January 27, 2023
My 7-year-old seems stressed all the time. What can I do to help her?
Estimated reading time: 2 minutes
It’s normal for your child to feel a wide range of emotions such as fear, anger, and worry. But when these emotions begin to affect your child’s behavior and daily habits, there might be more significant problems.
Stress is different from anxiety, and anxiety is different from stress. In general, anxiety is characterized by persistent worries that don’t ever seem to go away. On the other hand, stress is your child’s natural and common response to a variety of situations. These situations might include key life changes, things they see as threats, new fears, or even changes in friendships.
Consider these three steps to help your stressed child.
Acknowledging your child’s feelings and emotions is critical to helping your child feel like they’re listened to and seen. Provide your child with reassurance of how much you value and love them.
In moments when your child shares his or her feelings of stress or worry, recognize that you have an opportunity to balance your instruction and teaching with listening and support. Try to create paths to releasing stress that involve your child’s favorite activities like exercise or creative arts.
Providing support to your child can take many different forms. And this is where you get to pair your creativity with how your child best receives love and affection. Sometimes physical touch shows support better than words. Other times, your child might simply need you to listen and sit with them as they share their feelings.
Remember that you know your child the best. If you think your child needs more help coping with increased stress, call our counseling line at 1-800-A-FAMILY. And to learn more about creating a mentally healthy home for your family, check out more resources.
Vice President, Parenting and Youth
Dr. Huerta oversees Focus’ initiatives that equip mothers and fathers with biblical and research based principles and guidance for raising healthy, resilient children rooted in a thriving faith in Christ.
Dr. Huerta is a bilingual psychologist, licensed clinical social worker, author of 7 Traits of Effective Parenting, and co-author of Focus on the Family’s Age and Stage resource, and various other resources. He is also the co-host and expert on the Focus on Parenting and the Practice Makes Parent podcasts.
For many years, he has provided families with practical, biblically-based, and research-based parenting advice on key parenting topics. He has been interviewed by various media outlets including Fox News, Fatherly, Christianity Today, WORLD Magazine, The Christian Post and CBN, and regularly speaks on Christian radio stations and podcasts across the United States. He’s also written for various publications and is a regular speaker at retreats, conventions, family camps, online events worldwide, and on various social media channels.
Dr. Huerta has maintained a private practice serving families in Colorado Springs since 2003 and has also served families as an employee of Focus on the Family since 2004.
He and his wife, Heather, love the outdoors, have been married since 1997, and love spending time with their two adult children.
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