelingsbut he also had a Mighty BIG problem: he couldnt keepletting his Mighty Powers take control all the time! Moeknew he had to solve this problem but how?

Should he tell his mom about his feelings?

Should he get mad, be rude, and not talk about theproblem?

Moe could feel his tummy doing funny things again andthere was his heartbeat thumping in his ears boom,boom boom, boom boom, boom

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Moe couldnt keep it all inside anymore. He burst into tears!

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Moes mom knew she had to help him. Moes Mighty Powerswere out of control! Moes feelings were getting too BIG andthis was making it hard for him to do things. Moes feelingswere so BIG and out of control that he couldnt even doschool work or have fun with his friends!

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Moes mom took him to see a counsellor. Moe and hiscounsellor talked about a lot of things like feelings, people,school work, and even worries. The counsellor gave Moe abook called:

Everyday, Moe and his mom would work on the booktogether. The work wasnt easy, but Moe tried his hardestand slowly, things started to get better.

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Moe worked very hard and he learnt a lot of things from hisbook.

He learnt he COULD make his big feelings smaller and heCOULD stop being scared of so many things.

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Moe learned how to take control of his Mighty Powersinstead of them controlling him. This made Moe feel Mightyhappy.

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Moe felt good about his Mighty Powers because learningabout them made him feel strong and brave. He felt proudto be Mighty Moe.

Now, Moe still got Mighty BIG feelings sometimes but he feltconfident because he had learnt what to do to stay in controlof his Mighty Powers.

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But of all the things Moe learnt, the MOST IMPORTANT was

He realized he really WAS a kid, just like ANY OTHER.

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Print your name here

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Remember the story about Moe and his Mighty Powers?

Moes feelings got very BIG and it was hard for him to do things.

Moe didnt like having such BIG feelings.

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What BIG Feelings DO

BIG feelings stopped Moe from going to his friends house to play.

BIG feelings stopped Moe from reading in front of the class.

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BIG feelings can stop you from having fun.

BIG feelings can make it hard to do schoolwork.

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BIG feelings can make it hard to talk to people, hard to play,and even hard to smile!

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What BIG Feelings SAY

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It can be very hard to have BIGfeelings inside!

This book will help you learnhow to make your BIGfeelings smaller.

You can also learn to havemore control when youhave BIG feelings.

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Remember what worrymeans?

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What is a worry?

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What happens to you when you have BIG feelings?

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To make BIG feelings smaller, you will needBody Tools, Thinking Tools, and Feeling Tools.

Now, lets talk about feelings!

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The thing about feelings is

You can have one feelinginside or you can havemany feelings inside atthe same time.

Some feelings startsmall and stay small.

Some feelings start small and

grow to bevery

BIG!

Some feelings start

BIGand FAST!

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Feelings sure can be confusing!

Knowing how you feel can help you figure out what to do about it.

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Body Cues

Your body gives you clues to help you figure out HOW youfeel. These are called Body Cues.

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Fill out the Know Your Feelings Chart below with your ownbody cues for each feeling.

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Think about things that you SEE, HEAR, or THINK that giveyou BIG feelings. Fill in this chart with pictures or words:

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Think about something that HAPPENED that gave you BIGfeelings.

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What FUN activities can you do to keep your body healthy?

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What healthy foods do you like to eat?

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Take the Healthy Body Challenge!

Follow the star chart on the next page for one week.

Every time you eat healthy food, give yourself one star.

Every time you exercise for at least 15 minutes, giveyourself one star.

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Body Tool #2: Relax

BIG feelings can make your body feel tight and sore. Thisbody tool can help your body feel better.

Try this:

Notice how warm and relaxed your muscles feel? You caneven try to do this exercise while sitting at your school deskif you need to, or any other places you go.

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Thinking Tool #1: Positive Thoughts

When you have BIG feelings, your mind thinks BIG negative

thoughts and this can make you feel worse!

If your brain is thinking BIG negative thoughts try to say apositive thought to yourself instead. Here are some ideas:

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Write or draw about your own negative thoughts that youhave had. Write down a positive thought you can say toyourself instead.

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When you KNOW BIG feelings are coming, its a good idea tohave a Special Plan. A Special Plan will help you manageyour BIG feelings so you can stay in control.

Here is an example of a Special Plan:

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When Moe had BIG feelings, he also ended up having BIGproblems. Moe tried to solve his problems a few differentways.

Some of Moes choices made his problem BIGGER:

Some of Moes choices made his problem smaller:

Learning to solve problems is tough! The next page will helpyou figure out how to become Mighty good at ProblemSolving.

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Good job!

Working through this book took a lot of hard work!

It is a good idea to keep this book in a safe place so you canlook at it whenever you want. Looking through this bookwill help you remember your Body Tools, Thinking Tools, andFeeling Tools. When you look at this book, remember howstrong and brave you are for learning to manage your BIGfeelings!

And remember

Just like Moe, you too are a kid, just like ANY OTHER!

mighty moe1

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