Unleashing Happiness

How I Helped Free My Child from Anxious Thoughts

Non-Fiction - Social Issues
168 Pages
Reviewed on 08/11/2024
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Author Biography

Kelly Jeanne Pittman is a Brain Training Specialist with over a decade of experience helping families overcome challenges associated with disruptive behavior. Her passion for studying the brain’s ability to change was ignited by her daughter’s mental health journey. Kelly’s work in neurofeedback and audio-visual entrainment, along with her expertise as an emotional freedom coach, equips her to help parents and children build extraordinary relationships.

Together, Kelly and her daughter Jayna, also host a podcast Faithfully Unapologetic, designed to help families build extraordinary relationships anchored in Christ's love.

    Book Review

Reviewed by Philip Van Heusen for Readers' Favorite

Many people believe that anxiety is normal since it is so prevalent in today’s society. Kelly Jeanne Pittman’s wonderful book, Unleashing Happiness, shares the knowledge she learned while seeking ways to calm her child’s anxious thoughts. Kelly and her husband adopted a young girl from China who had experienced the trauma of being in different homes. While the principles in this book can help any parent improve their child’s life, I like that Kelly puts God’s love and grace in the center of all she learned. This is not a book you will pick up and read straight through. You will want to take time and digest all of Kelly’s wonderful wisdom. This book deals with many themes, including opposition, perfectionism, people-pleasing, anxiety, fear, trauma, catastrophizing, and more. Reading this book will equip you to help your child mold their brain into a joy-producing powerhouse.

I spent over forty years as a counselor and know the value of Kelly Jeanne Pittman’s book Unleashing Happiness. Kelly takes some difficult topics and beautifully explains them in layperson’s terms and gives wonderful illustrations from her life experiences. The information found in this great book helps readers understand that happiness is a choice and that we must face our fears and anxieties to overcome them. Using the skills Kelly shares, one can change one’s fearful attitude to hope and joy. Kelly explains the difference between chronic stress and trauma and teaches basic brain training skills. The author shows God as being central to change while not sounding preachy in any way. As a counselor, I highly recommend this book to all, especially parents.

Keana Sackett-Moomey

Parenting a child isn't an easy job--it can be very challenging, especially if you're parenting a child with anxiety. Parenting an anxious child can be an unknown territory for many parents. Kelly Jeanne Pittman understands and addresses this concern in Unleashing Happiness: How I Helped Free My Child from Anxious Thoughts. Her book educates parents about the different processes taking place in the brain, attachment styles and disorders, the effects of abandonment on a child, and healthy ways to manage anxiety and other negative emotions. Her book offers parents sound advice, personal anecdotes, helpful activities, creative tactics, and empathetic support during this challenging period of parenthood. Each chapter concludes with a beautiful prayer and biblical verse that reflects the main idea behind the chapter.

Unleashing Happiness is an easy-to-read, accessible, and insightful guide that can help parents confidently inspire and steer their anxious youngsters to become well-adjusted and happier children. Pittman's strategies are created to help parents better connect with their anxious child in a non-judgmental and compassionate way. Hence, her language style and writing approach take the form of a candid but empathetic voice. Through her precisely crafted strategies, parents will learn how to create a safe, secure, and comfortable space to bond with their children while helping their little ones to thrive with a spirit of resilience and confidence. There are many fun and doable exercises for the entire family. Kids will love it! I recommend Pittman's informative book on helping children break free from anxiety to all parents worldwide.

Courtnee Turner Hoyle

In Unleashing Happiness, Kelly Jeanne Pittman discusses her journey through motherhood. After she delivered her son, she still had a strong pull to have more children. She and her husband adopted a two-year-old, Jayna, and were met with many challenges. Instead of standing by as her daughter screamed at her in anguish, Pittman researched reasons for Jayna's behavior. With consistency and the methods Pittman relays in her book, Jayna's stress started to ease. The author presents the issues in each section, counters common myths, details the way she attempted to improve the situation, and sums up what she learned in key points. As you understand the root of your child's triggers, Pittman informs you about the substances entering your body through the air and in food, so you can monitor your own and your child's reaction to them.

