Selected Podcast
Managing Anxiety in Children During COVID-19
Grace Wilhelm discusses managing anxiety in children during COVID-19.
Featured Speaker:
Grace Wilhelm, CCLS
As a Certified Child Life Specialist for 8 years, Grace Wilhelm brought her knowledge on child development and families to start the Child Life program at Dignity Health Memorial Hospital in 2017. For the past three years, Grace has worked to help children and their families at Memorial Hospital cope with and address the various emotions and stressors that come with the unfamiliar hospital environment and medical procedures. Grace uses play and age-appropriate language along with medical and art supplies to educate children and help them to express emotions and process their experience. Grace provides staff education, bereavement support, community medical play sessions, and advocates for pain management, best practices, and family centered care. Grace enjoys giving back to her hometown by sharing her knowledge and experience with children and families at Bakersfield Memorial Hospital. Transcription:
Managing Anxiety in Children During COVID-19
Introduction: This is Hello Healthy, a Dignity Health Podcast. Here's Bill Klaproth.
Bill Klaproth: This is a difficult time for everyone, but especially for children who are for the majority out of school due to the virus as well as potentially picking up anxiety from the people around them. So what can parents do to help manage their children's stress? Let's find out with Grace Wilhelm, a Child Life Specialist at Dignity Health. Grace, thanks so much for your time. So what kind of effect does a situation like this have on children?
Grace Wilhelm: Well, when we think about COVID-19 we can think about our own reaction as adults and how that can be manifested in a lot of different ways, right? We see a lot of people panicking be can feel a lot of stress, a lot of worry, a lot of concern, and just fear of the unknown. And a lot of those things kind of course be manifested in children. They already have their own limits on what kind of information they can find out on their own and just seem stressed in fear, and just change in adults as well can be another contributing factor to all of that. But also when we think about just kids in stressful situations as well, sometimes kids are a lot more information seeking. Some like to not do this, the fight or flight, they just want to for youth and they're not maybe, expressing themselves in really obvious and clear ways.
Maybe they're just kind of going along if maybe they're younger and they aren't having too many distractions in their routine, in their home. Maybe with a parent who stays at home already with them, they're not having a lot of change in their routine. So maybe they might be picking up more on this stress or kind of the anxiety of the adults in the home. Maybe they're missing out on a lot of socialization with other friends, with kind of peers, with just being around a lot of people that can have a lot of stress on kids as well. Just that disruption in their routine, that alone can be something that can be really impactful and make a big impact on children and just how they're responding to that stress as well.
Host: Right. Children are always listening and watching, so if you're showing anxiety, if you're stressed out, if you're on edge, if you're talking about things in a way that are stressful and doom and gloom, kids pick up on that. So how can parents alleviate that?
Grace Wilhelm: I think one thing that some parents don't want to address is they think that if I mentioned it, it's going to be this big confusing or frightening thing, but if parents mention or bring up their own reaction, their own thoughts and feelings, that can be really comforting for kids to know that I'm not, for one, they're not the only ones feeling that way, but also that these adults around them can be experiencing some of the same and emotions as well. And because of that they can learn from them and kind of teach them, well, this is what I do when I'm feeling stressed or worried when I want to know information. This is who I can go to or maybe I realized today I was looking way too much at the news and kind of getting too much statistics and maybe looking on social media too much, and getting too stressed by a lot of the unknown. And seeing a lot of stuff about different steps or different worries that other people are having and how that can affect them as well. So they can teach them some of those things about how to kind of regulate maybe like their news exposure and they can also teach them coping skills as well.
Host: So it's a teachable moment almost. So what are some other ways to help manage stress in children?
Grace Wilhelm: So one thing that, like I had mentioned earlier is routines. So if you're not having a schedule, you don't know what to expect, what's coming up next, how might this day look? What can I expect for this week? Or maybe this month? So helping to kind of get some sort of routine and schedule into your, your family's day into your child's day can be really helpful to give them some of that structure. And kind of some boundaries, so that they have a task to be working on. They have some outlets to be maybe working out some emotion through physical activity, getting outside, regularly seeing the sun, then touching kind of sensory things. So digging in the dirt, playing with water, doing some bubbles. Some of the other things that parents can be teaching is maybe creating like a family mantra or kind of motto of I can do hard things or when I get worried and they can kind of decide on what that next part can be. I can do, this thing. Maybe that's teaching them some intentional breathing, breathing to five slowly in through your nose, out through your mouth, kind of working on some of those things. It's really easy to find some of that information on Pinterest and online frankly, but just some of those simple everyday kind of strategies that can be incorporated throughout your day as well.
Host: Right. Really good suggestion. So as we know, children are out of school, so how can a parent help normalize their lives?
