Understanding Social Anxiety: Coping Skills for Teens | Roadmap to Joy

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In this episode of “Roadmap to Joy,” join licensed social worker Alexzis Figueroa of Embark Behavioral Health in Scottsdale, Arizona and student Baylee as they delve into the world of social anxiety and share valuable insights on coping with this common mental health challenge, especially among teenagers. 

 In this episode, they define social anxiety as an intense form of worry and fear about how others perceive us. Discover the difference between everyday worries and anxiety disorders, while learning about the importance of recognizing changes in behavior as potential signs for seeking professional support. 

Baylee opens up about her personal experience with social anxiety and how seeking therapy during high school was a game-changer for her. Learn how technology can be both a friend and foe in managing anxiety, as Baylee shares helpful tips for breathing techniques and affirmations. 

The conversation also explores the significance of community and connection in dealing with social anxiety, with valuable insights on 504 plans that can provide support for students facing mental health challenges at school. 

Discover practical advice for teens struggling with anxiety, including starting small to face fears and gain confidence in social situations. Parents will gain valuable tips on how to partner with their children in navigating coping skills and providing much-needed support. 

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About Alexzis 

Alexzis is a licensed social worker, certified trauma therapist and an ASU Field Instructor for the School of Social Work. She has a wealth of experience in treating child, adolescent and adult populations struggling with mental health issues, complex/severe trauma and has a specialty in working with persons that have Autism and Intellectual/Developmental Disabilities. Alexzis is passionate about creating relationships with people and their support systems to create an inclusive and holistic approach treatment. She aims to ensure that each person can embark on a healing journey that blends their whole self, their culture and their vision of progress, with that of evidence-based practices. Alexzis is also Bilingual in both Spanish and English. 

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Have a question for our experts? We want to hear from you! Submit your questions to: [email protected].

About Embark Behavioral Health

Embark has been helping people overcome behavioral health issues that may be affecting their everyday lives for over 25 years.   

Conditions We Treat Include:  

The Embark team has some of the most compassionate and educated professionals in the industry. Its core purpose is to create joy and heal generations. Embark’s big hairy audacious goal is to lead the way in driving teen and young adult anxiety, depression, and suicide from the all-time highs of today to all-time lows by 2028. Exceptional treatment options, like short-term residential care, makes Embark the world’s most respected family behavioral health provider.   

Check out our locations.

Transcript
Alexzis Figueroa:

Hello, and welcome to Roadmap to Joy. My

Alexzis Figueroa:

name is Alexzis Figueroa. I'm a licensed social worker, a

Alexzis Figueroa:

certified trauma therapist. And I specialize in working with

Alexzis Figueroa:

adults and children that have complex trauma and attachment

Alexzis Figueroa:

disorders as well as autism. And so with me to chat with me about

Alexzis Figueroa:

all things, social anxiety, I have,

Baylee:

Hello, my name is Baylee, and I'm a student. And

Baylee:

I'm here to talk about my experience with social anxiety.

Alexzis Figueroa:

Awesome. So now that we're all introduced, I

Alexzis Figueroa:

guess let's just start with talking a little bit about what

Alexzis Figueroa:

is social anxiety? And how does that differ from day to day

Alexzis Figueroa:

worries. And so I'll just kind of start off with creating some

Alexzis Figueroa:

perspectives. So I think when we're talking about social

Alexzis Figueroa:

anxiety, anxiety disorders, or really any emotion or emotion

Alexzis Figueroa:

based disorders, we're really talking about a spectrum. And so

Alexzis Figueroa:

we experience emotions on a continuum, everything from the

Alexzis Figueroa:

complete absence. So I am not having that feeling currently,

Alexzis Figueroa:

to a complete presence of I am feeling that and sometimes that

Alexzis Figueroa:

is way bigger than other moments in my life. And so, when we talk

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about anxiety disorders, what I like to point out is that we all

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have a natural sense of anxiety of worry, or fear, because we

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all have nervous systems. And so we have fight flight or freeze,

