An urgent and nec­es­sary book, When the World Feels Like a Scary Place brings solu­tions to a prob­lem that is only going to get worse — how bad things hap­pen­ing in the world affect our chil­dren, and how we can raise engaged and con­fi­dent kids in spite of them.

Dr. Abi­gail Gewirtz, a child psy­chol­o­gist and lead­ing expert on fam­i­lies under stress, now offers a clear and tru­ly prac­ti­cal guide to hav­ing the kind of tough con­ver­sa­tions with your kids that real­ly help. But it’s not just how to talk to your kids, it’s also what to say: The heart of the book is a series of con­ver­sa­tion scripts, with actu­al dia­logue, talk­ing points, prompts, and insight­ful asides, each tai­lored for dif­fer­ent ages and cen­tered around dif­fer­ent issues. She shows how to let the child lead. How to not make the prob­lem worse by say­ing more than a child needs to know. How to check in with your­self to make sure your own anx­i­ety doesn’t col­or the conversation.