Supporting Children with Anxiety
Anxiety is a normal feeling that is experienced by everybody. Most anxiety a child experiences is typical for their developmental stage, but sometimes a child can experience anxiety that is problematic.
They worry about something that a child of their age should not be worrying about
The intensity of the distress they experience is unrealistic given their age and the event they are worrying about
The distress caused by worrying is impacting their daily life
The child continues to worry even when the event has not happened
There are lots of different strategies we can use to support children. There is no one specific way of controlling anxiety. Different methods are useful at different times. It is important to find what works for your child.
Fear Ladder
Middletown Centre for Autism shared some excellent visual supports that are useful for all children. This resource uses the acronym FACE as a structured approach to manage anxiety using mental, emotional and physical responses.
F - Focus on a helpful thought
A - Acknowledge your feelings
C - Calm your body
E - Engage with the world around you
It is best to teach each stage of the process when children and young people are calm and relaxed. The examples below show how you can use visuals that are of special interest to children. You can find out more about these resources on @centreforautism. They are based on strategies adapted from the TEACCH program.
Creating a Pleasant Place to go in Your Mind if you are worried or anxious…
Here is a short video from Michael Ryan, Counsellor & Psychotherapist. Have a look to learn about about how a child can create a pleasant place in their minds, that they can go to if they are worried, scared or anxious. At the end of clip he suggests an art activity that children might want to do to remind them of the pleasant place they created in their minds.