3 Psychological Techniques To Calm A Nervous Child
Being a parent can be complicated at times, especially when your child’s emotions are out of control. If you have a nervous child, you see them suffering and will do everything you can to calm them down. For this purpose, we present here 3 psychological techniques that are effective in calming a restless, nervous child.
3 psychological techniques to calm a nervous child: some things to think about
- Some techniques will be more helpful than others for a nervous child. It depends a lot on your own personality, the children’s personality and the relationship you have with them. Therefore, it is important to try different techniques until you find the ones that work best for you.
- Keeping yourself calm during the whole process is absolutely crucial. If your child is restless or anxious, they need you to reassure them that everything will be fine. To help you stay calm, you may want to try deep breathing or meditation for yourself before trying to calm your child down.
- Remember that any technique, no matter how good, requires patience for it to work properly. These techniques are meant to reduce the child’s anxiety or restlessness and are not magic. Sometimes the emotions will just be too intense. In these cases, your job is to wait for the storm to pass and to be with your child all the way.
Technique No. 1: give it a name
It is a common problem that many children have with their emotions that are out of control. They see them as very powerful and also very scary. Our first psychological technique is intended to help neutralize the child’s anxiety.
The way this technique works is quite simple. All you do is ask your child to come up with a stupid name for the unpleasant emotions they feel. It is important that the name is as unthreatening as possible.
Once your child finds a name they are happy with, the next step is to order the emotions to disappear. For example, if your child decides to call his or her overwhelming emotions “Gustav”, they may say:
- Leave me alone, Gustav!
- Gustav, do not make me feel that way!
By giving these emotions a name and talking to them out loud, the child will regain power from their emotions. Then they will be able to calm down much faster.
Technique No. 2: listen to your child
When someone tells you about their problems, your first instinct is usually to help them with them. However, that impulse is not as useful when it comes to children. They act less rationally than adults, so using logic to explain that everything is fine does not always work as well as you would think.
Trying to show or explain to a nervous child that what is happening is not really bad can actually make them feel more anxious. Instead, try to actively listen to them while showing love. For example, use physical contact such as kisses or hugs. In general, if your child feels heard and protected, their anxiety will disappear almost immediately.
Technique No. 3: Give your child a reassuring object
A number of studies show that it is possible to associate an object with a specific emotion. So if your child has a special stuffed animal or safety blanket, for example, use it to your advantage!
Recent studies show that sleeping with a stuffed animal helps children with night terrors. The same principle applies in many other situations. If your child is scared on the first day of school, why not let them bring something from home that makes them happy or calm? If the object is small enough, the other children will not even know that they have it with them.
This technique works even better if you explain to your child what you are trying to do. Ask them to choose an object that will help them when things get tough. That way , your child becomes more involved in the process. The effect will be multiplied.
