Childhood brings its fair share of ups and downs as a natural part of the maturing process. Separation anxiety is a completely normal, expected phase in child development. However, separation anxiety can become overwhelming and may affect you and your child’s emotional well-being, daily life, and family dynamics. It can be incredibly emotional to see your child struggle every time you drop them off at school, leave for work, or even seek to enjoy a date night. The good news is that there are strategies you can implement to help your entire family, develop healthy coping skills and process separation in a more natural manner. Psycamore offers professional support and guidance for separation anxiety in and around Jackson, Mississippi. We are here to provide invaluable information that can help you understand anxiety at a deeper level and support your entire family while working to overcome it.
What is Separation Anxiety?
The most common phase in which separation anxiety occurs is in toddlers and preschoolers. However, in certain individuals, separation anxiety can surface in children of any age. This most often occurs during times of change or stress. How do you know if your child is experiencing separation anxiety? At times, separation anxiety becomes persistent and evolves beyond the normal phase. If you see the following signs, you may consider seeking professional support and guidance for these separation anxiety symptoms.
- Intense distress when anticipating or experiencing separation
- Excessive worry about harm coming to parents or caregivers
- Trouble sleeping alone or frequent nightmares
- Physical symptoms like stomachaches or headaches during separations
How to Ease Separation Anxiety Symptoms
It’s important to learn some practical steps you can take to support your child and help them work through the separation anxiety at any given time. Psycamore is an invaluable source for getting to the root cause of the separation anxiety and addressing your child’s needs. However, it’s also vital to have some techniques to use at home when the time calls for it.
Validate feelings: Your child needs to understand that it’s acceptable for them to feel worried, stressed, or sad when you separate. Acknowledge their feelings and while you are validating their feelings, reassure them that you will be back.
Practice short separations: It’s important that your child learns your permanence in their lives. That is, they need to learn that you will return. It’s best to start with short times away so that their fears are relieved quickly as you return quickly. Once they start to understand that you will return, separation anxiety fears often subside.
Stay calm: If you become frustrated, stressed, sad, or emotional in any way during a farewell, your child will only feel more anxious. Make sure that you stay calm and collected, reassuring them in a loving and supportive way and reminding them that you will return.
Build consistency: Creating a goodbye process that you follow each time you separate from your child can offer them comfort and reassurance. Follow the same routine each time you leave your child, whether you give a special handshake, a special wave or sign, a hug or repetitive phrase, all work wonders to cue your child that this is time to say goodbye but that you will return. You may also leave a special item behind with them.
Encourage autonomy in daily life: It’s important to give your child independence and autonomy. They need to make small choices for their lives. Separation anxiety can sometimes stem from feeling a lack of control and fostering your child’s independence can help alleviate the anxiety.
Seek professional support: If your child’s anxiety is severe, lasts more than a few weeks, or causes significant distress for anyone involved, it may be time to consult a healthcare professional. Psycamore specializes in child and teen mental health treatment in Mississippi and we can address separation anxiety.
Mental Health Treatment Near Me
Psycamore is here for you and your family. We provide compassionate, experienced therapy for both individuals and family. We can help you explore the root cause of your child’s serious separation anxiety, and provide tried-and-true techniques to resolve this separation anxiety. For the peace of mind your family deserves, seek help if this separation anxiety becomes persistent – Psycamore is only a phone call away.
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