Helping Children Cope with Fears and Stress

How fears, phobias, anxiety and stress develop in elementary school students and how these students can be assisted in coping with fears and stress are discussed in this book. Part 1, "Discussion and Activities," contains six sections. Section 1 presents an overview of fears, and stress in children. Section 2 presents 12 fear-specific activities including "shadows" and "fantasy trip." Section 3 presents 27 fear prevention activities including "success a day,""feeling masks," and "who's in the bag?" Section 4 presents four stress reducing activities including relaxation exercises and relaxation scripts. Section 5 presents four high-risk student activities including personal crisis management and systematic desensitization. Section 6 contains four appendixes including a counseling model for helping the fearful child, a bibliography of children's fears, and a resource list. Part 2, the facilitator's guide, suggests strategies and procedures for the following workshop sessions: (1) introduction; (2) primary prevention; (3) school and classroom activities; (4) helping high risk children; (5) helping children during a crisis; (6) helping children who are not coping well; (7) stress/fear and the family; and (8) developing an action plan. The appendix includes a fear and stress survey; additional handouts, and classroom activities for children exposed to a violent event. (ABL)