The Anxious Elementary School Child

Abstract

This chapter provides an overview of anxious elementary schoolchildren who have difficulty attending school due to substantial distress while there. The chapter focuses on understanding the feeling, thinking, and doing parts of distress; easing physical feelings of distress through better breathing and relaxation; dealing with the thinking part of distress or when a child says he does not want to go to school; and managing the doing part of distress by gradually reintroducing a child to school and increasing his time in the classroom. The chapter is designed to educate parents about these parts of distress and presents strategies for addressing each one. These strategies include breathing retraining and muscle relaxation training and gradual exposure to the school setting. The chapter also covers special topics and circumstances that are common to this type of situation.