What is your favorite school counseling anxiety resource? Testing season aside, students are experiencing record rates of anxiety. School counselors are leaders in the building to help students and staff understand and effectively manage anxiety.
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Staff Book Study
Last year, my building focused on learning more about anxiety and how to better support students emotionally. We used Anxiety and Depression in the Classroom: A Teacher’s Guide to Fostering Self-Regulation in the Classroom for a book study, and it is incredible. Written by a clinical psychologist, it explains clearly anxiety disorders, and provides straightforward tools and activities for educators. It sparked amazing discussions, gave everyone another perspective on supporting children, and provided concrete suggestions that staff implemented immediately. A truly wonderful resource to build confidence in supporting the emotional wellbeing of students.
– Gretchen at Speckled Moose Counseling
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Engaging Videos
GoZen is an incredible program to help students build skills to manage anxiety! The program has animated videos that teach students how to change the way they think about problems, challenge their negative thinking patterns, and avoid cognitive distortions (or Thought Holes, as the program calls them). The videos are really engaging and practical with short exercises that can be practiced daily to reinforce learning. There are programs for both schools and parents, so it’s also a great resource to recommend to parents who are looking for ways to help their children manage anxiety at home.
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Informative Website
Anxiety BC is a wonderful resource to help students develop coping skills to manage their anxiety. This website has a ton of information on anxiety disorders (handouts and videos), suggested treatment strategies, and worksheets. It’s simple to navigate and I like that I have resources readily available to send home with students to give directions on how to practice what we worked on in session at home, and to keep parents updated on the strategies their child has learned.
