What to Read Next!
“I would highly recommend the book, Raising Worry Free Girls, by Sissy Goff for any parent who is walking with their daughter through anxiety. It is extremely practical and applicable. It explains anxiety in a way that is clarifying, hope-filled and freeing. And, I can’t tell you the number of parents who have told me that they personally benefitted from reading this book because it revealed to them their own experience with anxiety that had gone undetected for many years! A must read for any parent with girls!”
“Braver, Stronger, Smarter by Sissy Goff is the accompanying workbook for Raising Worry-Free Girls geared towards elementary-aged girls. It is an excellent resource for parents looking to have conversations with their daughter about anxiety but unsure of where to start. In the book, your daughter will learn what worry is vs. anxiety, what worry and anxiety look like, what to do about anxiety and how God cares about it all. Make sure to do the workbook with your child! It will spark fantastic conversations, and you might just learn something yourself!”
Raising Worry-Free Girls by Sissy Goff is a fantastic resource for any parent with a girl of any age. It is obviously helpful for those with girls that are struggling with worry and anxiety, but it is also an excellent resource as you parent any girl dealing with daily life stressors. The book helps you process your own anxiety so that you do not put your own worries onto your child. With that being said, it is helpful to have someone to process the book with- a friend, a family member, a therapist. I could not recommend this book enough as you walk with your daughter as she navigates dealing with worry and anxiety.
— Grace Copeland
Book Review by Kelsey Byrn - Braver, Stronger, Smarter: A Girl’s Guide to Overcoming Worry & Anxiety
In working with elementary-aged girls and their anxiety, I have found this workbook to be such a helpful tool. One of my favorite aspects of this workbook is that encourages young girls in their ability to bravely work through their anxiety on their own. This fosters confidence and a sense of self-efficacy that many girls can carry with them as they grow older and find themselves in situations where they don’t always have someone there to walk them through hard moments.
With a core focus on their identity in Christ, young girls can find a wide variety of tools in these pages that include stories, writing and drawing prompts, and coping skills. The main message weaved throughout the pages of this book is that God is bigger than any fears or anxiety, and that because the reader is loved by God, she will always have what she needs to conquer anxiety, and never do it alone. I love the marriage of spiritual truth and practical tips that this workbook offers.
This workbook includes three sections: 1) Understanding, 2) Help, and 3) Hope. Section one breaks down the definition of worry and its’ potential symptoms, the fact that worry is inevitable and has nothing to do with our worth, as well as the helpfulness of learning about our worry in order to best fight it. Section two explains how worry impacts our body, mind and hearts. From explaining our fight, flight and freeze response as well as other reactions our body may have to worries, this section does a fantastic job of separating our natural responses from the “Worry Monster’s” tricks. This section also gives many practical tips and coping skills to use when we notice our body, heart and mind becoming anxious. Lastly, section three, labeled ‘Hope,’ focuses on three main topics: ‘trouble,’ ‘take heart,’ and ‘overcomer.’ This last section breaks down what John 16:33 really means for us and what it looks like in our lives in light of our struggle with worry.
Lastly, although this workbook is directed toward young girls, there are still MANY applicable truths and skills you can pull and use with elementary-aged boys, too! For example, section two of this book offers fantastic coping tools such as “The Three Doors Game,” “The Relax Game” and “Find a Code Word.” These skills, along with many others, can be used for both elementary and middle school aged boys and girls.
We hope these books are helpful for you and your daughters!
Let us know if there are additional topics you would like for us to consider when making book recommendations in the future.