Helping Children Cope With Anxiety

Does your Child Suffer from Anxiety?

Many children experience anxiety.  It may be in relation to a particular area of their lives such as school work or friendships, or it may be a generalised feeling of unease or worry that surfaces regularly. Some anxiety is normal and can be the mind’s way of keeping us safe or preparing us for difficult things. Anxiety may be seen as a disorder if it becomes overwhelming and prevents a child from participating in important areas of life. 

Tips for Supporting Children with Anxiety 

Strategies to Help a Child Manage Anxiety:

• Support them to face their fears in manageable, small steps.  Think of a step-ladder, increasing their tolerance in small steps that get higher and higher (incrementally harder).  Don’t push them too far each time.
• Externalise their fears so that they understand that they are made up of thoughts and feelings and can be controlled as they are not intrinsic to them. This can be done through giving them a name eg. ‘Mr shy’ and role playing about them with puppets or making illustrated stories about them. They learn to be sympathetic to ‘Mr Shy’ but in control of him rather than controlled by him.
• Discuss where in the body the anxiety is felt, draw around their bodies on the ground in chalk and colour affected areas to help children become in touch with their bodies and therefore more able to recognise their own physical signs of anxiety.   
• Practice controlled breathing (e.g. breath in for 2 slow counts, hold for 2 and exhale for 4) or put a teddy on their tummy and watch it go up and down as they breath in and out for younger children.

Recommended Books for Children:

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