How to help my boy deal with anxiety

As a mother, I can say that once we speak out loud the things causing anxiety, especially if we can get help expressing them (language and identifying things can be tumultous for young humans), it Always takes power away from the thing haunting us.

It is a thing kept in secret which can fester and oppress. 

All children eventually become aware of a messy and sometimes violent world. They are being told conflicting information constantly. Worse, they always lack perspective and context. They need to process out loud how their mind and internal self is attempting to cope. And they need to be able to do that without the wiser, more mature adult condeming or judging them or the issue. if this "sage" of an adult (parent or therapist or mentor) can guide the child objectively through all the complexities of their difficult or nightmarish thoughts, this child will always feel safe to bring these problems to this person. How many children just have nightmares from films they shouldn't have been exposed to, don't say anything, and eventually those thoughts become so warped and oppressive, they judge themselves to be horrible humans for even thinking of them to begin with? 

The world can be a very horrifying place, it can be a fantastic place, as well. But children need to know that many of the thoughts they're struggling with Do Not come from within. They are merely recieving information from the world around and trying to process it. 

https://www.psychologytoday.com/gb/blog/experimentations/201901/the-secrets-you-keep-are-hurting-you-heres-how

View thier mental stuggles as a math problem! Allow them to say literally anything and don't flinch. Write it all down if it helps and begin to examine where it was received, how he feels about it, present ways to veiw it, and maybe there's a Disney film or Animation where the lead character had to deal with something similar? Turn it into a quest :) 

Very insightful perspective! My parents were unaware of my autism as a child, and I am not a father, but I would imagine my world would feel safer if my parents helped me express and explain myself (talking out loud is excellent) more effectively. My parents weren't mean or cruel, they definitely tried, but I think it takes a lot of patience, love, and especially true forgiveness (both on yourself and your child).

Very insightful perspective! My parents were unaware of my autism as a child, and I am not a father, but I would imagine my world would feel safer if my parents helped me express and explain myself (talking out loud is excellent) more effectively. My parents weren't mean or cruel, they definitely tried, but I think it takes a lot of patience, love, and especially true forgiveness (both on yourself and your child).