{"id":115754,"date":"2025-09-03T03:13:08","date_gmt":"2025-09-03T03:13:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/115754\/"},"modified":"2025-09-03T03:13:08","modified_gmt":"2025-09-03T03:13:08","slug":"psychologists-give-advice-on-how-handle-back-to-school-anxiety","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/115754\/","title":{"rendered":"Psychologists give advice on how handle back-to-school anxiety"},"content":{"rendered":"

Experts said establishing a routine is one of the best things parents and caregivers can do to help kids who are feeling anxious.<\/p>\n

GOLDEN VALLEY, Minn. \u2014 Back-to-school anxiety is something some students struggle with every year.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cGoing back to school time is the time of the change. It\u2019s a change of the routine, a change of the environment, it\u2019s a change of maybe a new grade, new teacher, friends and classmates,\u201d said Dr. Lindan Gu, a pediatric psychologist at the University of Minnesota.<\/p>\n

She said kids can experience excitement and nerves at the same time, but the uncertainty can lead to anxiety.<\/p>\n

Chad Cartier, the director of psychotherapy at Aris Clinic said some students fear the unknown.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat are the classes that I\u2019m going to be in? Who am I sharing a locker with? These sorts of questions can kick up a lot of anxiety,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Sara Gonzalez, the clinical director of outpatient psychology at Children\u2019s Minnesota Hospital, said students might be even more anxious this year because of the deadly school shooting at Annunciation Catholic School<\/a> last week.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe important thing though that we can do is acknowledge those feelings and not dismiss them, and just sitting with them right, sitting with, you know, as parents and caregivers, modeling it\u2019s OK to be worried, let\u2019s talk about it, so that kids can also have that space to process what they\u2019re feeling,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n


\n \"\"<\/p>\n

Gonzalez said some signs a child may be struggling include trouble sleeping or eating, not wanting to be around friends, stomach aches, and headaches.<\/p>\n

She said if students are feeling anxious, she encourages them to take a breath.<\/p>\n

\u201cA quick coping tool is belly breathing, right, so practicing taking inhales and exhales to just focus on I\u2019m OK, my body is OK, I\u2019m safe right now,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Gu said it\u2019s important for parents and caregivers to be there for the kids if they\u2019re struggling with back-to-school anxiety.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s helpful to allow them to have the space to talk about it, follow their lead,\u201d Gu said.<\/p>\n

\u201cBeing there right, it\u2019s not about having the perfect words, it never is, but being there, naming the feeling, not shaming it,\u201d Gonzalez said.<\/p>\n

\u201cHear the child out, really make it about them. This is their time to talk rather than your time to talk,\u201d Cartier said.<\/p>\n

He said it\u2019s important to validate their feelings and highlight school safety measures.<\/p>\n

Cartier said if your child doesn\u2019t want to go to school, take that moment and see if they will open up about why they don\u2019t want to go.<\/p>\n

He said rewards can help kids who want to go to school.<\/p>\n

\u201cI would also encourage parents to set up some expectations at the beginning of the school year, access to video games, screens, other privileges. Those things should be contingent on first going to school and addressing other responsibilities associated with school,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

All the experts said establishing a routine can help ease back-to-school nerves.<\/p>\n

\u201cKids thrive on predictability, so to have daily routines for sleep, hygiene, homework, meals, managing screen time,\u201d Cartier said. \u201cMost kids that we see in the clinic and have a lot of difficulty going to school and a lot of school avoidance, they may be running up to a 90-minute sleep deficit, and if you got a 90-minute sleep deficit, and you\u2019re up all night, and you don\u2019t have a good sleep hygiene it\u2019s going to be a battle in the morning and school avoidance often starts the evening before right, not the morning of.\u201d<\/p>\n

Gonzalez said it will be important for kids to find normalcy and joy in going back to school. She said it\u2019s important for kids to engage in activities, which can help build a consistent routine.<\/p>\n

She said it\u2019s also OK for the parents to know it\u2019s OK if they\u2019re not OK.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is going to be a tough time sending your kids back to school, especially with what\u2019s happening in our community, take a deep breath,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Experts said establishing a routine is one of the best things parents and caregivers can do to help…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":115755,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[35],"tags":[49,48,84,393,394],"class_list":{"0":"post-115754","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-mental-health","8":"tag-ca","9":"tag-canada","10":"tag-health","11":"tag-mental-health","12":"tag-mentalhealth"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/115754","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=115754"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/115754\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/115755"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=115754"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=115754"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=115754"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}