Lewisham Mental Health Support Team (MHST) work in schools with the whole school community – including staff, young people, and families – to support emotional wellbeing. They run individual and group interventions as well as things like assemblies, staff training, parent workshops, and supporting the school’s wellbeing strategy.
 
Today they provided a workshop for parents on managing children's fears and anxieties. We learned about how to spot the signs of fear and anxiety in our children - flight, fright, freeze, submit - and the things that might reinforce those anxieties. 
 
Finally we looked at ways of coping and encouraging our children to overcome their fears;

• Pay attention to what they’re doing
• Give clear and specific praise – “You stood at the front of the class and spoke in front of everyone. I know you were really worried but you faced your fears and did it anyway!”
• Model ‘brave’ behaviour to the child
• Allow and encourage independence

Supporting children to ‘face their fears’ in a gentle, manageable, and collaborative way, builds their confidence and allows them to discover that they can cope in a situation they are afraid of – usually they realise with time that it isn’t as bad as they’d imagined!