Helping Children Cope in an Increasingly Threatening World: Four Cornerstones of Emotional Well-Being:

We are living in a very distressing time. Each day, the news is filled with disturbing accounts of war, bioterrorism, questionable accidents, threats, and scares. Adults and children alike feel threatened in their everyday lives. Although many counselors are familiar with ways to help families cope with crisis, loss, and grief, little training has been focused on helping families cope with the stress related to amorphous threats. This article, which can be shared with parents, discusses some tools and guidelines that can be used to help parents help their children cope. Topics include how parents can talk with different aged children, how they can help children turn fear into resiliency, what the signs of distress are, and how to use family meetings to teach coping skill sand establisha forum for open communication.