How to Help a Child with Anxiety

I’m sure you see a lot of information out there these days on this topic. I, myself, am guilty of going down the rabbit hole watching TikTok videos done by mental health professionals and parents. Below I’ve gathered just a few that I have found to be the most effective tips when helping a child with anxiety.

• Let them talk it out: Create a space where it’s safe for a child to express their thoughts and feelings even if they’re not yet fully developed and understood. It conveys to them that they don’t have to figure things out alone. 
• Let them feel all the feelings: Don’t teach your child that emotions are good or bad. It’s healthy to feel and express both positive and negative feelings. And that all emotions are good. 
• Teach them how to express their emotions healthily: We cannot always control how we feel but we are responsible for the way we behave. It is our job as parents/adults to teach our children how to express those emotions in such a way that helps them get what they need and helps them feel like their voice has been heard. 
• State the facts: Anxiety happens when we think of future possibilities and all the what-if questions that come along with them. It’s very easy to get caught up in those thoughts and create a narrative that never actually happened. “He probably would say this or she would probably do this” scenarios. Help your child practice mindfulness by trying to stay present and focus on only the things that they know are factually true at that moment.
• Become friends with your anxiety: It’s very easy to make ‘anxiety’ appear like it’s a bad thing. Though it can feel extremely uncomfortable most of the time, it’s important to become friends with it because feeling anxious is a very natural part of evolution.

When we don’t understand something, it can become very scary, very quickly. Educate yourself and find the tips that work best with your child’s needs and personality. Not all the techniques out there will be a good fit for them or you – and that’s okay!

And if you’re struggling with anxiety as an adult, you may find that some of these tips may also apply to you! The more you doing it, the more competent you’ll get and as a result, confidence with follow. But first, remember to be patient with yourself and your child. Learning new things requires time.