My Child’s Anxiety

Every mother wants her child to be healthy and happy. But what happens when a child struggles with anxiety, which disrupts not only her life but of those around her? Aimee contacted me as she felt she had no one else to turn to. She was receiving support from her family and the hospital, but Amee still had no idea how to get to the bottom of her daughter’s struggle with anxiety.

This is Amee’s story of how her incredible daughter, Morgan, overcame her anxiety, was discharged from the Consultant at the hospital and is back to living her happiest life.

Help, my child has anxiety

I reached out to Carol-Ann to ask if she did 1:2:1 coaching because I was at a loose end with Morgan (aged 10). To be honest, I didn’t know what to do. I felt so stuck. We went to the GP and were waiting, for what felt like a lifetime, to see a Consultant about Morgan’s horrific tummy pains and anxiety, which led to problems with food. All this literally came from nowhere. Morgan was getting worse daily and she wouldn’t leave the house without a battle. The only places she would go were to school, gymnastics and to see local family. We couldn’t do anything as a family or go anywhere fun. Even if she seemed ok after a battle, we knew once we got there it would be a different story. It’s difficult to explain how tough this time was for us all. Unless you have been through it, you can’t even imagine it. Before all this started, we totally took life for granted with her. When it’s all taken away, it’s the most soul destroying feeling in the world. Nothing was enjoyable anymore. Anxiety is so real and now I understand the impact on a person’s life. It’s truly devastating how someone can get so lost through no fault of their own. On the Up! Morgan’s first session with ‘Caz’ was a dream. After being nervous, yet excited, as I explained how Caz is young, cool and will help her to get better, Morgan was really settled clearly. She felt comfortable to talk (shocking for me) and seemed like she made a friend and wasn’t there for anything but a catch up with someone she had known for years. She talked and talked about pretty much anything and everything whilst Caz managed to pick out the little issues that had, in fact, led to such a big problem for not only Morgan but everyone around her. After our first hour, I already knew secretly we were on the up. Carol-Ann lifted Morgan so much and made her feel so empowered. Morgan could finally take control of the issues through simple tasks that she then went on to practise. Carol-Ann made her believe in herself. After just a couple of sessions, Morgan constantly carried out the tasks that Caz had set her. She made worry jars and talked about her feelings. She was given a Warrior CBT band that helped her to change her thoughts, if she felt worried or anxious, she simply snapped the band and chose to think something more positive. She wore it everywhere! She even opened up to her friends and teachers about what she was doing and explained things she had learnt off Caz. It was like she had her own toolkit of things that helped her. Morgan was well and truly on the mend. We could see a massive difference in her already and it had only been a couple of weeks.

Discharge from Consultant

Around her 4th session with Carol-Ann, we met the Consultant at the hospital. As soon as we walked through the door, he was amazed by Morgan’s progress. From reading her referral, about the anxiety, from the GP he was shocked. He discharged her due to the fact that between Carol-Ann and Morgan they had already figured things out. She was happy settled and explained everything that she had been doing over the previous weeks. He even sent a letter to say how amazing it was to see that we had taken it upon ourselves to get help and the progress she had made. We did have a few wobbles along the way as Morgan broke her elbow at gymnastics. We had a horrific hospital appointment that ended up in us both leaving in tears as Morgan’s anxiety spun out of control. I thought we were back to square one. Carol-Ann and Morgan worked on this during their next session.

Throughout Morgan’s sessions, Carol-Ann’s dog, Stanley, was a massive factor in helping her. He loved Morgan and was there for her to love and touch whilst she was chatting to Carol-Ann. For the next hospital appointment, both Caz and Stanley facetimed Morgan. Well, what happened? She walked into the hospital bold as brass with not a care in the world. Amazing! After leaving the hospital Carol-Ann sent voice notes that empowered Morgan and really praised her for what she had managed to do. 12 weeks on, what a difference, Morgan has totally changed her mentality towards everything. We were able to go out and do normal day to day things like the shopping. I can’t even explain the relief! What a journey!

So I have left it a few months just in case our journey wasn’t over to write this. I didn’t want to speak too soon. Morgan is now back to herself 100%. People close to us cannot believe it! She will sleep over at people’s houses, go out for tea, shopping, swimming with family, go for a walk around the shops, the cinema … the list is endless.

My Confident Child

In the last few of months, Morgan went on a residential trip with school, on a Blackpool trip (even went on rides!), completed her SATS, performed in her school leavers play in front of a hall full of people, competed in her first gymnastics competition since the problems started with not one wobble whatsoever … and so much more.

She won an award at school for being the “most progressed girl in her class”. Throughout all of this going on, she improved all her grades at school and got herself to where she is meant to be from an academic point of view. The teachers believe this is through her own self-belief that she can do it. They commented on how much her confidence changed and her involvement during lessons had improved. Emotional Rollercoaster As a mum it’s been such an emotional rollercoaster that, at the beginning, it felt like it was never going to end. Carol-Ann has literally changed our lives. Morgan obviously did all the hard work, as Carol-Ann constantly reminded her. However, without reaching out to Carol-Ann in the first place, her support and what she’s taught Morgan, I dread to think where we would be. If you know anyone, or even yourself, who is struggling with anything in life that you can’t deal with, I honestly recommend reaching out to Carol-Ann. You will gain a friend and have someone who is there to support you for life. Morgan knows she can always go back to see Carol-Ann if she needs to and if anything ever got bad she’s a phone call away. Writing our journey is difficult as I can’t portray how bad things got and the pain and suffering that we all felt along the way but, hey, we made it! Thank you for everything. Aimee

Don’t suffer in silence. If you are struggling with anxiety, stress or depression, please call me for a free 30 minute consultation. During this time, it will give me an idea of your concerns and help me to determine how I can help you. For more details, please check my coaching page call me on 07763 599570 or email me at hello@carolannreid.com.