God called Kelly Jeanne Pittman to be a mother, and every word in Unleashing Happiness proves her commitment to her children. She assists you in understanding how to support your child by explaining how she handled the situations with her daughter as she noticed them. I have a neurodivergent daughter. Pittman's suggestions made me feel like I had a shelter when my child's emotions stormed around me, and I could help my child see the sun beyond the clouds of her distress. Pittman's assertions are backed by fifteen years of research and a decade in the brain health field. The author will help you spot dysregulation in your child and includes scripture and prayer to comfort caregivers as they weather their own emotions. With God's help and her advice, you can become your child's best advocate and "warrior" caregiver.

Ibrahim Aslan

Anxiety is a psychological cage that traps children, blocking them from embracing and enjoying life to the fullest. Navigating this space can prove to be stressful and confusing for most families. Unleashing Happiness by Kelly Pittman will help make this process simpler. Pittman's book outlines the nature of anxiety, how to recognize its forms and appearances, and how parents can help their children overcome stressful and anxiety-driven thoughts. She combines a mental health perspective, cognitive/behavioral strategies, and a faith-based approach to produce results. Her book includes techniques like understanding emotions, nurturing a healthy brain, fostering healthy attachment in your child, spending quality time together as a family, building supportive relationships, creating meaningful change in your own and your child's life, setting and maintaining boundaries, and developing your spiritual life.

Unleashing Happiness covers anxiety in its different forms, thereby providing relief and hope to distressed parents and their children struggling with this disorder. This guide can help children overcome other issues like panic attacks, fears, and perfectionism. Here's some more good news—all the activities are achievable and engaging. Kelly Pittman's writing is emotional, educational, easy to follow, and detailed. She empathetically teaches her readers about the delicate balance of providing emotional care for anxious children without giving in to their adverse behaviors. I like that her techniques aren't intrusive on the child's well-being and take into account the child's emotional needs, individuality, and psychological development. Unleashing Happiness is a must-read for any parent who has an anxious child, as well as educators and other professionals who work with children who present with anxiety-related disorders. Great book! I highly recommend it.

Cherubimaris Casino

Unleashing Happiness: How I Helped Free My Child from Anxious Thoughts is a timely and insightful book by Kelly Pittman. Readers are invited on a journey of the challenges and triumphs of raising an adopted child who struggled with severe anxiety. More than just a memoir, it's a guidebook for parents, urging them to approach their children with gentleness, patience, and enduring love. The author's recognition of her daughter as her "most important teacher" underscores the transformative power of the parent-child relationship, reminding readers of the profound lessons we can learn from those we seek to nurture and protect. The author's unwavering commitment to her child is evident from the outset as she navigates through her daughter's heart surgeries and the gradual emergence of debilitating anxiety.

The book shines in its honest portrayal of the day-to-day struggles of parenting a child with anxiety. The author vividly describes how even the smallest changes in routine or environment could trigger her daughter's anxious responses, providing readers with a visceral understanding of the challenges faced by both a mother and a daughter. What sets this book apart is Pittman's approach to addressing her daughter's anxiety. Rather than simply chronicling their experiences, the author delves deep into the psychology of stress, marking a turning point in her journey as she learns to enter her child's world. This shift in perspective allows for a more empathetic and effective approach to managing her daughter's anxiety, offering valuable insights for parents facing similar challenges. Unleashing Happiness is a must-read for parents of children with anxiety, adoptive parents, and anyone interested in the complex dynamics of their children and family relationships. Kelly Pittman's years of research, sacrifice, and enduring love have resulted in a work that is both deeply personal and universally relatable. The author not only shares her personal experiences but also debunks common myths surrounding anxiety, providing readers with valuable information and strategies they can apply in their own lives.