Anxiety is the most common child and adolescent mental health concern. For as many as 1 in 5 young people, anxiety interferes with day to day living. The effects can ripple from children, to their families, to the classroom, and into friendships. Anxiety can potentially undermine the way children and teens see themselves, the world and their important place in it – but it doesn’t have to be this way. Anxiety is very manageable and all children can be strengthened against its intrusive effects. This dynamic workshop will explore anxiety and offer a range of practical, powerful interventions to assist participants to respond effectively within their own professional context.

Participants will learn:

• The neurobiology of anxiety and how to use this as a scaffold for therapeutic change.
• The different ways anxiety can manifest in children and adolescents, and how to respond.
• How anxiety can interfere with learning and higher-order function, and how to respond to strengthen learning, behavioural, and relational outcomes.
• How to nurture high-quality relationships between young people and their important adults, and why this matters.
• Making sense of separation anxiety and school refusal, and how to respond effectively.
• The neural foundations of resilience, and the experiences that will nurture this.
• How to support parents and carers in being change-makers - the practical strategies and transformative insights.
• The popular behaviour management techniques that can make anxiety worse, and what to do instead.
• How to respond to anxiety in the moment to make way for brave behaviour.
• The four key responses to anxiety, and how to use this insight to inform a more effective response.
• Why old responses to anxiety can be resistant to change, and the simple explanation for young people that can break through this and build resilience and courage.
• The neuroscience of self-regulation, co-regulation, and the impact on anxiety immediately and in the long-term.
• Changing the mindset – why the way children think about anxiety matters, and engaging a strength-based model of anxiety to calm anxiety and build resilience.
• Building their toolbox - the practical strategies for young people to calm anxiety and build brave.

Karen Young has worked as a Psychologist in private practice, and organisational and educational settings. She is now a sought-after speaker, educator and consultant both at home in Australia and internationally. Karen is the founder of ‘Hey Sigmund’, an internationally acclaimed online resource that provides contemporary, research-driven information on Anxiety and the Neurodevelopment of children. She has written three books, including the best-selling ‘Hey Warrior’ and ‘Hey Awesome’. Karen is one of Compass Seminars most acclaimed and requested presenters.