ANTI-LONELINESS
  • Home
  • About
    • Me
    • Loneliness
    • The Project
    • My Team
    • Testimonials
    • Privacy Policy
  • Services
    • Therapy & Counseling
    • Couples Counseling
    • Online Counseling
    • Supervision
    • Internship
    • Support Groups >
      • Divorce Support Group
      • Grief Support Group
  • Academy
    • Academy for All
    • All Courses
    • From Conflict to Connection
    • How to stop Perfectionism
    • How much of a Perfectionist are you?
    • Burnout Recovery: from exhaustion to resilience
    • How to stop Procrastinating
    • Σεμιναριο για τις σχεσεις
    • Divorce Recovery Programme
    • Grief Recovery Programme
  • Blog
    • Loneliness
    • Self-Development
    • Relationships
    • Family
  • RESOURCES
    • Extra Resources
    • In the Media
    • BOOKS >
      • Books for everyone
      • Books for professionals
    • CARDS
  • Contact
  • Home
  • About
    • Me
    • Loneliness
    • The Project
    • My Team
    • Testimonials
    • Privacy Policy
  • Services
    • Therapy & Counseling
    • Couples Counseling
    • Online Counseling
    • Supervision
    • Internship
    • Support Groups >
      • Divorce Support Group
      • Grief Support Group
  • Academy
    • Academy for All
    • All Courses
    • From Conflict to Connection
    • How to stop Perfectionism
    • How much of a Perfectionist are you?
    • Burnout Recovery: from exhaustion to resilience
    • How to stop Procrastinating
    • Σεμιναριο για τις σχεσεις
    • Divorce Recovery Programme
    • Grief Recovery Programme
  • Blog
    • Loneliness
    • Self-Development
    • Relationships
    • Family
  • RESOURCES
    • Extra Resources
    • In the Media
    • BOOKS >
      • Books for everyone
      • Books for professionals
    • CARDS
  • Contact

How To Help Children Manage Fear and Anxiety

17/11/2015

0 Comments

 
Picture
Children understand everything they hear and see around them. Probably not in the way we adults perceive reality around us, but in their own unique way. And when they hear the news, the shocking, terrible news on the TV, they get the feeling that something bad is happening, or is going to happen (even if they don't understand the details of it). And they are scared. Terrified. And they don't feel safe anymore. Especially when they see their own parents feeling the same way, they feel helpless.

Children sometimes lack perspective of the world around them. They hear about something that happened in India while they live in Oslo, and they feel that this is happening ...next door.  They cannot understand how big the world is or how far from them is what happened. They even think that if they move to another house, they will feel safe again. Listen and attend to their need: safety.

Helping Children Cope with Fear: 5 Steps

There are several techniques we can employ to help our children, young family members, or students feel less afraid and anxious. Here we share some handy tips for supporting children and making them feel safe again. 

Observe and Start a Dialogue

Make sure you monitor the child's reactions when they hear the news or witness an event. Even if they don't say much, they do feel a lot and they imagine even more. They might just find it difficult to express. For this reason, you should be the one that explains what happened. If you let them be informed by the TV, or other children, their imagination will go wild, and the effect will be overwhelming. On the other hand, if you sit with them and talk about what happened, you can see what is their main focus and what aspects of the event concerns them more. Search for the hidden questions that might be plaguing their minds.

Related:

How To Raise a Compassionate Child: 5 Strategies for Parents [ARTICLE]

Don't Dismiss their Thoughts & Feelings

When you start a dialogue, you have the opportunity to learn what they heard and how they feel about it. Don't judge their feelings. Don't dismiss their fears. Rather, accept and explore them. It's OK to feel sad. It's OK to feel scared. It's OK to feel confused. You are not expected to have a clear mind immediately after the shocking news.

​You as a parent CAN be sad as well. Sad, but calm. Children absorb all emotions, so if you handle your sadness with a calm way, they will copy that. If, on the other hand, you deal with your sadness or fear, with a dramatic, catastrophizing way, then the children will absorb that, and they will act likewise. But for them, once they get onto that "vehicle", it's difficult to step off it. They will dream about it, think about it, get overwhelmed and it will probably remain inside them as a quite traumatic experience.

