Strategies to Reduce Avoidance Behaviour

Many children that experience anxiety tend to avoid situations. Fears maintain themselves as long as your client avoids them. The more your client dodges whatever frightens them or makes them nervous, the bigger it becomes!

When we avoid our fears we:

• We never get used to the ugly sensation fear provokes in us
• We don’t learn if the situation is really as dangerous as we think, and what powers we have to face it.
• Fear is contagious! When we try to escape from it, it tends to expand other things. [1] 

Advantages to facing fears:

• Allows clients to investigate thoughts and see things clearly
• It helps reduce fears

Your client will need support from a therapist or a caregiver when facing their fears.

Challenging Situations 

If your client experiences anxiety or depression it will be important to teach strategies to help them cope with their withdrawal in situations they may find more challenging.  

■ Provide them with adequate encouragement to help them work through difficult tasks and challenging situations

■ Encourage your client to replace self-critical or perfectionistic thoughts with more positive and helpful statements to help decrease negative thoughts that seem to lead to frustration and withdrawal, which could impede on further learning.

■ Remind them that mistakes are expected and part of the learning process.

[1] From Bunge et al. (2017).