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which we learned about sometimes in school. And that's really

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what's helped us be safe as as human beings over time. And so

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everybody needs a little bit of that sometimes, because I don't

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know, if you ask me, when I'm standing over a big cliff and

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trying to hike, I would hope my body lets me know, we're a

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little too close. And I have terrible balance. And so when

Alexzis Figueroa:

we're talking about social anxiety, we're really talking

Alexzis Figueroa:

about just an intensity of those worries and fears about what are

Alexzis Figueroa:

those people thinking about me? What's it? Is there something

Alexzis Figueroa:

wrong with me? Or any other types of worries? And so, I'm

Alexzis Figueroa:

going to be quiet as a clinician, and I want to hear a

Alexzis Figueroa:

little bit about what's your experience with social anxiety?

Alexzis Figueroa:

And how did you know that it was more than just like the everyday

Alexzis Figueroa:

protecting us worries that we sometimes have?

Baylee:

Yeah, um, mostly with like, my anxiety, I didn't

Baylee:

really notice that I wanted to get therapy until I started high

Baylee:

school. And I actually went to my parents to ask for therapy,

Baylee:

because I saw like, some of my friends doing it. And I was

Baylee:

like, okay, maybe I should try out some therapy for you

Alexzis Figueroa:

guys. We love a friend group that is

Alexzis Figueroa:

supporting mental health, wellness. And how did your

Alexzis Figueroa:

parents react to that? Because that's a really big, vulnerable

Alexzis Figueroa:

space to be able to tell somebody, Hey, I'm having a hard

Alexzis Figueroa:

time. But also, hey, I need some extra support in my life.

Baylee:

Yeah, I think my parents were very happy to hear that. I

Baylee:

wanted to try something like that. And they knew it was like,

Baylee:

kind of a big thing to ask for that. So I think they're proud

Baylee:

of me.

Alexzis Figueroa:

Yeah. I mean, I'm proud of you. So when we're

Alexzis Figueroa:

talking about you were saying, you know, I went to my parents,

Alexzis Figueroa:

I was the one that asked for therapy. Were there any

Alexzis Figueroa:

feelings? or physical feelings that you were having that kind

Alexzis Figueroa:

of let you know, hey, I might need a little more support in

Alexzis Figueroa:

this area.

Baylee:

Yeah, so I kind of noticed, I thought a lot when I

Baylee:

was first having anxiety. It was just like thoughts in my head.

Baylee:

But then I learned it's really not just thoughts. It's also

Baylee:

physical symptoms, like stomach aches and being lightheaded and

Baylee:

fast heart rate.

Alexzis Figueroa:

Yeah, absolutely. I appreciate you

Alexzis Figueroa:

sharing that Bailey because I think a lot of times, and I, you

Alexzis Figueroa:

know, I work with teens and with parents, I have my entire

Alexzis Figueroa:

career. A lot of times parents big question is, how do I know

Alexzis Figueroa:

if my kiddo needs a little bit more support than what we can

Alexzis Figueroa:

offer? But I also have parents that say, I had no idea like, I

Alexzis Figueroa:

didn't know what was going on until something really big

Alexzis Figueroa:

happened. And so when we talk about as parents, how do we know

Alexzis Figueroa:

that our child might benefit from more professional help? I

Alexzis Figueroa:

think part of it starts with line observing for some of those

Alexzis Figueroa:

changes that Bailey described in terms of, do you notice after

Alexzis Figueroa:

school or maybe on weekends, you know, a panic attack or an

Alexzis Figueroa:

anxiety attack or you know, just getting very dysregulated or

Alexzis Figueroa:

really heated or escalated without really understanding

Alexzis Figueroa:

exactly why um, but we also talk about, we know routines we know

Alexzis Figueroa:

certain behaviors that are typical. And so like you were

Alexzis Figueroa:

saying, you know, any any big changes in sort of sleep, or if

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you have an upset stomach Are there changes and eating all the

Alexzis Figueroa:

things 24/7 outside of a typical growing young adult, or are we

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not eating at home, and that's, that's different or needs, need

