Give Children the Gift of Anxiety Coping Skills

Online, September 20, 2010 (Newswire.com) - Media Contact: Denise Stillman
708-248-8190
[email protected]

People with anxiety disorders who receive treatment are more likely to lead more productive, healthier lives, according to clinical research. With more than 9.6 million children (13 percent) in the United States afflicted with anxiety disorders, parents and caregivers would be remiss not to teach children anxiety coping skills while they are young.

Parents and caregivers can easily do this with My Worry Box™, a colorful, new therapeutic journaling tool created for children 7 and up. My Worry Box works by providing a physical place to store worries outside of children's minds until they can review them with adults they trust. This strategy provides a way to prevent worries from interrupting positive thoughts throughout the day and helps children cope with the worries of today's society. This concept is supported by numerous bodies of research and published writings, including Freeing Your Child From Anxiety by Tamar Chansky, Ph.D., founder of the Children's Center for OCD and Anxiety and What to Do When You Worry Too Much, by clinical psychologist Dawn Huebner, Ph.D.

Chicago-based psychotherapist, Sara Gibson, LCPC, said, "My Worry Box can be a very effective tool for parents and caregivers to use with children having difficulty handling their worries. The simple act of translating a worry in one's mind into words on paper and placing that paper in a special place, such as My Worry Box, psychologically transfers the burden of the anxiety away from the human body."

In consumer tests, My Worry Box was a terrific hit with moms and children alike. "My Worry Box benefited both my daughter and me," said Shannon, a Chicago-area Mom of three. "It helped her open up to me."

My Worry Box is a simple, easy-to-use gift for people seeking relief from their worries so they can move forward with their lives. Though My Worry Box cannot remove the source of worry from anyone's life, its existence will educate society on effective ways to manage the response to worries so people can continue to be productive and positive in these challenging times. Teaching effective coping mechanisms for worry, or anxiety, to youth can positively alter the future.

My Worry Box is available through gift retailers in the Chicago area and via www.myworrybox.com. They come in purple, blue and green and include one Worry Pad, one pencil and My Worry Box Instructions written for children to understand. For more information on My Worry Box products and childhood anxiety, visit www.myworrybox.com.

How My Worry Box Came To Be

A curious engineer who is also a private pilot and businessman originally designed the concept with his industrial designer. The two were inspired by the works of Norman Vincent Peale, one of the most influential clergymen in the United States during the 20th century who is most responsible for bringing psychology into the professing Church, blending its principles into a message of "positive thinking."

About Whitney Development Group

Whitney Development Group, Inc.(WDG) is a private corporation located in Niles, Ill., that is committed to helping people improve their health. The leaders of WDG have been in business for more than 15 years and have built a solid reputation as a reliable supplier in the surgical and disposable medical products industry. They will bring that same level of integrity and heart now into the consumer gift products/self-help therapy market.

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Arch Gen Psychiatry. 1994 Sep;51(9):740-50.
Freeing Your Child From Anxiety, Tamar E. Chansky, PhD, Broadway Books, 2004.