Psychological support for children with fears and destructive aggression. Corrective work to overcome children's fears in the advisory practice of a child psychologist

Galina Sustretova
Working with fears in children

Outline of educational activities

Subject: Job educational psychologist with fears in children senior preschool age in the senior group MB preschool educational institution TsRR 33

Target: help older preschool children cope with fears, which interfere with their normal emotional well-being and communication with peers, and the development of creative potential.

Tasks:

Development of attention, imagination and coordination of movements;

Relieving psycho-emotional stress;

Developing self-confidence;

Development of emotional and expressive movements;

Removal fear of enclosed spaces, darkness, anxiety;

Development and improvement of communication skills;

Regulation of behavior in a team;

Prevention of aggression.

Materials and equipment: music center, recordings with calm, relaxation and active music, drawings of fairy-tale characters, paper, paints, brushes, juice straws, paper napkins and plates (with blue and yellow bottoms, blanket, stick (broom, circle cut out of paper, sports tunnel, arches, bag of sweets.

Introductory part:

The teacher-psychologist tells the children that they have an interesting, but difficult Job. Before you and I begin the main educational activities, let's tune our body to work.

Work on self-regulation:

Imagine holding a whole lemon in your left hand. Squeeze it tightly, try to squeeze all the juice out of it. Then slowly relax. Now take another lemon and squeeze it, try to squeeze it even harder than the previous one, like this very hard and slowly, slowly release it. Feel relaxed. See how good you feel when you're relaxed. Now take the lemon in your other hand and squeeze out all the juice, leaving not a single drop. Press very, very hard. Do the same with another lemon.

Imagine having something hard in your mouth (strong) chewing gum that is difficult to chew. Try to bite her (chew) very, very hard, let the neck muscles help you, then relax. Try to bite again, squeeze the gum between your teeth and relax again. The exercise is repeated 2-3 times.

And now an annoying fly flies in and lands on your nose, try to get rid of it without using your hands. Wrinkle your nose, lift it up, tense it - gather it into wrinkles - relax your whole face. Please note that when the nose tenses, the whole face tenses, and when the nose relaxes, the whole face also relaxes.

At the end of self-regulation, children are offered again "to blind the face"- children run their hands along the edge of their face; "sculpting eyebrows"- run your fingertips along the eyebrows; "make eyes"- touch the eyelids with their fingertips, move the index finger around the eyes, blink their eyes; "they sculpt their noses"- run the index finger from the bridge of the nose along the wings of the nose down; "they mold their ears"- pinch the earlobes, stroke the ears; "sculpting the chin". Pronounce in unison: “I am good, kind, beautiful”, stroke themselves on the head, face and hug themselves with both arms.

Main part:

The teacher-psychologist invites the children to sit down at the tables and draw their fears.

“Drawing of a blot monster. Turns on scary music. Children, on blank sheets of paper, using the blotography method, depict their fears, and then painting on bows, flowers, using juice straws transform scary blot into a cheerful and beautiful one.

A game "Shouters - whisperers - silencers".

A teacher-psychologist invites children to play and test how attentive they can be.

Instructions: you need to carefully follow the drawings that the teacher shows psychologist: If you see a portrait of Baba Yaga, you can jump, run and scream, if you see a goldfish, you can only whisper, and if you see a portrait of Vasilisa the Beautiful, you need to freeze in place and remain silent. The psychologist shows the portraits, the children follow the instructions.

After the game, the psychologist shows the children a bird that flew to them to tell them that Baba Yaga is flying here and wants to catch you. A teacher-psychologist invites children to outwit Baba Yaga.

Exercise-game "Flower"