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some check in around. And so, for parents out there that are

Alexzis Figueroa:

watching, I think one of the most important things that we

Alexzis Figueroa:

can think about is, any changes that are outside of your child's

Alexzis Figueroa:

typical or baseline behavior might warn a small check in

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anything that you're noticing when they're coming home from

Alexzis Figueroa:

school, if they shut down more, or really, you you've lost a

Alexzis Figueroa:

sense of sort of where their social circles are, or their

Alexzis Figueroa:

activities, or we see changes and how excited they are about

Alexzis Figueroa:

things that they love. And maybe they don't care any more about

Alexzis Figueroa:

that. All of those I think are good moments to kind of check in

Alexzis Figueroa:

and just ask, Hey, is, is everything all right? And so

Alexzis Figueroa:

with that, Bailey, I would want to know, hearing from a team,

Alexzis Figueroa:

what do you think might be a great way to check in with a

Alexzis Figueroa:

child or a young adult? And what could you tell a parent? What's

Alexzis Figueroa:

a question that they could ask just to see,

Baylee:

I think it is good to ask your kid when they get home,

Baylee:

how their day was, even if they're being short? And

Baylee:

actually, that's a good way to kind of tell, maybe their day

Baylee:

wasn't as good if they're being short? And just saying yes or

Baylee:

no. I think that's a good way to tell how their day was due.

Alexzis Figueroa:

That's fair. Yeah, I have. So I have a 14

Alexzis Figueroa:

year old sister. And we've had those moments where I've picked

Alexzis Figueroa:

her up to do something together. And it's like, everything's

Alexzis Figueroa:

fine. And I'm like, what does that mean, though? And so um,

Alexzis Figueroa:

something that I know, I've told even my parents about, as we've

Alexzis Figueroa:

talked about mental health has been figure out a check in

Alexzis Figueroa:

system that works. And so if after school is kind of a hard

Alexzis Figueroa:

time, even if it's over dinner, establishing some family routine

Alexzis Figueroa:

around, how was everybody's day, did anybody have a really

Alexzis Figueroa:

awesome positive point or two didn't didn't really happen, not

Alexzis Figueroa:

great moment that we're ready to share. And there's really

Alexzis Figueroa:

creative ways to do it. I had a family once that they were big

Alexzis Figueroa:

tea drinkers, they loved hot tea, iced tea, and like that was

Alexzis Figueroa:

a big beverage and their household. And so they would go

Alexzis Figueroa:

to dinners. And they would be like, we start with tea to spill

Alexzis Figueroa:

the tea. And it would just be like, a really funny way to

Alexzis Figueroa:

check in about what is going on in their day. And it's, it's

Alexzis Figueroa:

humorous, because sometimes we need a little bit of humor to

Alexzis Figueroa:

talk about some of the weird things going on. And so what I

Alexzis Figueroa:

want to kind of shift gears to is you mentioned that you have

Alexzis Figueroa:

had some friends that have gone to therapy, have you now that

Alexzis Figueroa:

you've been in therapy, and you're working through managing

Alexzis Figueroa:

your social anxiety? Have you had any friends where you've

Alexzis Figueroa:

noticed, oh, I think that person could benefit or I noticed that

Alexzis Figueroa:

that person's behavior is different because of what I

Alexzis Figueroa:

know. And do you see any differences between your

Alexzis Figueroa:

girlfriend's and your guy friends? Yeah,

Baylee:

I think with the friends that I do know that go to

Baylee:

therapy, I've noticed a difference, their attitude and

Baylee:

just overall attitude about the day kind of shift because

Baylee:

they're being more positive, and they have the help they need.

