HealthInfo West Coast-Te Tai Poutini
Getting help for my child with anxiety
There are lots of things you can do to get help for an anxious child.
General practice team
If you need to find a general practice team, you can search on the West Coast PHO's website.
Talk to your GP or practice nurse first. If necessary, your GP can refer your child for more specialised assessment and treatment.
Talking therapy
To help a child struggling with anxiety, it's always necessary to look at the whole family situation. If a parent is anxious, stressed or unhappy, it's very likely that their child will have difficult emotions to manage. Getting help for the parent's problem will also help the child’s anxiety.
Support will focus on:
- supporting the family to make changes at home to reduce any causes of stress
- helping the child and parents understand what's at the heart of the anxiety
- teaching the parent to respond to stress in a healthy way. This means the child can follow their parent's example and respond differently to anxious thoughts.
This might mean:
- child or parent group classes
- one-to-one parenting support for the parents
- play therapy for the child
- family therapy for the family
- counselling for the parent.
Social support
Several organisations are available on the West Coast to provide support for families and their children. Contact the following organisations to see how they can help.
- Family Start
- Available in Westport, Greymouth, and Hokitika.
- Support for parents and primary caregivers. Phone 0800-366-878.
- Homebuilders West Coast Trust
- Available in Westport and Greymouth.
- A social work, counselling and family support service. Phone (03) 788-8065.
- Parents as First Teachers Programme (PAFT)
- Available in Greymouth and Hokitika.
- Support for family and whānau to be their child's first and most important teachers. It provides free, practical, effective help to the family and whānau of children aged younger than 3. Phone 0800-669-957 or (03) 755-5378.
- Poutini Waiora
- Available in Westport, Greymouth, and Hokitika.
- Maori health and social services provider. Phone (03) 755-6572.
Written by HealthInfo clinical advisers. Page created October 2018. Last updated January 2019.
SourcesReview key: HIAXC-538744
