In the explorative spiritual growth study Managing Anxiety, authors Trudy Rankin and Faye Wilson educate youth on one very normal emotion with considerable power—anxiety—and offer tools and practices that give them the self-confidence to manage decisions, control their emotions, and mature into healthy young adults, using our Christian faith as a guide.
All sessions are designed to last two hours, and each session offers options for extending the learning time, including mindfulness exercises to help manage anxiety.
- Session 1: Youth will gain an understanding of what anxiety is and how it is linked to various emotions young people may experience.
- Session 2: Youth will gain an understanding of what anxiety looks like and how to address this challenging emotion.
- Session 3: Youth will continue to explore situations where anxiety shows up as well as begin to understand what happens in the brain, what prompts the feeling of being out of control, and how the brain can be nurtured and retrained to be in control.
- Session 4: Youth will understand how they can help themselves and help others during anxious times. Most importantly, they will embrace the support of the church and their commitment to Christ as a source of strength and inspiration.
A chart at the end of the overview section provides leaders with a detailed summary of the contents of each session. And background readings at the beginning of each session prepare leaders to confidently guide young people through the content.
By the end of the study, youth will understand how anxiety shows up in their lives and learn a variety of practical techniques to manage anxiety, including the Daily Energy Routine and the Emotional Freedom Technique, or tapping. They also will know how they can experience God’s help and God’s love through spiritual practices, such as reading the Bible and engaging in spoken and embodied prayer. This study also encourages youth, their leaders and mentors, and their families to access other church and community resources such as counseling and peer support.
Dr. Trudy Corry Rankin feels professionally called to the work of empowerment, self-care, and personal development, as demonstrated through her nursing career working with terminal patients, as a counselor helping others with mental health issues, and as a representative of the Florida Conference in Latin America through Alfalit International, a grassroots literacy and community development organization. The suicidal death of her twenty-five-year-old cellist son made education in mental health an even stronger call in her life and led her to publish the book Soul Notes of a Composition: Glimpses of Grief from Suicide. She has a doctorate in pastoral care and spirituality and is certified by Stillpoint as a spiritual director.
Dr. Faye Wilson served as a staff member with the General Board of Global Ministries working in the area of mission education for twenty-one years. She has written materials for more than ten mission study themes. Today Wilson is the executive director of GeeFaye Associates, a music and education consulting firm. She is also president of the Salisbury District United Methodist Women (Peninsula-Delaware Conference), and minister of music and arts at Mt. Zion UMC in Quantico, Maryland. She has a bachelor’s degree in religious studies, master’s degrees in both theological studies and journalism, and a doctorate in adult education.