Well, on the anxiety front I find talking about it is therapeutic for ds. He's had separation anxiety and phobias on and off since he was 4. When he was younger I kept it simple, now we take more time and get him to apply what he's learning in therapy(he's been seeing a counselor b/c of his OCD type anxiety for 2 months now). It couldn't hurt to teach a 5 yr old how to breathe and relax. Also, check with Amazon for the Lori Lite(sp) relaxation CD's for kids, they are awesome.
As for the tics, from what I've read it seems that drawing attention to the tics makes them worse. I think it just depends on the child. I have a friend who's child has a transient tic disorder and she just gently reminds him of what he's doing and encourages him to control it. My ds has gotten to the point where he tries to control them when he's around a group of peers but for the most part we don't talk about them unless he brings it up. He knows he does it but we don't make a big deal about them. My ds doesn't have vocals but has noticeable facial tics and kids are always asking him about it and he just says, "It's something I do, like a habit". Most kids understand and leave him alone once they ask.

And, yes, I have to be careful what I say around ds and about what he sees on TV. His anxiety brain will search out anything to get anxious about: disease, blood, the word cancer, scary monsters, death, etc, etc.... Anyway, this is and has always been one of our bigger challenges. Right now the tics are the least of our concerns. The anxiety had changed recently and so that's what we're trying to handle now. Raising kids is such a challenge and I pray everyday that ds's tics and anxieties will be under control and that he will learn to accept the challenges that lay before him as he gets older. I don't know how long he'll have tics but I think anxiety is here to stay as it's hereditary on both sides of our families. Both my dh and I have family members who are on anti-depressants and anti-anxiety meds so we think some of this is hereditary and some is environmental and some might just be 'who he is', KWIM? Anyway, sorry about the book here but I hope it's been helpful!