Asking a child or young person about their worries and anxieties

In this short video, Dr Melanie Forster explores approaches when asking children and young people about their anxieties.

NHS Online (2023) provides helpful information for adults, including parents and non-mental health practitioners, who are supporting a child or young person who is anxious and has worries. You do not have to have specialist mental health training, to be able to provide some effective support that a child or young person will experience as positive and helpful. If appropriate to your role, this could include listening carefully to what they are saying, and encouraging them in talking about their thoughts and feelings. Trying to work out the impact of the worries upon the child or young person in terms of their feelings, thoughts, behaviours and physical bodily responses, can help direct you towards helpful strategies to suggest they try.

If you are supporting a child or young person with feelings of anxiety and worry, and their difficulties are not improving (or are getting worse) you should discuss this within your team and supervision sessions and consider whether a referral to a specialist mental health provider would be helpful. This would help the child receive some specialist mental health advice to better understand the nature and severity of the difficulties and what might be the most appropriate support to overcome (or better manage) the anxiety (and then in turn, help guide the focus of your work with the child).

Remember: in times of crisis, to follow the protocol for your service regarding how to keep a child or young person safe. This may likely involve breaking consent and confidentiality. This could mean sharing pertinent information about the child or young person with other professionals (and key family members where appropriate) to ensure transparency in communicating concerns to keep the child or young person safe and supported.