How to Understand Stress and Fear in Your Child

Many years ago, before we went to work with The Post Institute, in the midst of a child meltdown, Bryan Post sent us an email that was so “to the point” I had to write it up and repeat it as he suggested. As far as I know, he has never shared this in his writings so this may be the first time this little gem has appeared publicly. I hope you can find this as valuable as my wife and I have. – David Durovy

If ________ (substitute your child’s name) is getting worse, then his/her stress has continued to rise.

The more stressed, the worse the behavior.

The worse the behavior, the more fear that you will reject him/her.

The more fear that you will reject or abandon him/her, the worse the behavior.

The worse the behavior, the more you feel like a failure.

The more you feel like a failure, the more stressful it is for you, and the more prone you are to reject and emotionally abandon him/her, thereby causing more stress for both you and ______ … and the cycle continues.

The prescription? Read this 20 times today, 20 times tomorrow and 10 times a day for the next week. And yes, meditate on this as well. Let us know how this works and what you learn.