The document discusses understanding anxiety through a child's eyes. It identifies symptoms of anxiety in children, common misdiagnoses, how a child's developmental stage impacts fears, and interventions to help children deal with anxiety. Symptoms are presented for infants through older children and include emotional, behavioral, and physical signs. Effective interventions match a child's cognitive abilities and include establishing structure, addressing cognitive distortions, teaching coping skills, and ensuring children feel safe, secure and supported.
Call Girls Bangalore Just Call 9907093804 Top Class Call Girl Service Available
Understanding Childhood Anxiety
1. Understanding Anxiety
Through a Child’s Eyes
Dr. Dawn-Elise Snipes PhD, LPC-MHSP, LMHC
Executive Director, AllCEUs Counselor Education
Host: Counselor Toolbox Podcast
AllCEUs Unlimited CEUs $59 | Addiction Counselor Certificate Training $149 | Specialty Certificates $89 1
2. Objectives
Identify symptoms of anxiety in children
Review common misdiagnoses
Explain how children’s developmental stage
impacts their fears
Propose interventions to help children deal with
anxiety
AllCEUs Unlimited CEUs $59 | Addiction Counselor Certificate Training $149 | Specialty Certificates $89 2
3. Symptoms of Anxiety in Children
Emotional Signs of Anxiety
Is extremely sensitive
Irritable
Is afraid of making even minor mistakes including test anxiety
Panic attacks
Has phobias (about bees, dogs, etc.) and exaggerated fears (about
things like natural disasters, etc.)
Worries about things that are far in the future
Has frequent nightmares
Gets distracted from playing by his worries
Has compulsive, repetitive behaviors
AllCEUs Unlimited CEUs $59 | Addiction Counselor Certificate Training $149 | Specialty Certificates $89
3
4. Symptoms of Anxiety in Children
Behavioral Signs of Anxiety
Starts having meltdowns or tantrums.
Asks “what if?” constantly.
Avoids participating in group activities.
Remains silent or preoccupied during group work
Refuses to go to school.
Avoids social situations with peers after school or on weekends
Becomes emotional or angry when separated from parents
Constantly seeks approval
Low self-esteem and efficacy
Overly concerned about negative evaluations
AllCEUs Unlimited CEUs $59 | Addiction Counselor Certificate Training $149 | Specialty Certificates $89 4
5. Symptoms of Anxiety in Children
Physical Signs of Anxiety
Frequently complains of head
or stomachaches
Refuses to eat snacks or lunch
at school
Can become restless, fidgety,
hyperactive
Difficulty concentrating
Starts to shake or sweat in
intimidating situations.
Dizziness
Frequent urge to urinate
Constantly tenses muscles
Exaggerated startle response
Has trouble falling or staying
asleep
Falls asleep in school
Repetitive activities (tapping,
leg shaking…)
Nail biting / skin picking
Rigid routines
AllCEUs Unlimited CEUs $59 | Addiction Counselor Certificate Training $149 | Specialty Certificates $89
5
6. Not Little Adults
How do children think differently
0-2: Object permanence; personal agency (crying, “Uh Oh,”
Ask for drinks)
When you are overtired, startled, too hot/cold, or have low blood
sugar, the HPA-Axis is activated Threat Response (Anxiety)
2-7: Egocentric, personalized, concrete/dichotomous, mystical
Daddy yelled at me. Daddy left. Daddy hates me. It is my fault.
I told Mommy I hated her. She got sick. It is my fault.
I didn’t say my prayers last night. We got into a car accident
because God is mad at me.
The neighbor’s dog always charges the fence and wants to bite
me. This makes me scared. Dogs are dangerous.
AllCEUs Unlimited CEUs $59 | Addiction Counselor Certificate Training $149 | Specialty Certificates $89 6
7. Not Little Adults
How do children think differently
7-11: Inductive (Start making global attributions from
specifics)
I didn’t make the team. I got a C on my spelling test. I must
be a failure
11+: More advanced reasoning but little life experience
and often have not questioned prior faulty schema
AllCEUs Unlimited CEUs $59 | Addiction Counselor Certificate Training $149 | Specialty Certificates $89 7
8. What is Anxiety
Anxiety is fear which is the flee part of the fight
or flight (stress) response
What do we/children fear
Death (Biological Needs/Safety(self & others))
Rejection/Isolation/Abandonment (Biological Needs,
Safety, Love and Belonging)
The Unknown (Biological Needs, Safety, Love)
Loss of Control (Parental, older children)
AllCEUs Unlimited CEUs $59 | Addiction Counselor Certificate Training $149 | Specialty Certificates $89 8
9. What is Causing the Anxiety
Cognitive
Unhelpful thoughts
Lack of knowledge
Physical
Lack of sleep
Poor nutrition or hunger
Hormones (sex, thyroid)
Emotional
Highly sensitive child
Environmental/social
Bullies
Teacher pressure
Parental enmeshment or
disengagement
Chaotic home environment
(mental health, addiction
and/or abuse or neglect)
Social learning
AllCEUs Unlimited CEUs $59 | Addiction Counselor Certificate Training $149 | Specialty Certificates $89 9
11. Interventions
Infants-2years old
Be responsive
"Before six months, you're just extinguishing," explains Chilton
matter-of-factly. "Eventually, the baby just gives up." Loss of
parental contact is a serious danger signal for young babies,
and they're designed to cry until it's restored. But beyond a
certain point, even a hysterical baby will stop crying. This is
because, in an evolutionary sense, an unprotected crying baby
is broadcasting its whereabouts to predators. Instinct tells it
that its parents have vanished, and that the tiger that killed
them is close. It falls silent in order to survive. Dr. Howard
Chilton
AllCEUs Unlimited CEUs $59 | Addiction Counselor Certificate Training $149 | Specialty Certificates $89 11
12. Interventions
Infants-2years old
Talk it out
Start teaching emotional vocabulary and needs identification
(hungry, scared, sleepy, overstimulated)
“The dog scares you. The is loud is loud. Loud sounds can be scary for
you.”
