Anxiety

Does your child struggle with anxiety?

Wonderfully Made Therapy provides neurodevelopment assessments to treat weaker areas of the brain that may be contributing to the root cause of your child's anxiety.  

Anxiety in children is often tied to a retained Moro Reflex and can be treated through specific exercises and activities.  

Many of our parents report their child's anxiety has RESOLVED with INCREASED CONFIDENCE following participation in our individualized treatment protocols.  

Occupational Therapy (OT) is beneficial for children with anxiety in several ways:  

1. Sensory Regulation: Occupational therapists can help children develop sensory regulation skills, which can be particularly helpful for children struggle with sensory processing. Activities designed to regulate sensory input are deep pressure activities or proprioceptive (the sense of self-movement, force, and body position) exercises. These help children manage their anxiety by providing them with tools to regulate their arousal levels.

2. Coping Strategies: OTs can teach children coping strategies to manage anxiety-provoking situations. Teaching relaxation techniques, mindfulness exercises, or guided imagery to help children calm their minds and bodies when they feel overwhelmed. Another way to help with coping is creating a quiet space for the child to retreat to when feeling overwhelmed, or implementing visual schedules to provide structure and predictability.

3. Social Skills Development: We work to develop social skills, such as communication, assertiveness, and problem-solving skills, which can help reduce anxiety in social settings.

4. Executive Functioning Skills: These skills help children improve in organization, time management, and planning. Teaching children how to break tasks down into manageable steps and prioritize tasks, helps reduce feelings of overwhelm and anxiety related to academic or daily activities.

Overall, Pediatric Occupational Therapy takes a HOLISTIC APPROACH to address the underlying factors contributing to a child's anxiety and equips them with practical strategies to better manage their emotions and behaviors.

Contact us if you would like to set up a Free Discovery Call to discuss how we can help your child!

• What does an occupational therapist do for anxiety?

  Occupational Therapists and COTA's provide kids with exercises and relaxation techniques to help calm their bodies.

• What food triggers anxiety?

  The foods we give our bodies are very important! Caffeine, alcohol, added sugars and refined carbs can all inflame anxiety.

• Can OT help with emotional regulation?

  Occupational therapists can work with children to develop social skills that promote emotional regulation.