Alexzis Figueroa:

I love that you bring up the concept of

Alexzis Figueroa:

having a different perspective on life, because I think a lot

Alexzis Figueroa:

of times people think you're going to therapy to be fixed or

Alexzis Figueroa:

because you're broken. And that is not the case therapy is for

Alexzis Figueroa:

everybody, anywhere, anytime. In we can really help provide

Alexzis Figueroa:

perspective. And sometimes we need that extra set of eyes to

Alexzis Figueroa:

see what we can't see in the moment. And so for parents that

Alexzis Figueroa:

are watching, I think something important to bring up as we're

Alexzis Figueroa:

talking about signs. And what do we recognize, is understanding

Alexzis Figueroa:

that there's also going to be differences in gender when we

Alexzis Figueroa:

talk about how does anxiety show up. And when we look at research

Alexzis Figueroa:

from the anxiety and depression Association of America, they

Alexzis Figueroa:

talk about teens in general have higher rates of depression and

Alexzis Figueroa:

anxiety. But particularly our teens that are identifying with

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our LGBTQIA community are six times more likely to be anxious

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or depressed. And when we look at the APA research, we see that

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people in general from that population are two and a half

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more times likely to struggle with suicide, depression and

Alexzis Figueroa:

anxiety. And so when we talk about what are signs and

Alexzis Figueroa:

symptoms of needing support, we really want to make sure that

Alexzis Figueroa:

we're recognizing other things that are going to influence that

Alexzis Figueroa:

so our culture, our race, our mental health literacy is going

Alexzis Figueroa:

to be different in each family. There's generational differences

Alexzis Figueroa:

and perspectives on mental health. And so I think what's so

Alexzis Figueroa:

important for anybody watching is realizing that your thoughts

Alexzis Figueroa:

may be your own, but how they were cultivated is not just you,

Alexzis Figueroa:

there's seeds planted about the things that you believe, based

Alexzis Figueroa:

on how you grew up, what you're exposed to, and your life

Alexzis Figueroa:

experiences. And so just making sure that as you're watering

Alexzis Figueroa:

those seeds, you consider is this going to be something that

Alexzis Figueroa:

blossoms into something that helps me and supports me? Or am

Alexzis Figueroa:

I getting my water and nurturing from somewhere that might

Alexzis Figueroa:

develop thoughts that are harmful to me. And so, really

Alexzis Figueroa:

seeking out those supports? And considering those factors are

Alexzis Figueroa:

really important when we're talking about just understanding

Alexzis Figueroa:

more about anxiety in general mental health. With that being

Alexzis Figueroa:

said, what are some things that have been helpful to you that

Alexzis Figueroa:

you've learned in therapy?

Baylee:

Definitely coping skills, I have learned so many

Baylee:

cup coping skills from my therapist, and some of my

Baylee:

favorite ones are breathing techniques, because it really

Baylee:

slows my heart rate down when I'm having that panic from

Baylee:

social anxiety.

Alexzis Figueroa:

Yeah, absolutely. Eye to Eye breathing

Alexzis Figueroa:

techniques person, but admittedly, and I know parents

Alexzis Figueroa:

are gonna come for me, because they're gonna be like, How dare

Alexzis Figueroa:

she bring up the cell phones? I think it's a really good moment,

Alexzis Figueroa:

though, to talk about technology can be our friend. And so I when

Alexzis Figueroa:

I work with teens, we talk a lot about how can we use this device

Alexzis Figueroa:

that we're all glued to, to help us. And there are some really

Alexzis Figueroa:

great apps out there that can do breathing techniques with you,

Alexzis Figueroa:

if you're still learning, I have an affirmations app on my phone

Alexzis Figueroa:

that alerts me via my watch three times a day was something

Alexzis Figueroa:

positive to sort of combat some of the thoughts we can get stuck

Alexzis Figueroa:

in. And we can also provide a lot of access to things like

Alexzis Figueroa:

