Mental health matters.
Our children are suffering with anxiety and depression at a rate never seen before.
9.4% of children aged 3-17 years (approximately 5.8 million) had diagnosed anxiety in 2016-2019; 1 in 3 also had depression (32.3%).
These are the children who have been diagnosed. Think of all the children who are suffering silently. My experience providing anxiety training in schools tells me these numbers have only continued to grow.
Increasing IEPs for Young Students
Three kindergarten teachers in one school told me they have more IEP’s this past year for their kindergarten school students than they have had in the history of their years teaching.
From Individual Therapy to School-Wide Training
Several years ago, I realized that seeing one child in therapy at a time was not enough. I needed to reach more children. This realization led me to providing trainings for schools. The staff were so grateful as they felt helpless to know how to respond to anxious students who were spending more time avoiding things that triggered their anxiety and less time in the classroom learning.
The Impact of Training on Students
It became clear that the students deserved to have this information. Once I started providing them an understanding of their anxious brains and simple skills they could practice to increase their ability to handle these feelings and return to learning in the classroom, I could see the profound impact of offering this information to staff and students in the school.
Expanding to Include Parent Training
At the end of my staff training, teachers and counselors often asked about the parents. Now that they understand that anxiety will go to the weakest link in the system, isn’t it important to have everyone in the child’s system get trained? This insight led to evening parent presentations and training at PTA meetings.
Pivoting to Digital Solutions During COVID
Elizabeth, my Anxiety Training business partner, wisely suggested that we need an easier and less expensive way for schools to get access to this information. COVID provided that opportunity for us to begin recording these trainings and getting this information to more schools, thus reaching more students.
Launch of the New Anxiety Training for Schools Program
We are excited to share that this month we are launching our newest version of the Anxiety Training for Schools program. This includes foundational training on anxiety and nine skills lessons to be used throughout the school year to help teachers and students continue to practice living well with anxiety.
Collaboration with Experts for Comprehensive Training
We have joined forces with Brianna Morrow, LCSW, and Andy Pitrone, EdD, from We Are Courageous Kids to provide the training and skills lessons for elementary students, while Elizabeth and I provide the skills lessons for middle and high school students.