Anxiety Counselling for Children & Teens

Taming the Worry Monster

Anxiety is one of the most common reasons families seek child counselling. Utilizing a trauma-informed, evidence-based approach, we help children and youth understand the physical sensations of anxiety in their nervous system.

Through play therapy and narrative therapy, we externalize their fears, and build a "bravery toolbox" of coping skills, deep breathing techniques, and cognitive reframing strategies to manage panic and daily stress.

For teens whose anxiety shows up as overthinking, social worry, or school stress, youth and teen counselling offers a calm, affirming space to build coping skills. This work also pairs naturally with our emotional regulation support and our page on school anxiety and refusal. The main FAQ covers fees, availability and what to expect. For practical home strategies, our guide to supporting your anxious child may also help.

How Anxiety Can Look in Children and Teens

Anxiety does not always look like obvious fear or worry. Children and teens may experience stomach aches, headaches, irritability, perfectionism, reassurance-seeking, difficulty sleeping, avoidance, shutdowns, panic, school refusal, or intense distress around separation and uncertainty. Some young people become very quiet, while others appear angry, controlling, oppositional, or overwhelmed. For children and teens whose worry centres on being apart from a caregiver, our separation anxiety page describes this experience in more detail.

When Worry Starts Shaping Daily Life

Anxiety can gradually make a young person’s world feel smaller. They may avoid activities, friendships, classrooms, unfamiliar situations, or anything that carries the possibility of getting something wrong. Although avoidance can bring short-term relief, it can also strengthen anxiety over time. Counselling provides a supportive place to understand these patterns without shaming or rushing the child or teen. When worry has begun to erode a young person’s sense of themselves, self-esteem support can help rebuild confidence alongside anxiety work.

How Counselling Can Help

Counselling can help young people recognize how anxiety shows up in their thoughts, bodies, emotions, and actions. Depending on their age and needs, sessions may include play, creative expression, narrative conversations, emotional-regulation tools, coping strategies, gradual confidence-building, and caregiver involvement. Support is paced carefully so the young person feels understood rather than pressured. Parent coaching can also help caregivers respond to reassurance-seeking and avoidance in ways that gently steady the whole family.

Sunny Spot provides anxiety counselling in Port Coquitlam for children and teens from Coquitlam, Port Moody, and throughout the Tri-Cities.