YouTube, where we can look up what are some coping, literally

Alexzis Figueroa:

coping skills for teens are coping skills when I'm having a

Alexzis Figueroa:

hard time with my thoughts. And we can also be mindful of what

Alexzis Figueroa:

are we following? If we do have social media online? Can we add

Alexzis Figueroa:

an Instagram account that is mental health forward and can

Alexzis Figueroa:

share some positivity? Can you maybe go find the Tick Tock

Alexzis Figueroa:

therapists who are sharing different coping skills and

Alexzis Figueroa:

jokes about things? And can we just include screen time that

Alexzis Figueroa:

can be helpful to us? What is our what is what's our

Alexzis Figueroa:

background on our phone? Can that be a space that we're

Alexzis Figueroa:

looking at all the time? That can be positive? And so I'm

Alexzis Figueroa:

curious, as a team, what do you find technology could be helpful

Alexzis Figueroa:

for for you and your mental health? And what are things that

Alexzis Figueroa:

maybe you stay away from? Yeah, I

Baylee:

think that a big mistake that a lot of teens make in, I

Baylee:

do understand that social media is big, and everyone follows the

Baylee:

same people. But I think people who follow these big social

Baylee:

media stars, maybe that's not a good thing for their mental

Baylee:

health, because they're comparing each other. And I

Baylee:

think that, that doesn't help with their social anxiety,

Baylee:

because then they start comparing them with their

Baylee:

friends or them with their friends or their friends on

Baylee:

social media.

Alexzis Figueroa:

Absolutely, there is, I did not design this

Alexzis Figueroa:

quote. So it is somewhere in the universe by someone else. And we

Alexzis Figueroa:

thank them. That Comparison is the thief of joy. And it is

Alexzis Figueroa:

really hard, because we are looking at these screens, and

Alexzis Figueroa:

we're comparing our lives to these people that are posting

Alexzis Figueroa:

very filtered, and the best of the best moments of life. And

Alexzis Figueroa:

then all of a sudden, we're like, wait a second, why don't I

Alexzis Figueroa:

look like that act like that? Why don't I have those types of

Alexzis Figueroa:

friends. And when we get into that mindset, it can be really

Alexzis Figueroa:

destructive of the present joy that we have available to us.

Alexzis Figueroa:

And so I love that you bring that up, because I I definitely

Alexzis Figueroa:

think that there is something to say about as we've grown in this

Alexzis Figueroa:

beautiful technological age. We've also grown in way faster

Alexzis Figueroa:

and easier ways to compare ourselves to people. And now we

Alexzis Figueroa:

walk into rooms. And when we talk about social anxiety,

Alexzis Figueroa:

that's the essence of social anxiety is I walk into a room

Alexzis Figueroa:

and all I'm thinking about is they're thinking something bad

Alexzis Figueroa:

about me. And that's so much pressure to put on ourselves

Alexzis Figueroa:

because we didn't get there alone. And so really being

Alexzis Figueroa:

mindful about what are we exposing ourselves to and

Alexzis Figueroa:

understanding that I was once a teenager, and part of it is also

Alexzis Figueroa:

very okay to have those questions as we're learning to

Alexzis Figueroa:

make friends and we're starting to navigate relationships and

Alexzis Figueroa:

figuring out who we are outside of just our parents and our

Alexzis Figueroa:

families. And so definitely being mindful to not always

Alexzis Figueroa:

compare ourselves.

Baylee:

And I also think there's a positive side to social media,

Baylee:

like, a lot of people follow these accounts that have

Baylee:

affirmations. And it's showing up in your feed, even say you

Baylee:

see, like a famous person's post, and you're comparing

Baylee:

yourself, keep scrolling, and you'll see those affirmations

Baylee:

and focus on the affirmation more than you are the previous

Baylee:

post.

Alexzis Figueroa:

Absolutely. And I love that you just talked

Alexzis Figueroa:

about the concept of keep scrolling, because that right

Alexzis Figueroa:

there, when we talk about not to get therapists it but it's in my

Alexzis Figueroa:

veins, when we talk about how do we manage social anxiety? Or how

Alexzis Figueroa:

do I help support my child that has anxiety? We're talking about

Alexzis Figueroa:

interrupting those thoughts. And I always say, just because you

Alexzis Figueroa:

think it doesn't make it true. So you can choose to think

Alexzis Figueroa:

something new. And it's, it's not always easy. But there are

Alexzis Figueroa:

