Understanding Anxiety

Description

When anxiety doesn’t look like anxiety.

3-Hour Workshop | $75 per person | Perth | Take-Home Resources | Certificate of Attendance

What happens when the brain senses danger?
An anxious student isn’t always the student who tells you they’re worried. Anxiety can look like perfectionism. Irritability. Avoidance. Tears. Anger. Reassurance seeking. Stomach aches. Refusing to participate. Not coming to school at all.
Anxiety can affect the way a student thinks, learns, remembers, communicates and responds to everyday demands. We’ll look at what happens when the body’s threat system activates and why seemingly manageable situations can feel genuinely overwhelming to an anxious student.
Understanding that response helps make sense of behaviours that might otherwise look like refusal, defiance or a lack of resilience.

Helping without accidentally making anxiety stronger
When a student is distressed, our instinct is often to remove whatever is making them uncomfortable. However, continually helping a student avoid the thing they fear can make returning to it even harder.
We’ll explore supportive responses, appropriate accommodations and practical ways to help students feel safe while gradually building confidence and capacity.

Calm first. Then problem-solve.
A student in the middle of an anxiety response isn’t necessarily ready for logic, consequences or a lengthy conversation.
You’ll leave with a deeper understanding of anxiety, greater confidence recognising the less obvious presentations and practical strategies for responding both in the moment and over time.

Who is it for?
Teachers, Education Assistants, Learning Support, Student Services, Wellbeing Staff, Parents, Carers and Tutors who regularly support a child or young person experiencing anxiety, avoidance or distress.

Are you a teacher?
This workshop is mapped to relevant focus areas of the Professional Standards for Teachers in Western Australia and may contribute towards your professional learning requirements.

APST Focus Areas: 1.1 | 4.1