Calm music is turned on. The teacher-psychologist invites the children to stand in a circle as close to each other as possible, hold hands, bend over, stretch their arms down and forward in a circle - and here we are, a flower bud. We will open up: handles-petals, backs-stalks. Slowly we straighten up, smoothly, easily raise our arms up, bend our backs back, move our arms back to the sides gently, gently. The back is soft, the arms are gentle. The wind blew and we swayed left and right, with our arms left and right. Only the legs stand firmly. At the top of the body, the whole body is free and soft. And then some noise is heard outside the door. Baba Yaga runs into the hall with a broom in her hands, looks first to the right, then to the left, looking for children, who would you grab? Baba Yaga sensed something and began circling around the flower. We all slowly lean forward together again, the flower has closed, Baba Yaga won’t find us. The bud closes and opens 2 times. And Baba Yaga is looking for us, getting angry, jumping. Every now and then he stops, freezes, listens, and is about to smell us. Jumping again. Frozen again listens: where is the tramp, where are we hiding? Here Baba Yaga turns to the table, barely moving, moving very little, afraid of scaring us away. He rushes to the chair, falls to the floor, puts his hands under chair: “Grab it! And there is no one there. Baba Yaga jumps up again, freezes again, sneaks back, backing away. "Crash!"- under another chair, “Grab!”- and there’s no one there either (3 times stir-freeze). Baba Yaga never found anyone. She started stamping her feet out of anger. Nasty kids, here I am! Baba Yaga began to disperse, stomping her feet harder and harder, faster and faster. And now it's getting slower and slower. Wow! - Baba Yaga got tired, fell on a chair, her arms and legs hung like pasta: Baba Yaga is tired of searching and getting angry. She lay down on a chair and whimpered. Serves you right, evil Baba Yaga. Educational psychologist says children: “Guys, look how unhappy Baba Yaga is, pathetic and, in my opinion, not at all scary. Psychologist: “Guys, let’s play with her! Baba Yaga, do you agree to play with us? Baba Yaga is delighted with this proposal.

A game "Baba Yaga". Baba Yaga stands in the center of a circle cut out of paper. Children run around and tease: “Baba Yaga is a bone leg. She fell from the stove, broke her leg, went into the garden, scared the people. I ran to the bathhouse and scared the bunny.” Baba Yaga jumps from the circle on one leg and tries "broom" tarnish children. Whoever it touches freezes in place, the game continues until all the children are stained.

A game "Do not rush". Children sit on chairs. At a distance of 5-6 steps from them, a chair is placed on which Baba Yaga sits. Children come up one by one (don't run up) to the chair, go around it and, slowly, return to their place. After everyone goes around the chair, they are given the task of walking backwards.

A game "Who's Brave". A sports tunnel, large and small arches are installed on the carpet, which are covered with a blanket on top. Children, getting on all fours, take turns crawling inside these obstacles and returning to the start. At the same time, Baba Yaga is missing children by the legs, clothes, trying to stop them.

After the game, Baba Yaga praises children for their courage, dexterity and gives children "magic candy", which will forever make the children brave and strong. And the guys, in turn, give Baba Yaga their drawings. Baba Yaga tells the children that all of them fears takes them into the forest with them and the children will never meet them again. Baba Yaga says goodbye and leaves.

Final part:

Relaxation "Journey to the Magic Forest"

A teacher-psychologist offers children after such a difficult work rest. Lie down comfortably, close your eyes and listen to my voice. Breathe slowly and easily. Imagine that you are in a forest where there are many trees, bushes, and all kinds of flowers. In the thicket of the forest there is a white stone bench, sit down on it. Listen to the sounds. You hear the murmur of a forest spring, the voices of birds, the knock of a woodpecker, the rustling of grass. Feel it smells: the smell of wet earth, the wind carries the smell of pine trees. Remember your sensations, feelings, take them with you when returning from your trip. Let them be with you all day.

Finishing work, the educational psychologist invites the children to take one glass pebble each and if they liked playing today, then the pebble is placed in a plate with a yellow bottom, and if they didn’t like it, then with a blue one.

Correction is a special form of psychological and pedagogical activity aimed at creating the most favorable conditions for optimizing the mental development of the child’s personality and providing him with special psychological assistance.

Currently, the term “psychological correction” is quite widely and actively used in practice in both schools and preschool institutions. Meanwhile, having arisen in defectology, it was initially applied only to abnormal development. A number of scientists associate the expansion of the scope of application of this concept with the development of applied child psychology, with new social tasks in relation to the younger generation.

Increasingly, the diagnostic and corrective function is considered essential and paramount in the activities of a modern, personality-oriented teacher. The teacher implements this function when working with normally developing children (pathopsychologists, defectologists, and doctors are involved in the correction of abnormal development).

D.B. Elkonin divided correction depending on the nature of the diagnosis and focus on the following forms, such as symptomatic and causal. The first is aimed directly at eliminating the symptoms of developmental deviations, the second - at eliminating the causes and sources of these deviations. In the work of a teacher and a practical psychologist, both forms of correctional activity are used. And yet, the priority, especially in the preschool period, of causal correction is obvious, when the main corrective actions are concentrated on the actual sources that give rise to deviations. It is important to keep in mind that outwardly the same symptoms of deviations can have completely different natures, causes, and structures. Therefore, if we want to achieve success in correctional activities, we will proceed from the psychological structure of disorders and their genesis.

