Dr. Galanti is a psychologist who practices in New York. She started a private practice that currently has four mental health providers who work primarily with children and adolescents. She also does parenting consultations and work to help the adults caring for her clients be the best parents they can be. In March 2020, she released her book, Anxiety Relief for Teens. It came out not a moment too soon! She shared that it was listed as an “essential good” during lockdown.
Anxiety Relief for Teens is written specifically for adolescents struggling with anxiety and focuses on building coping skills and mindfulness based on cognitive behavioral therapy, and it includes quizzes to help readers learn to identify and recognize their own symptoms. Readers can use the activities and build skills independently or with parental support, which promotes that empowerment.
Dr. Galanti shared with me her experience of overcoming imposter syndrome and worrying that she might not be the right person to write this book. She had to overcome her own worries about being “good enough” to help people work through their anxiety, which I think makes her even more qualified to help people address their own insecurities! If anything, it is essential for mental health professionals to question our own expertise on a regular basis to make sure we are continuing to provide quality care.
In Dr. Galanti’s experience writing the book, she told me, “Exposure works!” She gets to use her own experience of overcoming insecurities and fear. She knows what she’s talking about, both as a professional and from personal experience. I really appreciate how authentic, genuine, and honest that she is about her own experiences.
Dr. Galanti wants to help her clients learn not only how to overcome unpleasant feelings but how to tolerate and sit with those feelings. She told me, “Coping skills only get you so far when you sit with an emotion.” We want to learn appropriate skills to reduce those feelings, but we also need the exposure to those feelings so that we can tolerate them. She teaches her clients to be okay with uncomfortable or undesirable emotions.
Next month, Dr. Galanti is releasing an anxiety workbook for young kids between ages five and eight. It features an adorable hedgehog, Harley, who teaches children about anxiety and coping skills. The book includes fun activities specifically to help kids learn cognitive behavioral skills for anxiety. You can pre-order When Harley Has Anxiety now. She has future plans to write a book about anxiety in kids for parents, which I am excited to see.
