As children get older, they often develop anxieties toward new situations that make them uncomfortable or unsure of themselves. Anxiety can result from a separation from parents, school-based fears and different social situations. While no two children are the same and may respond differently to treatment, there are several remedies that are effective in lowering anxiety levels in kids.
Cognitive Behavioral Therapy
Cognitive behavioral therapy is a type of talk therapy based on the belief that negative thoughts affect a child's actions and can cause distress in their lives. The therapist and child can work together to build an understanding of what makes the child anxious and what types of things they think about when the anxiety happens. Eventually, the child will learn skills to help her understand when she gets anxious and how she can stop her automatic anxiety-provoking thoughts from occurring.
Help From the Family
In addition to helping the child overcome her fears, it is important for the family to be involved in the process as well. Parents of anxious children should be less intrusive in their lives, which will enable them to build some self-efficacy and belief in their own abilities. In addition, parents can still be supportive of their children by understanding when the anxiety is likely to occur and making sure that they work with their child to develop her own routine for combating her fears.
School-Related Anxiety
Perhaps the most common source of anxiety in children revolves around school. Much of this fear comes from judging past experiences and thinking about the what-ifs of the future. According to researchers at the University of Southern California, too much thinking about the past can bring up remorse, guilt and depression. Worrying about the future can increase anxiety levels even more. Instead, it is important for children to observe their feelings when anxiety occurs instead of judging the anxiety and focus on living in the present instead of thinking too much about the past or future.
Tips
After better understanding the specifics to your child's anxiety, you can take steps as a parent to help calm your child's nerves and fears. An important part of any therapy that can easily be done at home is normalizing your child's fears by helping her understand that everyone feels anxious at times. Children will find comfort in knowing that the other children and even the teacher gets nervous for some things at school. In addition, share a story about a time when you were nervous about a new situation that you eventually overcame.
