Creating Calm

Anxiety is a pervasive challenge among school age children with between 12 and 20 % of children affected and interferes with both educational and vocational achievement if left untreated (Lynn Miller, 2016). The onset for anxiety is often during the elementary school years (Merikangas, Jian-ping He, Burstein, et al., 2010) and if untreated, the anxiety is likely to persist across the lifespan (Egger & Angold, 2006). Providing access to information and strategies regarding anxiety to this group of elementary school children will provide a much needed intervention and increase positive outcomes for participants. Given the developmental stage of the target participants, it is important to consider not just the children but also work with their families and the school staff. While school counselling does exist in the public school system, the caseload for individual counsellors is high and the opportunity to approach such a prevalent problem from a systemic approach (e.g. include parents and school staff) is not always available. This project aims to provide accessible information and strategies to the children experiencing anxiety as well as the people supporting these children.