How School Counselors Can Help with Anxiety

Many professionals have seen a rise in the number of students who are exhibiting symptoms of anxiety in schools. As school counselors, we know that anxiety disorders can significantly impair children’s social skills and academic success. Therefore, it is important that we educate teachers and staff about the signs to look for in students who may be experiencing anxiety related disorders.

Family relationships, grades, friends, health concerns and extracurricular performance are all things students may obsess over. Other signs may be a student needing constant reassurance, frequent nurse visits, physical complaints of stomachaches, headache and other physical symptoms without a known cause. Students may also do other avoiding behaviors and may appear inattentive, restless or irritable. Anxiety can also cause perfectionism. Kids need to know that a small amount of worry is normal, but that knowing how to be in control of your worries is essential to succeed at school.

Most school counselors focus on teaching coping skills instead of trying to be anxiety free. Students with anxiety may benefit greatly from small groups or short-term individual counseling to best learn helpful coping skills. School counselors can also implement school-wide anxiety reduction programs to teach all students coping skills and to reach the students with anxiety who have not been identified.
 
To help students with anxiety succeed in the classroom, 504 accommodations may be provided. Students may also need an Individualized Education Plan (IEP) to address another diagnosed disability that may affect their learning, and can then receive support for their anxiety as well. Some beneficial accommodations on 504s could be preferred seating, being allowed breaks, small group or separate location for testing, support for classroom presentations or participation, and pre-warning about fire drills or other drills.

Helping students change their mindset about their anxiety is crucial to their success. Helping students see their anxiety as a positive instead of a negative can empower them to learn about their anxiety, their triggers, and the best coping skills for them.  

We experienced this with one student who was experiencing high anxiety in class and could never pinpoint a trigger. Over time, we were able to identify when she was experiencing an anxiety attack and the best methods for her to be able to return to class. She brought her own small “coping toolkit” to leave in the school counseling office for when she needed it. We developed a hand signal with her classroom teacher so the student could let her teacher know if she felt an anxiety attack coming on and needed to leave the room. Eventually, she was able to stay in the classroom and work through her anxiety without needing to leave and come to my office. It may take time for students to experience this type of success; however, the lifelong benefit is well worth it!

Kelli Conraads is WySCA president-elect and April Petty is WySCA treasurer and past president.