Braver, Stronger, Smarter: A Girl’s Guide to Overcoming Worry & Anxiety

A great companion book to the book raising worry free girls. I can’t recommend these two books more. I will buy them for everyone I know. They are truly life-changing. I’ve read a lot of these books. And this is the best one!!

Braver, Stronger, Smarter: A Girl’s Guide to Overcoming Worry & Anxiety was written by Sissy Goff (MED, LPC-MHSP). Goff is the director of child and adolescent counseling at Daystar Counseling Ministries in Nashville, TN.

This book was written for girls in elementary school, and for parents/guardians to read out loud together.

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Braver, Stronger, Smarter: A Girls Guide to Overcoming Worry and Anxiety by Sissy Goff

Rating: 5 out of 5 stars

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Story Notes

Sissy Goff offers parents and young women an opportunity to deal with one of the most common problems for pre-teen and teen girls, worry and/or anxiety, through understanding exactly what it is and what causes it to be so prominent in their lives.

We live in a society that measures success by accomplishments or lack thereof. So is it any wonder that many of today’s girls and young women are overwhelmed with daily life and tasks. Worry and anxiety are becoming more common at a younger age and even more so in the lives of females. Sissy Goff sets out to help parents and young women tackle this problem by helping them understand exactly what worry/anxiety is, what causes it and how to go about overcoming it with easy to remember techniques. The guide is divided into three sections – Understanding, Help, and Hope. Each section has three subsections that can be reviewed and practiced until fully learned. That is Dr. Goff’s goal as stated in her introduction, for each reader to go through the guide at a pace that suits them. I definitely believe this book will be a help to young women who struggle with this issue. I, myself, remember the times as a teen when I wanted to be the best and smartest no matter what the task and sometimes it made me feel overwhelmed. I love that Dr Goff uses her dog to illustrate the different points of each portion of the study. Most girls love dogs and will find a good connection with Lucy and her troubles. I was also glad to see that while Dr. Goff discussed the self causes of worry and anxiety, she did so in a kind and helpful way with no condemnation. Girls tend to be harder on themselves than boys because they are wired that way. God made girls with an increased ability to empathize, problem solve and strive for success and this can lead to worry or anxiety if allowed to get out of hand. These are the big points that Dr. Goff makes at the beginning of the book to help girls understand worry/anxiety. I agree with those assessments totally and can see how older women do this too. From there Dr. Goff goes on to offer ways to help stop the endless cycle of worry by intentional breathing, grounding games, naming the worry monster, creating brave ladders and lots of other techniques. She specifically leaves blanks to be filled in by each reader so they can personalize the ways they apply the techniques and this will be helpful to many girls. I loved the idea of having a “code word” to say to parents to let them know their child is worrying or feeling overwhelmed; it will be helpful to parents to know what’s happening when things are busy around them. Dr Goff finishes the book by offering hope for overcoming worry/anxiety by continuous practice of the techniques and much prayer. By giving real life examples and implementations, she offers girls a look at what things will be like as they work through and past their problem. The last page gives a quick reference to return to in moments of unexpected panic, which I think girls might like to cut out or perhaps make a drawing of for their room as a reminder. I will certainly be recommending this study to others as I hope they will be able to help their children overcome the on-going struggle of worry/anxiety. It will certainly help them see what their child is thinking and how they can help them process what goes on each day. Excellent topic and wonderful solutions offered here!

I received this complimentary study from Bethany House Publishers to provide an honest review. I will receive no fiscal compensation for this review and the opinions expressed herein are entirely my own.

If you have a worrier or a girl with anxiety who is young- like elementary age-- this workbook is for her. I've done therapy with a young boy for these concerns, and this book- wow! A chance for a parent or trusted friend to help a girl process and learn how to overcome fear, anxiety, or worry. It offers best practice solutions, in a gentle friendly, real approach that will appeal to girls. The therapist shares using her small dog, Lucy's, perspective she defines it, teaches strategies, asks the reader to draw, write, and reflect on her own perspective and share her thoughts, beliefs, and plan her actions. The author cautions the reader to go slowly through this book, and while I know many parents want to 'fix' concerns-- having done weekly therapy with a young child- it is a marathon and it really does need to be approached slowly over time and internalized to be effective.

I love that this is a biblically driven books and one of the strategies is to chose worry verses to recite and help overcome the worries. This perspective is needed and in me experience one of the best techniques to cope with those feelings that are not facts or logical, but yet they can control your life if you allow them to. There is also a book for adults that partners with this one- and I'd be interested in reading it as well.

Thankful to partner with Bethany House Publishing and read this book. I will be adding it to my resources and using/recommending it others who may be able to use it.

Does your child struggle with fear, small or irrational? All kids struggle with fear some time. Some just seem to struggle more than others.
In her workbook Braver, Stronger, Smarter, Sissy Goff has written a manual for elementary-age children to help them identify their fear, give it a name, and then use the tools she teaches them to help kids fight against the fear that affects their bodies, minds and hearts.
I found as I was reading through the material, that I could identify many areas where my children struggle with various issues. And this book will definitely be a useful tool to go through with them. The book is intended to be used with girls and they can either read it through with an adult or on their own. I think I'll probably read through this workbook with all three of my kids (two boys and a girl) and use it as a great talking point with them.
There is also another resource available that is written for adults called Raising Worry-Free Girls which would be great to read as your child goes through the workbook. It will go through the same concepts that your child is learning to fight her fear. And you may learn some great techniques to help yourself in the process. I think this is a great resource and I look forward to using it with my own kids.

***I received this complimentary book from Bethany House Publishers. I was not required to write a positive review. All opinions are my own.

This is an excellent book for young girls that have anxiety and worry issues. I liked how this book is laid out in a kind of a workbook style so that those reading it can write stuff down and really get even more out of the book. Sissy writes in an easy to understand style which makes a perfect compliment to the topic. My 6 year old daughter is already starting down the road of anxiety(due in part to some special needs)and you can bet, I will try this book with her when she is a bit older.

I received this book from the publisher and was not required to post a positive review. All thoughts are my ow