Searching for a Counselor for an Anxious Child?
A great counselor for an anxious child should have many tools and techniques as well as lots of experience. Ideally that experience should include having worked with children in multiple settings. For example, I have worked with children for 12 years in a public school setting as a school psychologist and counselor, 2 years as a behavior therapist in an inpatient head injury rehab, PRN work in an inpatient psychiatric treatment facility for children, and 25 years working with anxious children in my private practice.Tools and Techniques
Counseling Tools and Techniques for Anxiety
According to research, the best predictor of a good counseling outcome is rapport. This means the person being counseled feels like their counselor gets them and will be helpful. The next most research validated technique is cognitive behavioral therapy, or CBT. CBT is straightforward and easy to teach. Based on the idea that it is not what happens that makes your feelings, but the thoughts you make about what happens. Next you learn patterns of unwanted and inaccurate thoughts (cognitive distortions) leading to emotional disturbance. Finally you get coached to be aware of your thoughts, identify thinking errors, and replace those with more accurate and better feeling thoughts.What is cognitive behavioral therapy
You might tell your child or teen they are going to see a counselor who will teach them to use their smart brain to be even smarter and feel happy more often. Most kids will agree to being smarter and more happy! I use some kid-friendly games and stories to help children understand and use these tools. Kids who are fairly verbal can begin to learn these tools by age 4-5.
Another category of tools a good counselor for an anxious child can use allows them to address and clear trauma. Trauma patterns can stay stuck in the nervous system when not processed through to resolution. These patterns can get triggered over and over, hijacking the nervous system and generating unwanted thoughts and feelings. Overwhelm, panic, flight or fight, disassociation. I am an Emotional Transformation Therapy (ETT) complex trauma certified therapist. ETT is an attachment based psychotherapy using light and color to radically enhance therapy outcomes and clear trauma patterns from the nervous system. Emotional Transformation Therapy
Your child may need assistance recognizing the beginning of a stress response before becoming completely activated in flight or fight when it is too late. If they can notice how their thoughts or body signals a mild disturbance, they still have enough brain function to communicate appropriately and use tools to self-regulate. I often use 1-5 scales to identify different levels of emotion, gradations in vocabulary such as annoyed, mad, furious, and categories of tools to manage feelings. We can use thinking tools, social tools, activity tools, special interests, relaxation tools. I have a menu of options kids can choose from. I also use a menu of stress signs, or how your body begins to signal a stress response. Tightness in chest, hot cheeks, tight muscles, and so on.
Some people see improvements just by talking through their worries. If you can also learn some tools that make life a little better most days of the rest of your life, what would that be worth? Don’t delay, contact me and get started today!
Brad Mason, Licensed Psychological Associate, Licensed Professional Counselor, Licensed Specialist in School Psychology
512-636-6250
https://childmind.org/article/what-is-the-best-treatment-for-anxiety-in-children