Toddlers struggle with being able to correctly identify their
emotions and find the right word to describe that emotion.
Use feeling faces
Identify feelings in videos. Ask questions about how characters feel.
Play games to help with fears
Hide and seek (start small)
Mommy and Me classes or play dates
AllCEUs Unlimited CEUs $59 | Addiction Counselor Certificate Training $149 | Specialty Certificates $89 12
14. Interventions
2-7 year olds
Provide structure and consistency
Let children know the plans for the day and what is happening
next—Daily schedule chart
Give plenty of warning before transitioning– verbal, bell, chant
The clock on the wall says it’s time to stop, time to stop, time to
stop! The clock on the wall says it’s time to stop. It’s time to go to
lunch/bed/outside
(Twinkle, Twinkle) Stop, look and listen. Hands by your side. Listen
close and I’ll tell you why.
Everybody buckle up to ride in the car. Were going to the
[park/school] /Billy’s house it’s not very far.
AllCEUs Unlimited CEUs $59 | Addiction Counselor Certificate Training $149 | Specialty Certificates $89
14
15. Interventions
2-7 year olds
Provide structure and consistency
Ensure children know what is expected
Rules chart and/or coloring pages. Review ahead of time
Be patient when children test rules
Teach mindful awareness
Physical sensations, urges, thoughts associated with emotions
Teach distress tolerance
Deep breathing
Positive self talk
Getting support
AllCEUs Unlimited CEUs $59 | Addiction Counselor Certificate Training $149 | Specialty Certificates $89
15
16. Interventions
2-7 year olds
Systematic desensitization
Join them in their reality
Reassure them that there is no danger.
Talk about anxiety monkey that likes to play tricks on them.
Then deal with the monkey mind. (Monkey stuffed animal)
Sometimes Reginald isn’t ready to sleep… Use guided
imagery with the monkey.
Sometimes Reginald doesn’t know what is going to happen
so he makes you think about the worst possible thing that
could happen. What can you tell Reginald?
AllCEUs Unlimited CEUs $59 | Addiction Counselor Certificate Training $149 | Specialty Certificates $89
16
17. Interventions
2-7 year olds
Address distortions to reassure kids they are safe and loved
All or none
I can be mad at your behavior and still love you
Address global attributions by looking at the facts, provide info
Discourage the use of extreme words like everyone, always
Magnification
Keep a frequency chart (leaving, trying, going to school) to see
the likelihood
Minimize exposure to the news (or discussions about the news)
AllCEUs Unlimited CEUs $59 | Addiction Counselor Certificate Training $149 | Specialty Certificates $89
17
18. Interventions
2-7 year olds
Address distortions to reassure kids they are safe and loved
Personalization
Identify your emotions (generally) why you feel that way
Have you ever [felt] but it wasn’t Sally’s fault?
Sometimes bad things happen and it is nobody’s fault. [Give an
example]
AllCEUs Unlimited CEUs $59 | Addiction Counselor Certificate Training $149 | Specialty Certificates $89
18
19. Interventions
7+ Year Olds
Remember the small size of
their world and relative lack of
experience makes everything
seem much bigger
They are constantly growing
and changing so some days
they may feel more tired, may
have difficulty feeling like they
fit in may feel more awkward
and less capable
AllCEUs Unlimited CEUs $59 | Addiction Counselor Certificate Training $149 | Specialty Certificates $89
19
20. General Anxiety Management Skills
Keep blood sugar stable
Get enough sleep
Practice positive self-talk
Check the facts
Use visualizations
Deep breathing
Mindfulness to nip anxiety in the bud
Get support from people who care about you unconditionally
Find mentors who have gone through the same thing
Spend 5 minutes focusing on the positives each day
Remember that just because you have a thought that something
is scary or feel anxious doesn’t mean it is fearsome
(rollercoasters, wasps)
AllCEUs Unlimited CEUs $59 | Addiction Counselor Certificate Training $149 | Specialty Certificates $89 20
21. Summary
Children’s cognitive, physical and experiential differences
make their anxiety different than that of adults
Children’s symptoms of anxiety also often manifest
differently with more irritability, defiance and somatic
complaints.
Anxiety disorders are frequently misdiagnosed as ADD,
autism, ODD and PTSD
Children’s fears often focus around Maslow’s lower three
needs: Biological, Safety, Love and Belonging
Addressing anxiety means helping the child understand, in
a developmentally appropriate way, that they will have
what they need, they are safe and they will always belong
and be loved.
AllCEUs Unlimited CEUs $59 | Addiction Counselor Certificate Training $149 | Specialty Certificates $89 21