Anxiety is one of the most common mental and emotional health challenges in childhood and it can emerge surprisingly early in some children – research suggests that 9 to 22% of pre and early school aged children may meet criteria for an anxiety disorder at some point.  Some of the most common challenges with anxiety for children of this age include worries about separating from a parent, fears of the dark, worries about being in bed on their own, shyness and anxiety about being around other children and worries about change or new situations.  Here are some ideas which might be helpful for parents/caregivers who are supporting young children with anxiety.

Autonomy-supportive parenting is a style of caregiving that emphasizes the nurturing of a child or young person’s ability to make their own choices, be self-reliant, and develop their own values and interests which guide their behaviours.

What might autonomy supportive parenting might actually look like on a day-to-day basis seems to vary according different writers on this topic.  Here are some of the common types of behaviours psychologists refer to as “autonomy supportive”…

Emotion recognition can be thought of as the ability to identify and understand emotions in other people.  This skill has been referred to by some researchers as ‘cognitive empathy’ (as contrasted with ‘affective’ empathy – with the latter being the ability ‘feel’ or relate to emotions experienced by others).  We might also contrast ‘cognitive empathy’ or ‘emotion recognition’ with the concept of ‘emotional awareness’ (and there is variation in how all these terms are used) – which has often been used to refer to person’s ability to notice and understand their own emotions.  Finally, both emotion recognition and emotional awareness are of course precursors to the more complex skills often referred to of emotion regulation - effectively managing and responding to emotions (in ourselves or others)…

I’ve worked as a psychologist with our team to support children and young people for over 25 years and have over the last decade I’ve seen a significant increase in the number of parents who seek  mental health treatment for their children and young people.  While therapy is not a magic fix, I do believe it can be an important step towards improving young people’s emotional well-being.  

Unfortunately what many parents I’ve talked with do not always realize is that their involvement in their children's therapy may be just as important as the child or young people’s own attendance at therapy sessions…