Page 24 - MASALA LITE ISSUE 80 | MAY 2017

24 IN FOCUS

F F F F F F F F
Facing youracing youracing youracing youracing youracing youracing youracing youracing your

Demons
Demons

Educator and counsellor Amornrat Sachdev Amornrat SachdevAmornrat SachdevAmornrat SachdevAmornrat SachdevAmornrat Sachdev
“I’m still feeling the has her
has her young readers facing their demons in
has her young readers facing their demons in young readers facing their demons in young readers facing their demons in young readers facing their demons in
has her
has her
after-glow of being a new
her newl
her newl
her newly launched book, ‘Attack my Anxiety!’.y launched book, ‘Attack my Anxiety!’.y launched book, ‘Attack my Anxiety!’.y launched book, ‘Attack my Anxiety!’.
her newly launched book, ‘Attack my Anxiety!’.
author. At this stage, I’m her newl
just a proud mama.”
BY CARON LAU

Many of us are familiar with the concept of facing our fears, but ‘Attack My Anxiety!’ So, for the sake of parents without your book, how do we help our children cope
makes us literally stare at it, fi rst with heart-thumping fear and later with humour with anxiety in three short steps?
as the book guides us to add comedy to this frightening quest. The fully-illustrated First, you normalise your child’s fear. Next, you tell him or her that feeling anxiety
39-pager, which took its author just a few hours to write and has been available can be a positive thing — it is our bodies’ way to protect us. Finally, encourage your
in hard copy since December, sees the story’s hero, Sam, come to terms with his child to approach you or another adult they trust if they ever feel anxious.
worries through a journey of self discovery, visualisation and, fi nally, empowerment.
What has been the reaction to the book?
What inspired the book? All good so far. I think the adults might be getting more out of it than the children
If you see a problem pop up time and time again, it’s only natural to want to do though! There’s a section at the back of the book that guides parents and educators
something about it. I come across cases of anxiety weekly, if not daily. The book, how to utilise the techniques themselves, and parents have found that really helpful.
which is a personal investment, is my way of giving back to society. We all suff er The book took me no time at all to write, but there was a lot of experience that went
from anxiety to some extent, but what most of us don’t realise is that it can start into it, and I’m delighted to see that people are using it as the tool I designed it for.
early — sometimes as soon as we start school. This book is designed as a tool to Anxiety doesn’t need to be the huge problem that is has become in our lives.
help children cope with that anxiety.
The book relies heavily on graphics. How much did you get involved with those?
The book’s for fi ve to 12 year olds; how does that work? My publishers at ED-ucation Publishing chose the illustrator for the book, and they
While a 12 year old could read the book himself, obviously younger children would need did a fantastic job in making my vision come to life. I had very specifi c ideas about
the help of an adult. The book is designed in a way that parents can pick up the book what illustrations I wanted on each page and what message I wanted them to
and read it from start to fi nish, or choose parts of the book to suit the needs of their depict. I am very grateful to them.
child. The fi rst part teaches the biological journey of anxiety (which has many benefi ts),
and the second helps the child tackle that anxiety when it becomes unhealthy. Tell us about your background.
I took my Bachelors degree in Australia and my Master’s in England. I studied
Why ‘attacking’ anxiety and not, say, ‘avoiding’ it? psychology for my degree, not because I wanted to help people but to better
Like most problems, the solution is in the far more challenging quest of confronting understand myself. Though I enjoyed it, I still wasn’t satisfi ed. I wanted to know
them. Avoidance is temporary because the problem is still there; it hasn’t gone how to change my behaviour for the better, and that’s why I decided to study
away. Learning to confront problems is a life-long lesson. counselling. Counselling is more hands-on, and I could work with clients more
quickly on issues where change for the better was possible. I am currently the
Okay, could you explain to us how Sam learned secondary school counsellor at Bangkok Prep.
to overcome his worries?
Sam, with the help of a small crocodile named It’s early days yet, but would you have changed anything about the book?
Pete, learns to understand the process the As you say, it’s early days and I’m still feeling the after-glow of being a new author.
body goes through under anxiety, and that the At this stage, I’m just a proud mama.
‘symptoms’ are not only normal, but designed
for survival. Sam is quickly starting to relax by Are there any more books on the horizon?
this time, so his new green friend asks him to Let’s just say I’ve been making copious notes on another emotion for a while now
visualise his fear by drawing it in the form of — another widespread problem experienced by children. But, you know what, I just
a big scary creature. Without hesitation, Sam want to focus on getting this book out there fi rst, and letting parents and children
draws a frightening picture of a red snake with a know that this resource is available to them.
pitchfork for a tongue. Sam is reluctant to look
at the drawing, but Pete saves the day when he Amornrat would like to express her sincere thanks for the support of all the people
shows his new young friend how to turn his fear involved in the publication and distribution of her book: her family and friends, the
— the snake — into something funny. He has Sam education and counselling communities in Bangkok, the Indian community and,
draw in a big blue wig, yellow star sunglasses, of course, her publishers. Everyone’s support and good wishes have been invaluable.
pink knickers on his middle section and plenty of
brightly coloured bows. Sam is soon laughing. The
snake he could hardly look out has now become ‘Attack My Anxiety!’ is currently available on Amazon,
an object of fun. But is he ready to face his maths Barnes & Noble and Book Depository.
class, you may well ask. Of course he is!

MAS AL A LITE ISSUE 80 MAY 2 01 7