5 Strategies for Calming Your Teen’s Anxiety Quickly

Photo of Caucasian sitting on the floor in a brown dress with her hands on her face representing her need for online counseling for teens in Illinois and Florida for her anxiety attack.

When you live with anxiety, that familiar slow-rising panic within you can appear at any moment. Life is normal one minute and the next, you feel your chest tighten and your heart begin to race. You begin to hyper-focus on future events and find yourself getting lost in “what-if’s”.

Then to make matters worse, you begin to berate yourself for allowing the panic to get the best of you. Finally, you convince yourself that all of those “what-if’s” are indisputable facts.

5 Strategies for Calming Your Teen’s Anxiety Quickly

Living with anxiety can be painful and unpredictable. For teens especially, it can feel confusing and disorienting. As a parent, you may feel helpless and at a loss for what to do.

Thankfully, there are many powerful tools and techniques you can share with your teen on how to manage their anxiety more effectively.

Breathe Deeply

The minute you feel an anxiety attack coming on, the first thing to do is stop and gain control of your breath. Deep, slow breathing sends a signal to your brain that everything is safe in your environment. Controlled breathing is one of the most powerful ways to activate your body’s relaxation response. It will take your mind and body off your “fight or flight” mode and bring it instantly into a calm and relaxed state.

Accept That You Are Anxious

It’s important to remember that anxiety is “just a feeling”. And like all feelings, it can go as quickly as it came. You are having an emotional reaction to a string of thoughts. Accept your anxiety because trying to pretend it’s not happening will only make matters worse.

Let’s be clear – by accepting your anxiety, you are not resigning yourself to a life of eternal misery. You are not throwing in the towel either. You are simply living a more mindful existence, staying in the moment, and accepting whatever is in the moment with you.

Your Emotions Can Not Kill You

One of the most frightening things about an anxiety attack is the feeling that you are having a heart attack. But you aren’t. Your brain can and will play tricks on you trying to get you to believe that you are in physical danger. But the truth is, you are not in physical danger. You are having an episode based on emotions and it will pass. Remind yourself of that as many times as you need to.

Question Your Thoughts

When your anxiety attack begins, your mind begins to throw out all sorts of outlandish ideas at you, hoping some of them stick. These thoughts are intended to keep the panic attack going.

Before you take any of these thoughts as reality and truth, question them. For instance, if your mind throws out random thoughts like, “I’m a bad friend. I’m definitely going to screw this up. I probably left the garage door open. And I’ll no doubt get stuck in bad traffic on the way home and maybe even get a flat tire which means I’ll be stranded, and on and on and on…”

Question these ideas. Are you TRULY a bad friend? Most likely not. Are you really going to screw up? Probably not. Traffic? Well, maybe but a flat tire? Chances are slim.

Always question your thoughts. You will usually find the majority aren’t very realistic or probable.

Visualize

Picture someplace serene that makes you feel peaceful and calm. Maybe this is your grandfather’s old house or a lake you’ve visited before. Maybe it’s that fantastic beachfront condo from your last vacation. Just picture it in your mind’s eye and really put yourself there. See it, smell it, feel it. Experience how calming it feels to be in this space that is perfectly comforting and safe.

Use these techniques the next time you experience an anxiety attack. They should help you feel much calmer sooner.

Begin Online Therapy for Kids and Teens with Anxiety in Illinois and now Florida!

Photo of a teen seated on a white carpet wearing a yellow shirt, brown pants and white sneakers holding a tablet. Photo could represent online counseling for teens in Illinois. If your child or teen is struggling with anxiety, there is hope! Anxiety is highly treatable and online anxiety treatment at Briefly Counseling can help.

Using Solution-Focused Brief Therapy, I help kids and teens reduce their anxiety and build resilience so they can become a happier, more confident version of themselves.

And kids love being able to receive counseling from the comfort and privacy of their own home. Studies have consistently proven that online therapy delivers equal results to in-office counseling.

As an experienced and caring therapist, I love providing counseling for anxiety. To start your child’s counseling journey, call me at 224-236-2296 or email Helena@BrieflyCounseling.com to schedule a FREE 20-minute consultation.

Helena Madsen, MA, LCPC is the founder of Briefly Counseling. I specialize in providing online short-term anxiety treatment for kids and teens ages 7 – 18 as well as Christian counseling.

Whether you’re on the North Shore, in Naperville, Chicago, Champaign, Barrington, Libertyville, Glenview, or downstate Illinois, I can help.

And effective 2024, I am now licensed in Florida! For parents in Jacksonville, Pensacola, Destin, Crestview, Coral Gables, Weston, Parkland, Naples, Marco Island, and Pinecrest, I have immediate openings.

Schedule your appointment or consultation today. I look forward to working with your child to quickly and effectively help them in activating their strengths, resources, and resilience, in order to live with confidence and hope.