ways to challenge that. So keep scrolling, you can find a

Alexzis Figueroa:

different account. And there's also ways to get out of the

Alexzis Figueroa:

swirling, and just like emotions are all about balance. So is the

Alexzis Figueroa:

concept of technology and social media is let's have balance and

Alexzis Figueroa:

understand, is this helping us or hurting us? And how can we

Alexzis Figueroa:

develop those skills to stop, I want to switch gears a little

Alexzis Figueroa:

bit to school, because when we're teens, we spend a great

Alexzis Figueroa:

chunk of our day at school. And that's where oftentimes we're

Alexzis Figueroa:

meeting all of our friends and sort of how we're connected. So

Alexzis Figueroa:

how do you navigate struggles with social anxiety at school?

Alexzis Figueroa:

And what does that look like for you.

Baylee:

So I think a big chunk of social anxiety comes from

Baylee:

school, a lot of the reason that teens have social anxiety is

Baylee:

because they develop it at school. So I think a way to cope

Baylee:

with that is maybe looking into a 504 plan, I personally have a

Baylee:

504 plan, it is a great way to kind of cope with social anxiety

Baylee:

in those social situations.

Alexzis Figueroa:

So in hearing that you have a 504 plan. And

Alexzis Figueroa:

for parents watching in schools, there are option for essentially

Alexzis Figueroa:

support plans. And you can either have a 504 plan, or you

Alexzis Figueroa:

can have commonly an IEP, so an individualized education plan,

Alexzis Figueroa:

the pathways are a little bit different to get there. But the

Alexzis Figueroa:

point being at school, every student has a right and

Alexzis Figueroa:

opportunity to explore if they could benefit from one of those

Alexzis Figueroa:

things. And so what is an example of something in your 504

Alexzis Figueroa:

plan that school has implemented in order to help support you

Alexzis Figueroa:

more.

Baylee:

So with my 504 plan, and kind of implementing it with my

Baylee:

social anxiety, I am allowed to sometimes get up and kind of

Baylee:

take a walk, just to reset and get my mind to reset. They also

Baylee:

offer testing in a different environment. So your anxiety

Baylee:

isn't taking over your schoolwork. So yeah,

Alexzis Figueroa:

yeah, those are really great examples. And

Alexzis Figueroa:

even I think about so many teens I've worked with where parents

Alexzis Figueroa:

didn't know, or they didn't know that those were options. And so

Alexzis Figueroa:

hearing one, those are two great tools that sounds like but to

Alexzis Figueroa:

that you have found it helpful and beneficial. Is is really

Alexzis Figueroa:

great to know. And just partnering with the places that

Alexzis Figueroa:

team they're spending the most time in something else that we

Alexzis Figueroa:

can kind of discuss when talking about school would be when we

Alexzis Figueroa:

think about earlier, we were talking about oh, as parents,

Alexzis Figueroa:

how do we know if our kiddo might need professional help? A

Alexzis Figueroa:

great place to start is school with utilizing a school

Alexzis Figueroa:

counselor, a school social worker, a school psychologist,

Alexzis Figueroa:

and just being able to ask, Hey, near me in the valley, what

Alexzis Figueroa:

might it look like if I needed to access mental health

Alexzis Figueroa:

services, we want people to have access to services and support

Alexzis Figueroa:

normalizing and de stigmatizing. It's okay to have social anxiety

Alexzis Figueroa:

and have struggles and go to therapy and make this as typical

Alexzis Figueroa:

as us going to our yearly really fun medical checkups that we

Alexzis Figueroa:

love. And so thinking about that, and keeping that in mind

Alexzis Figueroa:

as we talk about what can we do or be proactive about? So

Alexzis Figueroa:

getting into our last couple of questions. I'm curious, what

Alexzis Figueroa:

would be some advice that you would give to another team that

Alexzis Figueroa:

is struggling with anxiety? Yeah, so

Baylee:

one thing that I've really learned from myself and

Baylee:

my therapist is running away from the fear of social anxiety

Baylee:

doesn't really help with getting rid Have that anxiety, it only

Baylee:

makes it worse. So even if it's starting small with joining a

Baylee:

club, or joining a sport at your school or joining a church

Baylee:

group, like it can help just getting yourself out there and

Baylee:

feeling more comfortable around other teens and other people.

