Now you have the children at home all the time, you may seem to have escalated anger meltdowns and outbursts.
You have however TIME on your side.
Think about prevention. Communicating anxiety and worry is difficult.
So, here are 3 Take Away tips to share with your child to help them communicate anxiety
Coke Bottle
Take a sealed coke bottle and talk with your child about the day, for example, when it’s time to get up sometimes you don’t want to…..don’t want to choose what to wear…When it’s breakfast time it’s sometimes hard to choose which cereals you want…when you have your cereals you may not really like them….
EACH TIME YOU TALK ABOUT AN ISSUE SHAKE THE BOTTLE.
It’s up to you how long you do this for BUT eventually you need to ask
‘What do you think is going to happen when we open the bottle?’
Then idea is to explain that we are all like to bottle of coke, suggest next time they are feeling like this either say ‘Coke’ or grab the bottle to let you know.
Scaling
Used for a variety of ages / ability .
Draw a line , mark 0-10 on it. Talk about 10 being fine and feeling in control, 0 being not fine at all.
Use yourself as an example: for example, Today I felt a 4 because I had to make a phone call and I was worried. But now I feel a 7 because it went well.
Play with the ideas until your child gets the idea.
Encourage use of scale each morning and during day – when they give a number talk about how you could move it to the next, for example, what could we do to make the 3 into a 4.
Always validate the number, not ask WHY.
Blanket
Give your child a piece of paper with a blanket with number squares on . Ask them to draw what is worrying them. If possible order them. Use this daily to check in with them.
Become a supporter not a reactor.
Most of all feel there is something YOU can do, your child will thank you.
Good Luck!
If you’d like more support with this please contact us and see what we can do to support you.
You can see Sue here talking through these strategies and others to support your child’s anxiety: Takeaways for Anxiety
You can get daily strategies and support in our Community Group http://https://www.facebook.com/groups/996724863804720/