Related:

​Understanding Emotional Perfectionism in our Relationships [COURSE]

Help Them Express Their Feelings

Let the feelings flow. You don't have to talk about it. Draw it. Sing it. Tell stories about it. Playing is the easiest way for children to let their thoughts and feelings come out. Use that tool, and make the most out of it. It will surprise you how much you can learn. ​If feelings start bubbling up, reassure them that you will protect them whatever happens. Remind them that there are always good people around us, not only people that want to hurt us.

Be Mindful

Be mindful and respect their developmental level. Young children don't need all the details of the terrible event. They only need to feel safe and secure again. Teenagers, on the other hand, are looking for the details, because they want to rationalize their feelings and make sense of what happened. Even if they don't ask you to talk to them about the news, don't assume they are OK. Initiate a discussion. Adjust to their needs and help them accordingly. They will respect and appreciate that.

Related:

The "Good Enough" Mother [ARTICLE]

Facilitate Closure

After all the talking and the sharing takes place (even though sometimes you will need to come back to it because the children will have more questions...), provide some kind of closure to the children. Memorialize the lost people, make a drawing about the lost one, share stories, light up candles and blow them, and at the same time, blow away the fear and the pain. For older children, some action can also be therapeutic. Helping others, volunteering, and keeping routines can help children heal and build resilience. That way you remind them that life goes on. And that the Good will always win over the Bad.

​Source: Child Mind Institute
  • Sign up for my newsletter here and get the FREE 40-page guide/workbook on Self-Care filled with practical tips that can make your life more peaceful and balanced. 
  • Get your FREE Guide "How much of a Perfectionist are you?" and find out which of your features are highly related to your Perfectionism.
  • Visit AntiLoneliness Academy for more workshops and courses on Self-Growth and Relationships. 
  • ​Book recommendations on Mindfulness, Anxiety & Depression:
    • The Anxiety and Worry Workbook
    • Wherever you go, there you are 
    • Don't believe everything you feel
    • Practicing Mindfulness
    • Mindfulness workbook for teens
  • Watch our videos with Psychology tips and insights on Relationships, Perfectionism, Anxiety, Burnout, etc. 
  • Read more articles on Relationships, Self-Development, Loneliness, and Perfectionism here: Blog. ​
  • Contact me to start your therapy journey and become a resilient parent.​
  • Join our Facebook page and Instagram page and read more posts about self-development. ​
0 Comments

Your comment will be posted after it is approved.


Leave a Reply.

    Family

    HOME IS WHERE YOUR HEART IS.

    Leaving your city or your country is indeed painful. Even for those that see opportunities within this new challenge. Making new friends, when you still miss your old ones. Building a new home, when you still have plenty of memories from your old one. Making a new family, when your own family is thousands of miles away. Feeling like home, when you have tried so many times to do so. Yes, we know how you feel. 

    Archives

    December 2022
    November 2022
    March 2021
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    December 2018
    May 2018
    March 2016
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015

    Categories

    All
    Adult
    Afraid
    Anger
    Antiloneliness
    Anxiety
    Authentic
    Boundaries
    Burnout
    Child
    Childhood
    Children
    Compassion
    Decision Making
    Discipline
    Divorce
    Emotional
    Emotions
    Exhausted Parents
    Exhaustion
    Expecting
    Failure
    Family
    Fear
    Feelings
    Good Enough
    Guilt
    Learn Their Lesson
    Loneliness
    Marriage
    Mental Health
    Mother
    Motherhood
    Not Perfect
    Overwhelmed Parents
    Parent
    Parental Burnout
    Parenting
    Parenting Skills
    Parenting Style
    Perfection
    Perfectionism
    Perfectionist
    Plan
    Pregnancy
    Procrastination
    Punishment
    Relationships
    Responsibility
    Sadness
    Safety
    Self Care
    Self-care
    Self-criticism
    Shame
    Spanking
    Stigma
    Support Group For Mothers
    The Hague
    Trauma

    RSS Feed

Counseling

Personal Counseling
Couples Counseling
OnLine Counseling 
​
GROUP COUNSELING 

​Grief Support
Divorce Support 
​Therapy Group 

Blog

Loneliness
​Self-Development
Relationships
​Family 

About

Me
​My Team
Contact 
​The Cards
Privacy Policy ​
NIP Psycholoog
Vassia Sarantopoulou
Head Psychologist - Founder of AntiLoneliness

​Therapy for expats and locals 
Leiden - The Hague - online 
​

Member of the Netherlands Institute of Psychologists (NIP)

© COPYRIGHT 2022. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.