Grace Wilhelm: Well, like I said, bring in that structure. If they don't have a TV playing in their classroom, then turn the TV off, put a paper on it, just like my mom used to do. Sometimes in the summertime put a paper with a big old note on your TV that says no TV today or no TV until this time, just to kind of get that focus back on what they're supposed to be doing during their day. Maybe that creating a menu, a lunch menu for the week so that they know what's coming up next. Especially if they can be read. If they can read, then they can check out for themselves. Just go look at the calendar. And maybe they can bring some creativity into that too of creating that routine as well of, well, I don't want to just run around the tree outside in the backyard. Maybe we'll, let's go for a really long bike ride one day or let's go to a park that has stairs and go up and down and as much time as we can for that kind of recess or PE time of the day too.
Host: So I love that idea. No TV today. Sign hanging on the TV or no TV until this time. And some good suggestions on what kids can do. So is there anything else Grace, you would like to share and how parents can help manage their kids' stress through this time?
Grace Wilhelm: I would say the one thing that I've been hearing and seeing throughout all of this quarantine and COVID-19 and the interesting time that we're living in right now is just the community that can come from sharing your own experience. So when parents reach out to another parent and they're like, Oh my gosh, how are you doing today? It's going crazy over here. You can find a lot of comfort in that and knowing you're not the only one. But even though I mentioned having kind of that sign up on the TV of like no TV right now, we're going to take a break for a minute. Give yourself some grace in it to really realizing that you're not the only one struggling to maybe create some of these boundaries, especially if they haven't been going from day one because maybe we thought it was going to be a shorter time of quarantining in the beginning. So I would say give yourself some grace and reach out when you need it. Maybe you as a family you could come together with what those boundaries could be. Maybe kind of sticking with what you always do of getting towards done at a certain time, being outside at a certain time, kind of some rest times during the day or time reading books.
Things that will kind of really fill up your mind, your brain creatively, involving some kind of art as well activity. You're kind of expression through kind of making a mess or having some, some fun and making a project through it. And I would just say give yourself some grace at the end of the day. I think everyone is trying their best and so while taking a break from the TV or screens can be good. It's also not always realistic because school they're doing online learning distance learning so it's not realistic to take a break from that screen all the time. Cause if that's their main modality of education at the time, then that's what we want to keep that therefore and in place. So maybe that's taking rest times after they've been, some of the zoom calls or maybe some of that learning of going into certain maps in getting their lessons done, but then they can kind of have some time for their brain to kindness which switch gears maybe express themselves creatively like I said, but also to have some grace with your schedule and with your boundaries as well.
Host: Right. Some really good ideas there and great advice and we all could use some grace. No question about that. Well Grace, thank you so much for your time. This has been informative. We appreciate it. Thanks again.
Grace Wilhelm: Thank you.
Host: That's Grace Wilhelm, for more information, please visit dignityhealth.org/bakersfield. And if you found this podcast helpful, please share it on your social channels and be sure to check out the full podcast library for topics of interest to you. This is Hello Healthy, a dignity health podcast. I'm Bill Klaproth. Thanks for listening.
Managing Anxiety in Children During COVID-19
Introduction: This is Hello Healthy, a Dignity Health Podcast. Here's Bill Klaproth.
Bill Klaproth: This is a difficult time for everyone, but especially for children who are for the majority out of school due to the virus as well as potentially picking up anxiety from the people around them. So what can parents do to help manage their children's stress? Let's find out with Grace Wilhelm, a Child Life Specialist at Dignity Health. Grace, thanks so much for your time. So what kind of effect does a situation like this have on children?
Grace Wilhelm: Well, when we think about COVID-19 we can think about our own reaction as adults and how that can be manifested in a lot of different ways, right? We see a lot of people panicking be can feel a lot of stress, a lot of worry, a lot of concern, and just fear of the unknown. And a lot of those things kind of course be manifested in children. They already have their own limits on what kind of information they can find out on their own and just seem stressed in fear, and just change in adults as well can be another contributing factor to all of that. But also when we think about just kids in stressful situations as well, sometimes kids are a lot more information seeking. Some like to not do this, the fight or flight, they just want to for youth and they're not maybe, expressing themselves in really obvious and clear ways.
Maybe they're just kind of going along if maybe they're younger and they aren't having too many distractions in their routine, in their home. Maybe with a parent who stays at home already with them, they're not having a lot of change in their routine. So maybe they might be picking up more on this stress or kind of the anxiety of the adults in the home. Maybe they're missing out on a lot of socialization with other friends, with kind of peers, with just being around a lot of people that can have a lot of stress on kids as well. Just that disruption in their routine, that alone can be something that can be really impactful and make a big impact on children and just how they're responding to that stress as well.
Host: Right. Children are always listening and watching, so if you're showing anxiety, if you're stressed out, if you're on edge, if you're talking about things in a way that are stressful and doom and gloom, kids pick up on that. So how can parents alleviate that?
