{"id":2340838,"date":"2024-08-27T11:53:51","date_gmt":"2024-08-27T15:53:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/gozen.com\/?p=2340838"},"modified":"2024-09-05T16:30:17","modified_gmt":"2024-09-05T20:30:17","slug":"from-rejection-to-resilience-help-kids-face-social-anxiety","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/gozen.com\/from-rejection-to-resilience-help-kids-face-social-anxiety\/","title":{"rendered":"From Rejection to Resilience: Help Kids Face Social Anxiety"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"gzvideo\"><div class=\"fluid-video-wrapper square\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/player.vimeo.com\/video\/1002872155?badge=0&amp;autopause=0&amp;player_id=0&amp;app_id=58479&amp;dnt=1\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p><br><em>Love this video? You can find hundreds more like this inside the <a href=\"http:\/\/gozen.com\/programs\" data-type=\"link\" data-id=\"gozen.com\/programs\">GoZen! programs<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Ah, rejection. <\/strong>It\u2019s like broccoli\u2014nobody really likes it, but the fact is it\u2019s actually good for us. When you have social anxiety, the thought of the smallest bite\u2026 er, interaction, is loaded so much potential for bitter rejection that it feels like the only safe options is to stay quiet.\u00a0But we all know we can&#8217;t live our lives silently.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>If your kid has ever turned beet-red at the thought of asking a server for extra napkins, you know how severe social anxiety can be. But what if we told you that regular small doses of rejection could be the secret to overcoming it? (In truth, that\u2019s not a bad strategy for the broccoli, either.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Kids tend to treat rejection like the sky falling. Didn\u2019t get invited to a birthday party? The world is ending. Got a \u201cno\u201d when you asked for a second dessert? Total catastrophe. But here\u2019s a secret\u2014rejection is just a message that says something like, <em>\u201cTry again, but possibly do it differently next time.\u201d<\/em> Or <em>&#8220;Maybe this isn&#8217;t the right time to ask for a pony.&#8221;<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>So, how do we help kids see rejection as less of an apocalypse and more of a minor hiccup?<strong> <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Enter exposure therapy<\/strong>. Exposure therapy is just a fancy way of saying, <em>\u201cpractice makes perfect.\u201d<\/em> For kids with social anxiety, this means dipping their toes into situations where they might hear \u201cno\u201d and realizing that life goes on. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>And speaking of practice, let\u2019s talk about Jia Jiang, the guy who decided to make rejection his new hobby for 100 days straight. The video above is inspired by Jiang&#8217;s idea of <em>\u201cRejection Therapy\u201d<\/em>. It turns out, with enough practice, getting rejected starts to sting a lot less. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>So, how do you actually help your kids get comfortable with rejection? Here are some fun steps to try:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ol class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Start with tiny \u201cnos.\u201d<\/strong> Kick things off with easy asks\u2014like requesting a free donut at the coffee shop (hey, you never know!). Whether the answer is yes or no, the point is to get comfy with the idea that rejection isn\u2019t the end of the world. <em>Spoiler: It\u2019s not even the end of snack time.<\/em><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Laugh it off.<\/strong> When the inevitable \u201cno\u201d comes, take a moment to laugh about it with your kid. <em>&#8220;OM gosh&#8230; did you really just ask the grocery store clerk for a shopping reservation? That was awesome!&#8221;<\/em> Nothing diffuses the fear of rejection like a good belly laugh.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Celebrate the ask, not the answer.<\/strong> Whether your kid gets a yes or a no, celebrate the fact that they had the guts to ask. It\u2019s like doing a cannonball into the pool; <em>the splash is what counts, not whether you got everyone wet.<\/em><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Turn up the difficulty (slowly).<\/strong> As your child gets more comfortable, increase the challenge. Maybe it\u2019s asking a new friend to hang out, or daring to answer a question in class. The more they practice, the less scary it gets. Who knows, they might even start finding the thrill in the \u201cno.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Make rejection a game.<\/strong> Watch the video above to see how it&#8217;s done and then turn rejection into a family sport. Whoever collects the most \u201cnos\u201d by the end of the week wins. Prizes could range from bragging rights to an extra scoop of ice cream. <\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n<p>With a little practice and a lot of laughs, your child will be ready to take on the world\u2014<em>one \u201cno\u201d at a time.<\/em> <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Turn your social anxiety into resilience using a little &#8220;Rejection Therapy&#8221;!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2340905,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[135,131],"tags":[180,64,899,65,189],"class_list":["post-2340838","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-gozen-anxiety-relief","category-social-anxiety-2","tag-anxiety-in-children","tag-confidence","tag-exposure-therapy","tag-social-anxiety","tag-social-anxiety-in-kids","no-featured-image-padding"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/gozen.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2340838","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/gozen.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/gozen.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gozen.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gozen.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2340838"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/gozen.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2340838\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2340955,"href":"https:\/\/gozen.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2340838\/revisions\/2340955"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gozen.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2340905"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/gozen.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2340838"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gozen.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2340838"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gozen.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2340838"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}