Specialist to talk childhood anxieties at Hilltop

SPARTA — Hilltop Country Day School is pleased to kick off the 2017-18 Speaker Series with Meredith Lynar, a licensed social worker in private practice, to discuss strategies to help children cope with childhood emotions and clinical anxiety. The event, which is free and open to the public, will be held on Thursday, November 30 at 6:30 p.m. The presentation will be geared toward parents of children ages 3-10. Free childcare is available with pre-registration only at www.hilltopcds.org/anxiety.
Many professionals agree there is an increase in childhood anxiety due in part to the excessive use of technology, increased academic expectations, and faster-paced lives. Ms. Lynar will provide participants with an understanding of the rise of anxiety, how to discern typical childhood emotions from clinical anxiety, and provide functional strategies for parents to help children cope.
Lynar will identify differences between typical childhood emotions and anxiety that interrupts childhood development; explain the role sensory processing pays within the development of childhood anxiety; examine theories regarding the rise of childhood anxiety; explain stress and anxiety from a neurological perspective; and identify brain-based strategies such as mindfulness and the development of cognitive flexibility to assist in children regulating their emotional stress.
Hilltop Country Day School is a coeducational private school for preschoolers ages 2.5 through eighth grade. Hilltop's S.T.E.A.M.-center curriculum is project-based and is individualized to the needs of each student. For more information, please visit www.hilltopcds.org or call 973-729-5485.