Welcome to the fourth module of LUNA! This week, you will learn how to help your child face their fears by creating what we call a “plan of action”. This week contains a lot of new and important concepts and activities, so take your time working through the material to make sure you understand all the information.
You will spend about 1 hour reading, watching videos, and doing activities. We encourage you to take breaks and come back to the material as much as you need. Remember, your child will also have readings, videos, and worksheets to complete in their own modules, which can be done on their own or with your support.
Previously on LUNA…
Since beginning LUNA, you and your child have learned about anxiety, set specific and achievable goals for the program, measured anxiety levels with the anxiety intensity scale, and brainstormed ways to keep your child feeling motivated. You also learned about avoidance and quick fixes, which are two behaviors that can get in the way of overcoming anxiety.
Watch the video below to get started with Module 4!
Making a Plan of Action
As you saw in the video, exposure is extremely helpful for overcoming anxiety. Exposure is helpful because it allows your child to become more familiar with their fears, build confidence in their ability to handle stressful emotions, and form new opinions about their fears.
Exposure also gives your child the opportunity to learn new things about their fears. For example, George is afraid of starting conversations with peers because he thinks they will make fun of him. One day, George faces his fear by introducing himself to a new student at school. By exposing himself to this fear, George learned that he actually didn’t get made fun of after starting a conversation, and instead, he made a new friend!
Remember the avoidance cycle we talked about in Module 3? Taking small steps to gradually confront their fears and worries is what will help your child break this cycle. To see how this happens, take a look at these avoidance cycle examples.
Even though exposure is very helpful, it can also be very difficult. This is why your child will use a plan of action to face their fears gradually, step-by-step, until they reach the goal that they decide upon.
Now that you have an idea of what a plan of action is and why exposure is helpful, you are ready to help your child or teen create their own plan of action.
You will use these Steps for Making a Plan of Action along with the My Plan of Action worksheet to help your child create their plan.
Here are the steps for making a Plan of Action (View a PDF version):
- Choose the first fear, anxiety, or worry you want to tackle
- Choose a specific goal you want to reach based on the anxiety you chose
- Brainstorm different steps or exposure activities to complete (these steps will make up your plan of action)
- Give each exposure activity a rating using the anxiety intensity scale
- Order the activities from least to most scary
- Choose a motivation booster or number of points for each activity
