Anxious children can be careful, timid, and overtly fearful, with a lot of ‘what-if’ questions and refusal to participate in new activities. Or they may seem controlling, irritable, and rigid, with a need to control their surroundings in order to feel comfortable and safe. Maybe they have frequent headaches, nausea, stomachaches or other aches and pains. Regardless of the way that anxiety presents on the surface, parenting an anxious child can be very challenging, as events or activities that other kids seem to sail right through turn into an ordeal of tantrums or tearfulness. It’s not always clear when to push children to face their anxiety or when to let them leave or quit the activity that is setting them off. Common childhood anxiety disorders include Generalized Anxiety Disorder, Separation Anxiety Disorder, Social Anxiety Disorder (Social Phobia) and Selective Mutism, and Specific Phobias (e.g., fears of dogs, insects, flying, etc). School refusal is also a common issue for some anxious children.
Although it is very normal for specific childhood fears to come and go, if your child is consistently anxious over months or years, they are not likely to ‘grow out of’ their anxiety. Happily, there are well-researched and effective ways to treat childhood anxiety! Our interventions are based in Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy. For younger children (preschool and early elementary school), we teach parents the skills to coach their children through anxious situations and encourage them to ‘be brave’ and engage at those times. With older children, we first teach them to identify what they are feeling and which situations are their most common anxiety triggers. Then they build a ‘tool box’ of coping strategies and we coach them through using those strategies to approach and succeed in the situations that make them anxious. Children are encouraged to teach their parents the strategies that they are learning so that parents can reinforce the use of those strategies at home. If you suspect that your child is suffering from excessive anxiety, please reach out to us to see if our approach might be a good fit for your child and family.
Although it is very normal for specific childhood fears to come and go, if your child is consistently anxious over months or years, they are not likely to ‘grow out of’ their anxiety. Happily, there are well-researched and effective ways to treat childhood anxiety! Our interventions are based in Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy. For younger children (preschool and early elementary school), we teach parents the skills to coach their children through anxious situations and encourage them to ‘be brave’ and engage at those times. With older children, we first teach them to identify what they are feeling and which situations are their most common anxiety triggers. Then they build a ‘tool box’ of coping strategies and we coach them through using those strategies to approach and succeed in the situations that make them anxious. Children are encouraged to teach their parents the strategies that they are learning so that parents can reinforce the use of those strategies at home. If you suspect that your child is suffering from excessive anxiety, please reach out to us to see if our approach might be a good fit for your child and family.