Helping Your Socially Vulnerable Child

Description

In social situations, certain children are more likely to be subject than others to emotional and physical harm by other, more aggressive children. These socially vulnerable children tend to be be socially anxious, shy, and withdrawn, and they are the natural targets of bullies. Unless parents take an active role in helping these kids cope with these problems at an early age, the chances of them carrying a legacy of social anxiety and other problems into adulthood increases dramatically. This is the first book to offer resources to parents specifically for dealing with issues of social vulnerability. The book provides parents with a set of cognitive behavioral tools they can use to promote confidence, independence, and social ease in their children, whether in the classroom, on the playground, in the cafeteria, or at play in their peer groups. The book shows parents how to work effectively within the school system and help their children build strong support groups.

Eisen and Engler have provided parents of socially vulnerable children a wonderful resource. They skillfully discuss the various reasons children may be anxious in social settings and what parents can do about it. This book will help parents, mental health professionals, and others who work with youth sensitively assist those children who have much to offer but are standing by on the sidelines of life. --Mary A. Fristad, Ph.D, ABPP, professor of psychiatry and psychology at the Ohio State University and director of research and psychological services in the Division of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry