Befriending the Worry Monster
Helping children understand worry, build confidence and face life’s challenges
Befriending the Worry Monster
A collection of resources designed to help children understand what worry is, recognise how it shows up in their mind and body, and develop practical skills and inner resources to meet life's challenges with greater confidence.
For primary-aged children, families and schools
My Friend the Worry Monster book and the accompanying programs remind children that worry has an important job. It alerts us to possible danger, helps us prepare and tells us when something matters.
Sometimes, though, the Worry Monster gets a little overenthusiastic.
It can mistake uncomfortable for unsafe.
It can encourage children to avoid things that feel difficult.
And it can become so loud that children stop hearing another important voice — their Inner Cheerleader.
Befriending the Worry Monster gives children a simple, memorable language for understanding these experiences without making worry something to fear.
Children learn:
Worry is normal. Everyone has a Worry Monster.
I can get to know mine. What brings it out? What does it say? Where do I feel it in my body?
I can ask for help. I don't have to manage big feelings alone.
My thoughts aren't always facts. I can get curious about what my Worry Monster is telling me.
I have strengths and inner resources. My Inner Cheerleader has something to say too.
I can support my body. Breathing, movement, mindfulness and visualisation can help me feel more resourced.
I can notice the good as well as the worry. Happiness, gratitude, connection and strengths help bring the seesaw back into balance.
I can feel worried AND still take a step forward.
For schools
Befriending the Worry Monster School Program
A practical, classroom-friendly wellbeing program helping primary-aged children build self-awareness, emotional regulation and resilience.
Designed with teachers and mental health professions the program includes
structured, ready-to-teach lesson plans
teacher background information and facilitation guidance
child-friendly activities and discussion prompts
printable worksheets and classroom resources
body awareness and emotional literacy activities
mindfulness and body-based regulation strategies
strengths and Inner Cheerleader activities
practical ways to help children approach challenges rather than automatically avoid them
ideas for strengthening the learning beyond each lesson
Educators receive clear, developmentally appropriate tools that can be woven into everyday wellbeing practice while helping children build skills they can use long beyond the classroom.
For Parents & Carers
AIM to Tame the Worry Monster
AIM to Tame the Worry Monster helps parents understand childhood worry and anxiety and respond in ways that build confidence rather than unintentionally strengthening avoidance.
The simple AIM framework helps parents:
A — Acknowledge
Notice, validate and normalise worry.
I — Investigate
Get curious about what's happening in your child's thoughts, body and behaviour.
M — Make a Plan
Draw on connection, practical strategies, body-based tools and small achievable steps forward.
Parents will also learn to recognise their own Worry Monster, because how we respond to our child's distress matters too.
The Worry Monster Toolkit
The programs grow from the world of the Worry Monster children's book, taking its ideas off the page and into everyday life.
Children learn to:
Meet their Worry Monster
Give worry a name and begin talking about it without shame.
Notice their body
Recognise the physical clues that tell them worry has arrived.
Ask for help
Know who their trusted people are and how to reach out.
Turn up their Inner Cheerleader
Recognise strengths, effort, courage and past successes.
Build their toolkit
Practise mindful breathing, movement, visualisation and other body-based strategies.
Grow the good
Use their Happy List, gratitude and positive experiences to strengthen wellbeing and inner resources.
Practise “Worry AND...”
Move from:
“I can't because I'm worried.”
to:
“I'm worried AND I can take the next step.”
Frequently Asked Questions
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No. Befriending the Worry Monster is a wellbeing and psychoeducation program designed to build children's understanding and everyday coping skills. It is not intended to diagnose or treat an anxiety disorder or replace individual mental health care where this is needed.
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Befriending the Worry Monster is evidence-informed and trauma-informed, drawing on established approaches to childhood wellbeing and anxiety.
Cognitive Behavioural Therapy — CBT
CBT helps children understand the relationship between their thoughts, feelings, body sensations and actions.
Rather than automatically believing everything the Worry Monster predicts, children learn to pause, get curious and develop a more balanced perspective.
Acceptance & Commitment Therapy — ACT
ACT adds an important idea:
We don't need to eliminate uncomfortable thoughts and feelings before we live our lives.
Children practise noticing worry without becoming completely caught up in it, making space for uncomfortable feelings and taking meaningful action even when worry is present.
Positive Psychology
The program deliberately builds what's strong — not simply addressing what's wrong.
Strengths, gratitude, positive experiences, connection, self-compassion, hope and the Inner Cheerleader are woven throughout to help children develop a bigger bank of internal resources to draw upon when life feels difficult.
Body-Based Regulation & Mindfulness
Worry isn't only something children think.
They feel it.
Children learn simple ways to notice and support their bodies through breath, movement, sensory awareness, mindfulness and visualisation.
Trauma-Informed Practice
Safety, connection, choice and compassion matter.
Children are invited rather than forced to disclose personal worries, and the program recognises that different children experience and express stress in different ways.
Together, these approaches support self-awareness, emotional regulation, psychological flexibility, resilience and a wider window of tolerance for life's inevitable challenges.
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The book and programs have been developed for primary school-aged children, with activities adapted to suit different developmental stages. However, the images and principles also work for preschool and early teens.
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No. Worry is a normal human emotion. The program is designed to build emotional literacy, self-awareness, coping skills and resilience that can benefit children whether they experience occasional everyday worries or find worry more challenging.
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No. AIM to Tame the Worry Monster is being designed as a completely standalone parent program. Families will be able to use the approach whether or not their child's school is involved.
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A school wellbeing program or parenting resource isn't a replacement for professional support. If worry is persistent, escalating or significantly interfering with school, relationships, family life or activities a child wants or needs to do, seeking advice from an appropriately qualified health or mental health professional is recommended.