FIND YOUR FIERCE

A clinical psychologist offers teens practical tools they can use to deal with social anxiety.

The director of the McLean Hospital’s Anxiety Mastery Program provides explanations and examples of techniques to help young people manage their fears and anxieties. To begin, she defines social anxiety and introduces three fictional teens. Emma, Jordan, and Maria (shown with differing skin tones in the grayscale illustrations) present different worries but respond similarly by withdrawing—in the classroom, among friends, or on the playing field. She follows these young people throughout the book, giving step-by-step directions for each of the tools she suggests. Sperling explains how to manage thoughts, feelings, and behavior using the tools of cognitive behavior therapy: checking your thoughts, mindfulness, and relaxation. She also discusses the strategy of exposure and response prevention, including gradual exposure and purposefully difficult exposure, to learn to curb defensive responses. At every step, Sperling uses one of her characters to show how a teen might put her techniques into practice. Every chapter includes a recapitulation of the most important points. The author addresses her readers directly; her explanations are clear, her tone is patient and reassuring, and she encourages regular use of these tools, offering the parallel example of an athlete’s daily practice. The book concludes with a helpful chapter on self-care.

Straightforward and useful advice.