Sessions are carried out by the Children and Young People Service’s Countrywide Community Teams.

What is the anxiety management group?
The clinician who assessed your child/young person thought they might benefit from attending an anxiety management group.  We offer this to children and young people who are experiencing anxiety. The group aims to:

  • Explain what anxiety is and why we may feel anxious 
  • Understand how anxiety works and how it impacts on individuals 
  • Have a safe space to talk about anxieties 
  • Learn coping strategies and skills known to work in managing anxiety.

What does the group involve?
Your child/young person will be part of a group with other young people with two or three facilitators. The programme consists of six sessions for young people, one screening and one follow-up session.

  • ​​​​​​​​​Your child/young person will be encouraged to participate as much as they can in the group.  We won’t ask for anything to be shared that anyone is not comfortable in sharing.  We know it can be hard, but it is very much encouraged to think of the group as a safe environment for those attending to challenge themselves. 
  • ​​​​​​​​​​​​​Whilst partaking in the group, it is expected that your child/young person will still feel some anxiety, it will not completely disappear after one or two sessions, and this is perfectly normal. We need to explore our anxiety so we can learn how to manage it.
  • ​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​Your child/young person will be encouraged to keep to their routine as much as possible.  They should continue to do the things they enjoy and don’t let attending the group be used as an excuse to avoid things. 

Your child/young person will only be in the group for up to two hours a week, but they will need to practice the techniques and the strategies as much as they can; practice makes perfect. 

What can be expected after attending the group?
Once the group has been completed, your child/young person will have a review with one of the group facilitators to discuss how they found the group and what they had learnt. Following the review, a decision about the next steps of their care plan will be made.

Where will the group be held?
The groups are held face to face and virtually in some circumstances.

Group Attendance: 
We would expect your child/young person to be able to attend all of their group sessions, however we appreciate people can be unwell and have circumstances that make it difficult to attend.  ​​​​​​​