Iron Horse Middle School MPR ~ 12601 Alcosta Blvd, San Ramon

Until recently, childhood anxieties were thought to be relatively mild, transitory and harmless. However, anxious children often are aware that they are not coping as well as other children, which can have long-term effects on their confidence and self-esteem. Parenting an anxious child is not easy, but anxious children can be helped to overcome their fears, and parents play an important part in the solution. In his talk, Dr. Tompkins describes the nature of childhood anxiety and describes several strategies for parenting the anxious child. Special attention is given to helping the clingy child, the shy child and the worrier.

Michael A. Tompkins, Ph.D. is a licensed clinical psychologist (PSY 13822) and the Director ofProfessional Training at the San Francisco Bay Area Center for Cognitive Therapy, Assistant Clinical Professor at the University of California, Berkeley, and a Founding Fellow of the Academy of Cognitive Therapy. He specializes in empirically supported treatments for depression and anxiety disorders in adults, adolescents and children.

Dr. Tompkins is the author or co-author of numerous articles and chapters on cognitive-behaviortherapy and related topics, including (with Jacqueline B. Persons and Joan Davidson) a book and videotape series titled, Essential Components of Cognitive-Behavior Therapy for Depression (APA, 2001) and Therapy Homework: Key Steps to Creating and Implementing Successful Homework Assignments to be published by Guilford Press in spring, 2004. He is an accomplished teacher and was awarded the 1994 Outstanding Teacher of the Year Award at the California Pacific Medical Center, San Francisco, and has presented nationally on the topic of cognitive-behavior therapy.(please R.S.V.P. by phone to 829-2355, or e-mail to nmvandell@comcast.net)