Dr Jenna Vyas-Lee is a child psychologist who has helped many children with anxiety to manage their symptoms. She specialises in child anxiety treatment and can perform assessments involving questionnaires to identify anxiety in children. Read on to learn more about the symptoms of child anxiety, our approach to diagnosis and the treatment options available.
All children feel anxious sometimes. It’s a normal human emotion, whatever your age. Anxiety is our body’s way of telling us something is wrong. A warning system that allows us to stay safe.But sometimes this warning system gets set off without reason. We experience physical and emotional symptoms of anxiety without a rational external cause. Children can get stuck in cycles of anxiety because they don’t have an effective way to work through difficult feelings. If a child experiences unwarranted fears and worries that start to interfere with home and school life, they may be experiencing an anxiety disorder.
Avoidance of places, people or things
Excessive reassurance seeking
Tantrums and emotional outbursts
Being very tearful
Challenging behaviour
Sleep or appetite changes
Excessive expressions of anger
Separation anxiety (being extremely afraid when away from parents)
Phobias (extreme fear of a particular thing or situation, for example, dogs or visiting the dentist)
Social anxiety (fear of going to places where there are lots of people, for example, school)
General anxiety (being very worried about bad things happening in the future)
Panic disorder (episodes of intense fear, with a racing heartbeat, shortness of breath, sweating, shaking or dizziness)
For example, if they have separation anxiety, they may resist situations where they are not with you. Or if they have a phobia, they may avoid the thing or situation they’re afraid of.
Obsessions (intrusive thoughts which repeatedly enter your mind)
Distress (emotional upset caused by these obsessions)
Compulsions (repetitive actions like checking, counting or hand washing)
At Kove, we spend time with you and your child to understand the difficulties you’ve been having before we give a diagnosis. Semi-structured interviews and questionnaires help us understand the causes and maintenance factors of your child’s anxiety. Maintenance factors are ways your child might be thinking that fuel their anxiety. Once we understand what is causing and maintaining the symptoms your child is experiencing, we can reach a diagnosis.
Our treatment process usually starts with teaching you and your child about how anxiety starts, and what keeps it going. We explore the links between thoughts, feelings, physiology and behaviour. Next, we set challenges that involve dropping the safety behaviours your child has adopted to cope with their anxiety. For example, spending some time away from you if they have separation anxiety. We support them to “ride the anxiety wave” as they face their fear, until their feelings of anxiety decrease. To make sure that both parents and young people feel these tasks are achievable, we always plan them together.
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If you think your child is experiencing anxiety, we’d love to help. Please get in touch to arrange an initial discussion and we can explore ways to help you and your child feel better.
Are you concerned that your child may have low self-esteem? Do they often feel down about themselves and tend to dwell on their flaws and shortcomings? Take action now and seek professional help to support your child's emotional well-being. Contact us to schedule a consultation and start building a brighter future for your child.
Join us now to discuss how to enhance your relationship with your children and effectively manage their behavioral difficulties with less stress. Let's work together towards a happier and healthier family dynamic.
Therapy sessions can be conducted either face-to-face or virtually, depending on your personal preference. You can opt to begin your sessions online but may choose to have an occasional in-person session or vice versa.
Regardless of your preference, our priority is to accommodate your needs and preferences.
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