15-Minute Focus: Anxiety: Worry, Stress, and Fear

by Leigh Bagwell

In 15-Minute Focus: Anxiety, Worry, Stress, and Fear, Leigh Bagwell gives counselors and educators a step-by-step primer on how to support students who struggle with anxiety.

Anxiety can cause students to feel isolated and overwhelmed, preventing them from learning and engaging in the classroom. Rather than tell our students not to worry, our job as educators should be to recognize when our students are struggling with anxiety and get them the support they need. In this book, Bagwell explains the physiological progression from a trigger to a full-blown anxiety attack, and provides a variety of prevention and intervention strategies for school counselors, educators, and administrators.

What you'll get:

Understanding of anxiety and clarification of anxiety vs. misbehavior Breakdown of various anxiety disorders and how they present Helpful tips for parents who have anxious children Curated list of resources, including organizations, curriculum, books, and more!

When students experience anxiety, they need help navigating through it. This guide will teach school counselors, educators, and administrators how to become powerful advocates for their students so they can thrive in the classroom and in life.

80 pages, Paperback

Published September 28, 2020

About the author

Dr. Leigh Bagwell is a member of the School Counseling Core Faculty in the School of Social and Behavioral Sciences at Capella University. Bagwell joined Capella in the spring of 2022 shortly after completing her doctorate in Counselor Education and Supervision from the University of Tennessee. She began her career as an elementary and middle school counselor before moving to leadership and supervisory roles in school counseling for preK-12 education in both urban and suburban school districts then ultimately serving as the Director of School Counseling Services for the Tennessee Department of Education. As a school counseling educator and leader, her mission is to provide school counselors and administrators with the training and resources needed to deliver high quality, student driven, data informed comprehensive school counseling programs to all students. She believes when school counselors and school leaders work together to all students have access to the opportunities and supports they need to successfully move through their elementary, secondary, and postsecondary education into their chosen career.

In addition to her work in Tennessee, Bagwell partners with school counselors and school counseling leaders throughout the country using her experiences and knowledge to build their capacity to more effectively serve students. She has written numerous books and has served as a consultant on several SEL children’s books. She has conducted research on mental health supports for students and families and is a consultant with an international organization developing tools and materials that help school counselors deliver effective school counseling programs to all students. Dr. Bagwell’s hope is to equip and empower school counselors to use their unique knowledge and skills to advocate and support all students to reach their potential and achieve their dreams.

Reviews

[Msimone]

Teachers may not be able to identify whether a child’s stress and anxiety is the cause of misbehavior or poor performance, but they should prepare themselves to help these students learn how to manage these feelings. Stress and anxiety manifests differently in children. They can cause physical symptoms of illness. Emotional symptoms of anger, defiance, withdrawal or crying. Teachers can work with a child’s family and/or a counselor to understand the best way to help these students handle their stress and anxiety. I think the book would be helpful to teachers trying to distinguish student anxiety from misbehavior in the classroom. The book also Describes how students can learn mindfulness strategies, and teachers can learn intervention stations to help student classroom behavior and academic performance.