Grace Wilhelm: I think one thing that some parents don't want to address is they think that if I mentioned it, it's going to be this big confusing or frightening thing, but if parents mention or bring up their own reaction, their own thoughts and feelings, that can be really comforting for kids to know that I'm not, for one, they're not the only ones feeling that way, but also that these adults around them can be experiencing some of the same and emotions as well. And because of that they can learn from them and kind of teach them, well, this is what I do when I'm feeling stressed or worried when I want to know information. This is who I can go to or maybe I realized today I was looking way too much at the news and kind of getting too much statistics and maybe looking on social media too much, and getting too stressed by a lot of the unknown. And seeing a lot of stuff about different steps or different worries that other people are having and how that can affect them as well. So they can teach them some of those things about how to kind of regulate maybe like their news exposure and they can also teach them coping skills as well.
Host: So it's a teachable moment almost. So what are some other ways to help manage stress in children?
Grace Wilhelm: So one thing that, like I had mentioned earlier is routines. So if you're not having a schedule, you don't know what to expect, what's coming up next, how might this day look? What can I expect for this week? Or maybe this month? So helping to kind of get some sort of routine and schedule into your, your family's day into your child's day can be really helpful to give them some of that structure. And kind of some boundaries, so that they have a task to be working on. They have some outlets to be maybe working out some emotion through physical activity, getting outside, regularly seeing the sun, then touching kind of sensory things. So digging in the dirt, playing with water, doing some bubbles. Some of the other things that parents can be teaching is maybe creating like a family mantra or kind of motto of I can do hard things or when I get worried and they can kind of decide on what that next part can be. I can do, this thing. Maybe that's teaching them some intentional breathing, breathing to five slowly in through your nose, out through your mouth, kind of working on some of those things. It's really easy to find some of that information on Pinterest and online frankly, but just some of those simple everyday kind of strategies that can be incorporated throughout your day as well.
Host: Right. Really good suggestion. So as we know, children are out of school, so how can a parent help normalize their lives?
Grace Wilhelm: Well, like I said, bring in that structure. If they don't have a TV playing in their classroom, then turn the TV off, put a paper on it, just like my mom used to do. Sometimes in the summertime put a paper with a big old note on your TV that says no TV today or no TV until this time, just to kind of get that focus back on what they're supposed to be doing during their day. Maybe that creating a menu, a lunch menu for the week so that they know what's coming up next. Especially if they can be read. If they can read, then they can check out for themselves. Just go look at the calendar. And maybe they can bring some creativity into that too of creating that routine as well of, well, I don't want to just run around the tree outside in the backyard. Maybe we'll, let's go for a really long bike ride one day or let's go to a park that has stairs and go up and down and as much time as we can for that kind of recess or PE time of the day too.
Host: So I love that idea. No TV today. Sign hanging on the TV or no TV until this time. And some good suggestions on what kids can do. So is there anything else Grace, you would like to share and how parents can help manage their kids' stress through this time?
Grace Wilhelm: I would say the one thing that I've been hearing and seeing throughout all of this quarantine and COVID-19 and the interesting time that we're living in right now is just the community that can come from sharing your own experience. So when parents reach out to another parent and they're like, Oh my gosh, how are you doing today? It's going crazy over here. You can find a lot of comfort in that and knowing you're not the only one. But even though I mentioned having kind of that sign up on the TV of like no TV right now, we're going to take a break for a minute. Give yourself some grace in it to really realizing that you're not the only one struggling to maybe create some of these boundaries, especially if they haven't been going from day one because maybe we thought it was going to be a shorter time of quarantining in the beginning. So I would say give yourself some grace and reach out when you need it. Maybe you as a family you could come together with what those boundaries could be. Maybe kind of sticking with what you always do of getting towards done at a certain time, being outside at a certain time, kind of some rest times during the day or time reading books.
Things that will kind of really fill up your mind, your brain creatively, involving some kind of art as well activity. You're kind of expression through kind of making a mess or having some, some fun and making a project through it. And I would just say give yourself some grace at the end of the day. I think everyone is trying their best and so while taking a break from the TV or screens can be good. It's also not always realistic because school they're doing online learning distance learning so it's not realistic to take a break from that screen all the time. Cause if that's their main modality of education at the time, then that's what we want to keep that therefore and in place. So maybe that's taking rest times after they've been, some of the zoom calls or maybe some of that learning of going into certain maps in getting their lessons done, but then they can kind of have some time for their brain to kindness which switch gears maybe express themselves creatively like I said, but also to have some grace with your schedule and with your boundaries as well.
Host: Right. Some really good ideas there and great advice and we all could use some grace. No question about that. Well Grace, thank you so much for your time. This has been informative. We appreciate it. Thanks again.
Grace Wilhelm: Thank you.
Host: That's Grace Wilhelm, for more information, please visit dignityhealth.org/bakersfield. And if you found this podcast helpful, please share it on your social channels and be sure to check out the full podcast library for topics of interest to you. This is Hello Healthy, a dignity health podcast. I'm Bill Klaproth. Thanks for listening.