A Fun Trick for Taming Scary Monsters
Is your child scared of monsters, villains, or something hiding in the dark? It’s a common problem, and can keep parents and kids up at night needlessly. There’s a simple, creative trick that can help your child feel braver and more in control: costuming. It’s a playful way to take something scary and turn it into something silly, using their imagination.
Here’s how to do it:
Come up with a costume that the feared character could be wearing that is silly, like a cowboy hat, superhero mask, or pool float with flippers. You can also come up with an activity the character could be doing that is really silly, like singing a song, doing a dance, or eating a bowl of soup with a fork.
Practice imagining it! Be silly with it.
Follow the child’s lead. If they think it’s funny, so do you! If not, no big deal. Try on a different costume until there’s one that “fits.”
The nice thing about this trick is that mental imagery often “sticks,” and is hard to forget. Think about when you had to memorize something in school, and used a vivid mnemonic to remember it. The same principle is at work here! Using our imaginations to “add information” to a distressing image, rather than try to suppress or distract, can work wonders for an anxious mind. In fact, this technique is often used with adults, and has a different name: Cognitive Defusion. It’s a way of teaching your brain that it can “play with” a feared image or situation, and hold the thought loosely instead of getting tangled in it.
This is a simple, kid-friendly strategy meant to offer quick relief, and is not a long-term solution for more serious anxiety. If your child is experiencing ongoing fear or avoidance that’s getting in the way of daily life, feel free to reach out. I’d be happy to talk through what’s going on and how we can help.