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In addition to one of our earlier blog, where we discussed 3 great ways that teachers who pursued school counsellor courses, can offer better support to students with anxiety, here we share some tips for school counsellors to guide anxious learners better.

Stress relief for students often goes a long way in trying to keep learners awake and active in class. They are often burnt out/overtired due to anxiety over any situation that is perceived as stressful by them, for instance, upcoming exams, activity days etc.

It doesn’t come as a surprise that learners are in a state of bafflement during class, and sometimes can be seen dozing off in the midst of a lesson.

It is quite discouraging and frustrating for teachers cum school counsellors; fortunately, there are certain things we can do to help brighten and cheer up our students and promote a stress-free school time.

Let’s have a quick scroll through the few simple ways to help learners cope with anxiety or stress.

Promoting Stress Relief for Students

When learners don’t have a schedule for the day, they become overwhelmed very fast, and obviously, stressed and tired.

Routines or schedules aid learners to see the structure in a day, one task at a time. It becomes easier for young individuals to shift gears from one task to another when their days are laid out in a more structured way.

So rather than feeling overwhelmed and distracted, learners concentrate on the activity at hand, before moving onto the next one, as they know their day is sorted with time for everything. Putting a study planner to use is a great method for those who are in need for that timely reminder.

Routines, and more specifically, set bedtimes, help students sync and gain predictability during their day. In other words, even if with busy minds, their bodies will familiarise to a regular routine. Additionally, assigning them with tasks at the end of their day, like journaling, can help prompt the body to know it is time to unwind for the day.

Lastly, routines benefit a learner by helping them accomplish everything they need to do during the day, so their minds remain calm and ready for sleep at night rather than wracking their brains about what did they miss out on.

Unplugging from the Feed

No wonder that social media, along with smart phones, are distracting and thought-provoking, particularly in case of a developing brain. Therefore, learners will derive a great deal of advantages from disconnecting from their smartphones and social media half an hour before bedtime.

Easier said than done, right? Well, the catch is to make the unwind time fun and at the same time, make it relaxing so they are willing to keep to their newly created schedules and stress-relieving activities.

Activities that relieve Student Stress

When young individuals feel stressed, or are worried about something, activities involving mindfulness can help them overcome their emotional discomfort.

A mindfulness activity brings them back to the present moment instead of spending their time getting upset about the future.

Teaching them the ways to meditate, or simply to focus on their breath, can help relieve them of their emotional distress and calm their anxieties. And, as you would expect, the results lead to less stress and sleepiness from an overly busy mind.

Journaling for Student Stress Relief

At the end of the day, journaling is a great idea for learners to implement a mindfulness and unwinding activity.

For instance, journals promoting reflection will benefit students clear the mind’s clutter after a busy day and settle for a good night’s sleep. And if as a counsellor with school counselling techniques, you are working with a student suffering from anxiety, journal prompts can help them focus on particular things (like what they can control).

Tips for using Stress Relief Journals:

Encourage use of journals to learners every night for the month that leads up to, maybe, a stressful event, like giving a speech on the stage (for individuals with stage fright).

If nightly journaling isn’t possible, ask your learners to use their journals once or twice a week.

Lastly, if they are not going for the journals at home on their own, make your learners use it at the end of the school day. This will serve as a mindfulness activity on its own or a gentle reminder to journal at the end of the day. Adding the journal at the end of the school day routine can benefit students cultivate their own journaling habits.

Final thoughts

The truth is, students do have a lot on their plates, more than they can finish, for instance, schoolwork, homework, extracurricular, and not to mention juggling friendships and their home life as well. There are loads of stress and emotional distress that we don’t directly observe, but instead, it shows up as a sleepy head on the desk.

Unfortunately, we, as school counsellors, can’t be there for our pupils 24/7, so we have to learn to work with what we have: the entire school day and homework. Both are great opportunities to ‘buoy up’ routines, mindfulness activities, and journaling.

But then again, the key to successful encouraging of a student in implementing a routine outside of the school is to make it fun, and something to look forward to, and a perfect routine and journals may serve that purpose perfectly.