Anxiety Management Sarah Lewis Portswood Primary School

Session aims: Anxiety as a normal emotion. Causes of anxiety in children. The brain and anxiety. How anxiety affects our thoughts, bodies and actions. How to support children to manage their anxiety.

Emotions… All emotions are NORMAL and felt by everyone at some point.

What might cause a child to worry? Something happening to main care giver/parents. Parents arguing. Falling out with friends. Family worries e.g. change in circumstances, loss. Moving home. School. Bullying.

Peer pressure. Body image. Homework and exam pressures. Starting a new school. Lack of sporting success. Stories in the news. Fear of the dark. Visiting the doctor or dentist. Animals.

Children aged 7 – 12 had an average of 7.64 normal worries (Silverman, LaGreca, and Wasserstein, 1995).

Scale of Intensity

Extreme emotions the brain, our bodies and actions

Managing worry DO NOT AVOID! Breathing Sleep Diet Logic Small achievable goals Talk and share Talk to yourself Visualisation

Key points All feelings are normal including worry. We can feel emotions, such as worry, to different levels at different times in our life. Extreme emotions effect our bodies, our thoughts and our actions. There are things that we can do to control our emotions.

?