Anxiety Help for Teenage Girls

Anxiety in the teenage years is common. It’s known to affect one in eight children, with teenage girls being more likely to suffer. Left untreated, children that suffer from anxiety have an increased risk of underachieving at school and will probably miss out on important social experiences.

With the right support, however, teenage girls can learn how to overcome the symptoms of anxiety and live a normal, confident and happy life.

I’m Lisa, an Anxiety Consultant, and I’m here to help you.

Everything with my parents is so much better”.

ABIGAIL, 14

“I felt anxious about how my parents viewed me and I was worried I wasn’t making them proud. Now things are amazing. Everything with my parents is so much better and I don’t worry about many things anymore”.

“I can control my anger better”.

ALICE, 12

“I kept getting angry and shouting. It was making things worse and I wanted to stop it. Things are much better now. I get on better with my friends because they don’t go away because I’m angry. I don’t get so angry with my family either. The sessions really helped and I felt so calm. I can control my anger better and tell people how I feel before I get angry. I would like to thank you for your help. I am happier now”.

Empowering The Lives of Teenage Girls and Young Women

As a parent, you want your teenage daughter to feel happy and secure within herself and in her environment. You naturally want her to feel relaxed and confident and able to cope with different circumstances from day to day. Yet, you may feel powerless or inadequate to help your daughter if she is struggling to cope with the conflicting thoughts and feelings as she approaches adulthood.

Sometimes life for a teenager can feel overwhelming and she may defend and protect herself in a way that results in a loss of motivation, social withdrawal, negative attitude, and poor communication.

At times, teenage girls may feel at odds with everyone and everything as they wrestle with seemingly endless ‘musts’ and ‘shoulds’. Their own feelings at times can seem forbidden to them and this conflict leads to anxiety which may take the form of irrational phobias, stammering, panic attacks, aggression, sleepwalking. sleeping difficulties, eating disorders, or even self-harm.

Your teenage daughter has a growing need for independence and will become increasingly drawn towards and influenced by her peers throughout her teens. This is a natural process in order for her to grow to become a fully functioning independent adult. She may fight for control and this may cause conflict at home and stir feelings of hurt and rejection in you as a parent.

Your daughter may be struggling to cope with the mountain of expectations she may feel thrust upon her, ranging from exam pressures through to conflicts with identity. She may secretly worry that she is a disappointment to you, and this is very common.

Psychological struggles relating to ‘who she is as an individual’ and who she feels she ‘should’ be can create inner turmoil resulting in low self-esteem. Your daughter is desperately seeking to belong – she may feel at times, that she is very isolated emotionally.

“I’m worrying much less about what other people think of me”.

BECKY, 15

“I was suffering anxiety in everyday situations, feeling overwhelmed and unable to cope in general. I was comparing self to others, self-conscious and holding myself back in performance. I feel so much more confident and positive and able to do anything I want to do. I’m worrying much less about what other people think of me. I’m not feeling as tense about things like giving presentations at school and asking questions.”

“I actually get excited to meet new people now”.

TRUDY, 22 

“The idea of meeting new people paralysed me. I overthought how they would view me. It kept me from meeting anyone new. I didn’t want to put myself out there and try out new things or speak up at Uni. I have definitely become more confident. I can chat freely to more people without overthinking. I actually get excited to meet new people now. I’ve joined societies at Uni and I feel more confident with my decisions academically. I had defined myself before as an anxious person but now I’ve realised I can go outside my comfort zone and talk to new people, which is fun.”

Anxiety Help For Teenage Girls

I have over fifteen years of experience in helping teenagers to feel good about themselves.   Personally, I am a mum myself of two children aged 13 and 22. Professionally, I have successfully helped teenagers to effectively manage and deal with their worries about school and college exams, peer pressure and bullying, family breakdown and other home life change, social media pressures and all kinds of relationship problems. I have also helped teenagers to tackle low self-esteem issues like shyness and sensitivity. My aim is always to equip and to empower your teenager, to discover within themselves, the resourcefulness that helps them to develop personally and reach their potential as young adults.

**UPDATE: A published version for teenage boys is also available **

“Now I have more confidence with my friends”.

ANASTASIA , 16

“I needed help with anxiety and to build my confidence. I was panicking about tiny issues, not believing in myself and making everything harder than it had to be.  Now I have more confidence with my friends and I can handle any difficulties with my studies much better”.

Parent Support Sessions

Your support is essential in helping your teenager move forward successfully. Whilst she must know that there is complete trust and confidentiality in consulting with me, your help will doubtlessly be required in some way. In some circumstances, this may involve adopting different interactions or behaviours within the family nucleus in order to support your teen in making changes for herself.

In addition, Parent Support Sessions provide you with the space and opportunity to understand yourself better and, to understand more clearly what drives how you communicate with your daughter. This will help you to take an active role in helping her confidence to blossom. The sessions are often effective in helping you to resolve issues on a win-win basis that might typically have resulted in conflict in the past such as arguments, silences, or confrontation.

As a parent, you are in the best position to give your teenage daughter the most precious lifelong gift they’ll ever have – the gift of self-esteem.

You can help her to really appreciate who she is and all that she is capable of, so that she may achieve all that she desires in life – to be a happy, healthy and well-rounded individual who has relationships that work and who is able to motivate herself to achieve her personal and professional goals.

“Both she and I were at rock bottom”.

SUSAN MUM TO REINA AGED 14

“When we first contacted Lisa, our daughter was so upset and misophonic reactions were more or less non-stop in the home. Both she and I were at rock bottom, feeling really despondent and not able to get help, which made sense to us. Working with Lisa over the past months, things have generally been calmer in our family. Arguments and blow-ups are less and there is much less shouting.

We are all more respecting of each other and physical outbursts from her are a lot less. All families have their ups and downs, particularly with a growing teenager. The greatest thing over all the progress is that she is opening up to Lisa and beginning to understand herself and her feelings, which before Lisa she was reluctant to do.”

 

“It’s made me feel a lot more positive about my future”.

EMILIA, 21

“I was struggling with confidence in myself, and being over anxious about things. Now I have learned to identify and counter any negative or anxious thoughts.  I have noticed that this has definitely improved my moods and made me feel a lot more positive about my future. I feel a lot more relaxed and happy about things and within myself.” 

“I’ve made friends and I am happy”.

KATY, 18

“I feel fine in everyday life now and have the tools to help me get through difficult times. Since finishing the sessions with you I feel like myself again. My confidence is back and I’ve settled really well into university life: I’ve made friends and am happy and totally comfortable living away. The thought-stopping process was particularly useful to me as it allowed me to calm down before I had a panic attack, and this prevented me from reaching for medication.

I think the most helpful thing I have taken away from the sessions is the ability to just stop and breathe so anxiety doesn’t escalate. Also I have been able to let go of things that were holding me back, like being bullied, so I’ve been able to trust the people I’ve met here and not worry about what they think of me.”

“I felt stuck and was unable to communicate”.

CHLOE,16

“I was struggling with confidence. I felt stuck and unable to communicate. I was feeling anxious about starting at a sixth form college. Things are really good now. I have loads of friendship groups and I find it easier to talk to people. The sessions helped and were very effective.” 

Be the difference for your daughter and contact me to schedule an initial call or consultation today.