School Anxiety?
All of the stress from societal expectations and changing bodies make the teen/young adult years hard. Anxiety creeps in quickly and can be very debilitating for some kids. There is nothing more heart wrenching for a parent than to observe this period and not know how to help.
Often, we meet teens and young adults as a wild card attempt by parents worried about how their children will independently succeed. They want to help their child figure out a way to self-regulate and stay calm and focused. Because Bridging® is relaxing, the teens generally don’t mind coming. Everyone is amazed at how we can help the stress melt away for happier, more engaged teens.
Yes, it can change and we can help.
How We Help
The expectations of a middle school, high school, or college student are constantly increasing. Social pressures mount too!
To help your teen, we look at how life events and growth have impacted the body’s ability to move, calm down, and integrate sensory systems to movements. Often we find that there is a prior injury or sickness that is causing unexplained stress.
We help with self-regulation and linking together all the systems of a growing teen’s body together. We especially focus on the integration of movement, balance and vision. Our research has shown that this significantly reduces stress and allows them to cope better.
Some of the common events we find that impact a teen’s ability to handle anxiety include:
- Falls, sports injuries, bike spills, or auto accidents
- Poorly integrated visual and balance systems
- Respiratory or surgical events
- Common birth stress
- Head injuries
Next Steps
If this resonates with you, here are the next steps:
- Everyone on the team works with teens and young adults so schedule your first appointment at time that fits your life.
- Read about the first visit.
- Complete the intake information.
- Take a deep breath.
Your teen’s follow up schedule will usually be 2-3 more times, spaced 4-6 weeks apart. These are 55-minute appointments. Any additional follow-ups are often likely 1-2 times per year at school breaks.
It doesn’t take alot of time before seeing changes!
Client Stories
Family 1
A young lady we met had an interesting medical history. She was repeatedly sick and was highly stressed. Restoring basic symmetry to her core movement and better linking her body to vision allowed her nervous system to calm down. As her stress went down, her immune system could function better. She was able to spend more time at school with less stress!
Family 2
Test Anxiety—yikes! We recently helped a bright young man who melted down at the thought of school tests. His knowledge of academic material was great, but tests often did not reflect this. Preparing for the ACT and SAT was stressful. We found that due to birth circumstances his head wasn’t symmetrically functioning with his body, and his breathing wasn’t naturally diaphragmatic. By helping his core and head to organize better, his breathing changed and he was able to stay calmer. His testing ability improved!
Family 3
A college bound young woman was hesitant to be on her own. Testing wasn’t the issue; her homework never got done. Athletic and bright, we discovered that her birth was a struggle. Her arms, eyes, and body never completely learned to work together easily. We worked together to re-create the sequence of early development that ties those movements together and now she is flourishing. The missed early development had ultimately has an impact to the emergence of her executive function abilities.