The subject of correction most often are mental development, emotional and personal sphere, neurotic states and neuroses of the child, interpersonal interactions. There can be different forms of organizing correctional work - lecture-educational, advisory-recommendation, correctional work itself (group, individual).

Success in correctional activities is largely determined by what provisions and principles form its basis. These include, first of all, the principle of unity of diagnosis and correction, according to D.B. Elkonin, and I.V. Dubrovina and others, the principle of “normativity” of development, the principle of correction “from top to bottom”, the principle of systematic development, the activity principle of correction, the principle of active involvement in correctional work of parents and other persons significant for the child, as scientists G.V. Burmenskaya, O.A. Karabanova, A.G. Leaders.

This, in particular, is the principle of “top-down” correction put forward by L.S. Vygotsky. It reveals the direction of correctional work. The focus of the teacher, based on this principle, is the “tomorrow of the development” of the child, and the main content of correctional activities is the creation of a “zone of proximal development” for pupils.

If the goal of “bottom-up” correction is exercise and consolidation of what the child has already achieved, then “top-down” correction is proactive in nature and is built as a psychological and pedagogical activity aimed at the timely formation of psychological new formations.

Let us also highlight the activity principle of correction, which determines the very subject of application of corrective actions, the choice of means and methods of achieving the goal. According to this principle, the main direction of correctional work is the purposeful formation of generalized ways of orienting a child in various areas of objective activity and interpersonal interactions, and ultimately - the social situation of development. The correctional work itself should be built not as a simple training of skills and abilities (subject, communicative, etc.), but as a holistic, meaningful activity of the child, naturally, organically fitting into the system of his daily life relationships.

Children's leading activities are used especially widely in correctional work. In preschool age, this is a game in its various varieties (plot, didactic, active, dramatization, director's). It is successfully used both to correct the child’s personality, his relationships with others, and to correct cognitive, emotional, and volitional communication processes. Play is unconditionally recognized as a universal form of correction in the preschool period. Reliance on playful motives that are meaningful for a preschooler in correctional activities makes them especially attractive and contributes to success in correction.

An important place in correctional work is given to artistic activity. The main directions of corrective influences using art:

1) exciting activities;

2) self-disclosure in creativity.

They are widely used in correctional work with preschoolers and physical education classes. At the end of preschool age, emerging new types of activities - educational and labor - can also be used for these purposes.

Components of readiness for correctional work: theoretical (knowledge of the theoretical foundations of correctional work, methods of correction, etc.); practical (knowledge of correction methods and techniques); personal (an adult’s psychological elaboration of his own problems in those areas that he expects to correct in a child).

Correction through drawing. Drawing is a creative act that allows children to feel the joy of accomplishment, the ability to act on inspiration, to be themselves, freely expressing their feelings and experiences, dreams and hopes. Drawing, like play, is not only a reflection of the surrounding reality in the minds of children, but also its modeling, an expression of attitude towards it. Therefore, through drawings, you can better understand the interests of children, their deep, not always disclosed experiences, and take this into account when eliminating fears. Drawing provides a natural opportunity to develop imagination, flexibility and plasticity of thinking. Indeed, children who love to draw are distinguished by greater imagination, spontaneity in expressing feelings and flexibility of judgment. They can easily imagine themselves in the place of this or that person or character in the drawing and express their attitude towards him, since this happens every time in the process of drawing. The latter allows drawing to be used for therapeutic purposes. By drawing, the child gives vent to his feelings and experiences, desires and dreams, rebuilds his relationships in various situations and painlessly comes into contact with some frightening, unpleasant and traumatic images.

Just as to develop immunity from infectious diseases, a live but weakened vaccine is administered, stimulating the development of healthy, protective forces of the body, so the repeated experience of fear when displayed in a picture leads to a weakening of its traumatic sound.

Identifying himself with positive and strong, self-confident heroes, the child fights evil: cuts off the dragon’s head, protects loved ones, defeats enemies, etc. There is no place for powerlessness, the inability to stand up for oneself, but there is a feeling of strength, heroism, that is fearlessness and the ability to resist evil and violence.

Drawing is inseparable from the emotions of pleasure, joy, delight, admiration, even anger, but not fear and sadness.

