Psychiatry. Encouraging a healthier community.

Aims

This training course on anxiety management is specifically designed for primary school teachers and other school staff to improve their skills in identifying problematic anxiety, increase their understanding of the presentation of anxiety disorders at school and to introduce tested strategies used by other teachers to calm anxious children.

Health professionals who are interested in childhood anxiety disorders are also welcome to attend, as are parents of children who are prone to anxiety.

Anxiety disorders at school

Anxiety at school is expected. However, anxiety disorders affect between 5% to 20% of children and are among the most prevalent psychiatric conditions in children today. Schools are uniquely placed to address common anxiety problems and to discuss referral to a health professional for anxiety symptoms with parents.

Outcomes

By the end of this course, you should be able to:

• differentiate between helpful and unhelpful forms of anxiety
• discuss the symptoms, prevalence, and burden of childhood anxiety disorders
• discuss problem anxiety with a child’s parents
• develop simple strategies to help anxious children describe their feelings, and cope in the classroom
• describe the role of other professionals in helping children who are anxious
• have a framework for thinking about the importance of their own self-care.

Content

• Childhood anxiety and its disorders
• Hotspots for anxiety at school
• Case studies of separation anxiety, generalised anxiety and obsessive-compulsive disorders
• Strategies for whole school management and specific strategies for the classroom

Intended audience

Designed for primary school teachers and other school staff to improve their skills in identifying problematic anxiety, increase their understanding of the presentation of anxiety disorders at school and to introduce tested strategies used by other teachers to calm anxious children.

Health professionals who are interested in childhood anxiety disorders are also welcome to attend, as are parents of children who are prone to anxiety.

Delivery style

The duration of this course is 3.5-hours. A wide range of teaching methods will be used, including didactic presentations, case vignettes, group discussions, and worksheets. You will learn what signs indicate that anxiety has become disordered, a systematic way of thinking about a child’s anxiety symptoms, how to explore children’s anxious feelings, thinking and behaviour with them, and how to introduce simple social strategies that foster a sense of calm in students and teachers.

Delivery modes:

• Face-to-face, presenter-taught training
• Online training via the platform Zoom

Accreditation

This online course provides 3 hours and 15 minutes of Teacher Professional Development, addressing Proficient Teacher Standard Descriptors 4.1.2 & 4.3.2 from the Australian Professional Standards for Teachers.

Recommended reading

The Sydney Handbook of Anxiety Disorders: A Guide to the Symptoms, Causes and Treatments of Anxiety Disorders
Editors: Philip Boyce, Anthony Harris, Juliette Drobny, Lisa Lampe, Vladan Starcevic, Richard Bryant
Publisher: The University of Sydney
Publication Date: 30 March 2015

ISBNs:

• 9780994214508 (paperback)
• 9780994214515 (Kindle e-book)