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This is Chichen Itza (A Myan City in Mexico the boasts amazing Pyramids). I climbed this pyramid when I was about 10 years old with my dad.

Anyone who has climbed this pyramid or one like it knows that as you ascend, it feels as though the steps are getting steeper. So much so that climbers begin to climb with both their hands and their feet.

Lucky for me, I discovered on this trip that I was scared of heights. The higher I climbed, the more paralyzed my body became. When I finally reached the top, I was so frightened I was immobilized completely. After a few breaths and a lot of reassurance from my father, I started to creep closer to the edge to make my decent. My father said the following words, “I’ll be in front of you the whole way. When I take a step, you take a step…We’ll get down one step at a time”.

Although my descent was painstakingly slow, and I more slid like a snake than climbed, I was able to manage the overwhelming task by simply breaking it down into manageable steps (with my father’s coaching of course). I remember repeating the phrase “one step” to myself until I felt my foot hit the ground.

When we thinking about overcoming anxiety, this “one-step at a time” concept is crucial. As parents/practitioners, we need to be the coach that reassures the child but we also have to be the strategists. In periods of panic, your child will not display rational thought. If nothing else, remember to stay calm and to guide your child through a scary activity/task one small step at a time. By doing this, you will not completlely eliminate the fear (or replace the image of the daunting pyramid), but you will provide an alternate image that just might give them the courage to persevere.

Maybe you could conjure up a familiar image of walking the small steps up to our house: