Remote Control Worry Control

Anxiety disorders are the most common emotional/behavioral problems in children and adolescents. Left uncontrolled, anxiety causes not only personal distress, but also can interfere with school success. Children who suffer from excessive worry and anxiety have difficulty with school attendance and school performance; they tend to avoid social activities causing them to be neglected by peers. They also tend to experience frequent somatic symptoms and feelings of low self-worth.

Remote Control Anxiety Control game uses cognitive behavioral therapy to help combat anxiety. Its use of relaxation techniques like muscle relaxation, deep breathing, and visualization are some strategies to help relieve anxiety. The game contains two decks of 40 cards. One for elementary school students and one for middle school students. Players use remote control symbols which focus on three essential skills for controlling anxiety:

POWER ON for positive self-talk.

PAUSE for identification of a desired relaxation technique.

REWIND to describe a time in the past when worry/stress was successfully overcome.

The game uses the above remote control symbols to facilitate learning the skills. There are both competitive and cooperative versions for grades 1-5 and for grades 6-9. The two age groups have separate decks of cards. During the game, players read very brief case studies adapted from real-life scenarios of anxious or worried thoughts of children. Players then practice one of the three essential skills: they POWER ON for positive self-talk, breaking the negative thought cycle that can lead to escalated worry/stress; they PAUSE and either act out or describe a relaxation technique, which helps them to feel better emotionally; or they REWIND and describe a time in the past when they overcame a similar worry or stress successfully. Playing time: Flexible, from 25 minutes to 50 minutes. Players: 2-5 Market: Grades 1-9 (two sets of cards: grades 1-5 and 6-9)

Players will:

- Learn to apply positive self-talk

- Understand the value of stress management

- Learn from previous successes

- Identify situations/people that contribute to stress

- Learn and practice relaxation techniques.