Solutions
T here are various treatments that can help an anxious child confront their fears with confidence. But because fears, the unknown and anxiety will always exist, the objective is not to cure them, Freeman says, but rather to teach them how to manage their reaction to it.
“ The goal is to help them feel like they’ re in control of their anxiety. They can take steps and ask for help. They can overcome whatever their excessive fear and worry are and set it aside to do what gives them pleasure and what they need to do to get through life,” Lujan Rickerman says.
Positive coping skills from Newport Mental Health therapist Dawn Iacobbo, a licensed clinical social worker: J Drawing or journaling, meditation and even a cold shower or ice pack will settle the nervous system.
J Playing with a fidget spinner, stress ball or other device will manually focus energy and attention. The key is to have these tools available when anxiety attacks strike.
J Practice box breathing: Inhale for four seconds, hold for four seconds, exhale for four seconds, hold again for four seconds. This will ground the anxious person and calm panicked thoughts.
J Monitor and limit screen time, and beware of physical, emotional and digital bullying.
J Keep them physically active with sports, dance, horseback riding or any exercise they enjoy and look forward to.
J Be a safe space by practicing routines that show empathy(“ I’ m here for you” or“ I’ m listening”) but require accountability(“ It’ s hard but you can do it with my help”). This may sound like,“ I understand you’ re feeling anxious right now. That’ s OK and really hard. Would you like a hug or some space to figure it out on your own?” J Kids have big feelings, so if your child tells you how he / she feels, listen to them.
J Negative coping mechanisms, like cutting, pulling out hair or other visible signs of self-harm should be addressed with a medical professional.
“ We’ re in a new climate of parenting where parents are being overprotective and overly involved, with good reason. Post-pandemic mental health has become a major focus of attention, and parents are eager to protect and help kids. One of the ways they do so is by protecting them from any kind of dysphoric emotion, and they inadvertently leave kids a little less prepared to handle challenges in life,” says Ellen Flannery-Schroeder, director of the Child Anxiety Program at the University of Rhode Island, and co-director of the New England Center for Anxiety.“ Kids need to learn that it’ s not as scary as they think it is, gather the data they need to see that they can handle anxiety-provoking situations, and practice coping skills to develop their own confidence.”
Exposure Therapy
FREEMAN AND PARC are conducting research to discover further impacts of and expand access to exposure therapy on pediatric anxiety, and comorbidities like depression and autism. Exposure therapy is a strategy to target the thing that children fear and change the exposure over time so they gradually learn coping mechanisms, Freeman says. Partnering with community health centers across the state, including Lujan Rickerman’ s Newport Mental Health, they are testing the effectiveness of different delivery methods and how it can affect youth with anxiety and OCD.
“ Exposure therapy is an effective treatment for children and adolescents with OCD and anxiety and it’ s far superior than medication alone,” Glode says.“ It’ s basically a face-your-fears model.”
Exposure therapy: J Identifies the different situations that trigger intrusive thoughts and the emotions the child experiences in that situation.
J Acknowledges the response: Perhaps it’ s compulsive behaviors or avoiding the situation.
J Overcomes this by exposing them to the situation in a controlled way while resisting engaging compulsions and safety behaviors, so they learn to respond differently with their anxious thoughts and feelings.
“ There is stigma around mental health disorders and treatment,” Freeman says.“ One of the missions of our work is to increase equitable access to care for all kids and also fight stigma. We want to help kids and families know this is something we can talk about together. Those are messages we need to send our kids loud and clear.”
The Pearson family got the message, and Quintin stays busy with sports to redirect his anxiety, loves coloring, and talks openly about how he’ s feeling.“ We’ ll keep doing the things he’ s afraid of,” Pearson says,“ and hopefully that will change the narrative in his mind.”
86 RHODE ISLAND MONTHLY I MAY 2026