Alexzis Figueroa:

Yeah, absolutely. And I love that you

Alexzis Figueroa:

talk about the concept of community and connection,

Alexzis Figueroa:

because being connected to other people is so critical to us just

Alexzis Figueroa:

existing and human being every day, but also the healing

Alexzis Figueroa:

process to know that you're not alone and the struggles that

Alexzis Figueroa:

you're going through any questions up to this point for

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me?

Baylee:

So what advice would you give your clients? There's,

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it's so hard because I feel like they teach

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me so much. So I think the biggest, I don't even know that

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it's advice. But I think the biggest piece of information

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that I try to translate to the clients that I work with is that

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when you come to therapy, it's not to put you back together or

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because you're broken or because you're lacking something coming

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to therapy is you have everything that you need to be

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successful, you just need a little bit of support and

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guidance to uncover those pieces. And so the advice that I

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often give is, just show up as you are and know that anything

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that feels isolating the concept of like, nobody understands what

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I'm going through, that only exists in isolation. And once

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you're able to be vulnerable and just show up, you will learn

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that you are so a part of a community. And there are so many

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people that can empathize or connect with just the journey of

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a living and having some hard moments, especially as a team. I

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tell them, I don't like to get super nerdy with my teenagers.

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But I do tell them, please listen to my tiny bit of brain

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science. And it's the fact that our brains are still working and

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growing and developing well into our mid 20s. And so the

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expectation that you're supposed to just show up and have it all

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figured out. I have not gotten there yet. And so we're all

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working together on figuring it out. And just normalizing that

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it's okay. And that therapists are not weird, scary spaces.

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Half the time, we we want to see the picture of the mean person

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at school you're telling us about, we want to know how

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things are hard. And we want to know how to partner with your

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parents and your family. To let you know, you are not the

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problem, the problem is the problem. And we just have to

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work together as a family system and therapists to work towards

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those solutions. So we have one big question left before we wrap

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up. And so what would you say, out of everything that we talked

Alexzis Figueroa:

about today, you want parents to have as their main takeaway.

Baylee:

One thing I've noticed that has been very helpful for

Baylee:

my parents, is a lot of parents with kids that have social

Baylee:

anxiety, it can be very stressful for them. But one way

Baylee:

to kind of lessen the stress for yourself and your child is

Baylee:

walking them through those coping skills. One way to help

Baylee:

with those coping skills is just starting it with them and

Baylee:

walking them through their coping skills helps them a lot,

Baylee:

as they might not be in the right mind state to do it on

Baylee:

their own at that time.

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I love that. And I love the partnership

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between being a teen and mom and dad because it is hard

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sometimes. So I think for parents to be able to know just

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being present in there and walking through some of those

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skills. And I think that goes really hand in hand was sort of

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my big takeaway with today's information would be if as a

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parent, you have a hunch that something maybe isn't right.

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Follow it and ask for help. It can be starting with a school

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counselor, it can be using Google to research what is the

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nearest best mental health team agency. And it could even be

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starting the conversation even with a PCP just hear typical

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doctor's appointments but ask for help Google research because

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you're not alone in this and even if at the end of the day.

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Maybe there wasn't, you know, a diagnosis or there wasn't, you

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know, huge red flags where we wanted to go to therapy at least

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you'll have a partner in figuring out that journey. So

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that there is clarity around how can we be more attuned as a

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family and how can we make sure we open up dialogue that talking

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about mental health should To be as easy as talking about what

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we're having for dinner. All right, we made it. Thank you so

Alexzis Figueroa:

much for being here answering questions and sharing. So we're

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so excited that you guys are listening and we'd like to do

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this. And to close up, please give some subscribers some

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likes. If you're on YouTube, comment below, and we will see