How do you get anxious kids to use coping strategies?
How do you get anxious kids to use coping strategies?
Here’s what I see in my practice. Avoidance of the triggers. Which is fine, except if the trigger is school, homework, or social settings. Avoidance is problematic because it is reinforcing- it works. It can be difficult to get anxious kids to use coping strategies to cope with what they are complaining about and do what they need to do.
Sometimes I make a list of the strategies, a visual, so teachers and parents can coach the kids to use them at the moment they are appropriate, when kids get anxious they have a hard time thinking and remembering. I also encourage using incentives, rewarding efforts to try coping skills. I might also use an accountability sheet, the kids rate how much they are bothered by a problem like anxiety, and whether they tried any strategies or not.
If they report they are bothered at their maximum level, yet they are not trying any strategies, it can become clear to them that if they are going to get relief they must try something different and practice. How do you get children to cope more effectively with anxiety?
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