Try the Wet Cat Method to Relieve Your Child’s Anxiety
There is a lot of concern these days, and unfortunately, it’s not just for the adults in the home. Kids can worry even at the best of times, not to mention being stuck at home in the midst of a pandemic, distancing themselves from their friends, and trying to keep up with their virtual school work. These are troubling times.
Stuart Fitzwilliam, creator of Imaginhero , a visualization therapy tool that helps children cope with anxiety, writes for Medium that when your child starts to worry, you can teach them to say, “My brain reacts to things that they don’t like, and that’s damn great. ” out. “And then introduce them to the wet cat brain technique:
Note that cats are also nervous. Cats always walk around and look like they have it all together (which is why we have the phrase “cool cats” right?). But even they have anxiety. Ask your child if you know that one day you will always see an anxious cat?
When it’s a wet cat. A wet cat is never calm and collected. A wet cat is a scared cat.
And this is what you have now. You have a wet cat brain.
A wet cat doesn’t just feel anxious. A wet cat is alarming. Is this logical? Is it rational? As far as I can tell, this is very, very real and anyone who has ever seen a wet cat can attest. I just looked at LOTS of stock photos of wet cats and heck they are chasing:
Terrible. Heartbreaking.
Fitzwilliam suggests doing a visualization exercise with an anxious child to help calm an imaginary wet cat and your child’s brain. First, invite them to imagine lifting a wet cat. (He doesn’t say to wrap it in a soft fluffy towel, but I think that would be nice. A wet cat is cold.)
If you have a cat, they may be able to visualize it; if not, they can imagine helping this cute, sad kitten:
Then, Fitzwilliam writes , imagine stroking a frightened cat:
Pat it between your ears and down your neck. Pat him on the back. Pat it on the sides. Imagine continuing to pet your cat, feeling its soft fur under your fingers. Each time you run your hand over the cat, you brush away a little water. With each movement, the cat becomes a little drier and a little calmer.
When you feel the soft fur around your fingers and the warmth of the cat under the palm of your hand, you can feel the cat calm down and you can feel your brain calm down.
When your cat calms down, your child’s restless brain calms down too.