Drawing, therefore, acts as a way to comprehend one’s capabilities and the surrounding reality, model relationships and express emotions, including negative ones. However, this does not mean that a child who is actively drawing is not afraid of anything, he simply decreases the likelihood of fears appearing, which in itself is of no small importance for his mental development. Unfortunately, some parents consider playing and drawing a frivolous matter and unilaterally replace them with reading and other intellectually more useful activities, from their point of view. In fact, you need both. Children with artistic inclinations, emotional and impressionable, and prone to fear, need more games and drawing. In children who are more rational, prone to analytical and abstract thinking, the proportion of intellectual and rational activities increases, including computer games and chess. But even with the so-called left-hemisphere orientation, as much variety as possible in games and drawing is necessary to expand the creative range and world of the child’s imagination.

The greatest activity in drawing is observed between the ages of 5 and 10 years, when children draw on their own, naturally and freely, choosing themes and imagining what they imagine as vividly as if it really happened. In most cases, by the beginning of adolescence, the ability for spontaneous visual creativity gradually weakens. The correct form and composition are already consciously sought, doubts arise about the reliability of the drawing, naturalism in the depiction of objects. Teenagers are even embarrassed by their ability to draw the way they want, for fear of looking awkward and funny to others, and thus deprived of a natural way of expressing their feelings and desires.

Correction through play therapy. In modern domestic psychology, one of the means of correcting children's fears is play therapy. According to A.Ya. Varga, play therapy is often the only way to help those who have not yet mastered the world of words, adult values ​​and rules, who still look at the world from the bottom up, but in the world of fantasies and images are the ruler. G.L. Landreth compared the importance of speech for an adult and play for a child; for a preschooler, play is a natural need that serves as a condition for the harmonious development of the individual.

According to many researchers, play is the leading means of psychotherapy in preschool age. At the same time, it also has a diagnostic and educational function. The game, in terms of its developmental potential and final effect, is given a central place in preschool age.

The success of a game-based correctional intervention lies in the dialogical communication between an adult and a child through the acceptance, reflection and verbalization of feelings freely expressed in the game. In line with play therapy, free play and directive (controlled) play are used. In free play, the psychologist offers children various game materials, provoking regressive, realistic and aggressive types of games. Regressive play involves a return to less mature forms of behavior. Realistic play depends on the objective situation in which the child finds himself, and not on his needs and desires. An aggressive game is a game of violence, war, etc. To organize such games, unstructured and structured game material is used.

The use of unstructured play material (water, sand, clay, plasticine) provides the child with the opportunity to indirectly express his emotions and desires, since the material itself promotes sublimation.

Structured play material includes: dolls, furniture, bedding (they provoke the desire to take care of someone); weapons (contributes to the expression of aggression); telephone, train, cars (contribute to the use of communicative actions). At its core, structured game material promotes the acquisition of social skills and behavioral patterns.

Correction through fairy tale therapy. In the practice of fairy tale therapy, three types of dolls are used: marionette dolls (very easy to make, they can be without a face, which gives the child the opportunity to fantasize); finger puppets; shadow theater dolls (used mainly to work with children's fears).

Fairy tale therapists T.D. Zinkevich-Evstigneeva and A.M. Mikhailov note a wide range of effects of dolls on children. As a means of transformation, a doll facilitates the process of staging a performance, since not every person, for one reason or another, is able to play on stage. On the other hand, by materializing in a doll, fear is deprived of its emotional intensity and characterological traits for the child, the child gains the experience of operational non-directive feedback, he sees and feels the result of his influence on the doll. To one degree or another, the child begins to realize responsibility for the stage life of the doll. Thus, the child sees cause-and-effect relationships between his actions and the actions of the doll.

The doll, acting as an attribute, embodies the opposite standards of human actions and qualities, which are most clearly represented in fairy tales.

The attractiveness of fairy tales for psychological correction in general and the correction of fears in particular lies, first of all, in the naturalness of the unfolding of the storyline and the absence of moralizing. In figurative form, a child in fairy tales lives through problems that all of humanity has gone through (separation from parents, the problem of choice, injustice, etc.). And, undoubtedly, the most important thing is that in a fairy tale, evil is always punished, but even from bad deeds a good lesson can be learned.

There are several methods of working with a fairy tale: analysis, storytelling, rewriting, composing new fairy tales.

While working on a fairy tale, the child receives specific ways to deal with his fears, his emotional world is painted in more joyful tones. On the other hand, in a fairy tale, a frightening character or phenomenon may not look like that at all. An example of this is T. Vershinina’s fairy tale “The Sorceress Darkness”.

Correction through doll therapy. Another fairly common method for correcting neurotic fears is considered to be doll therapy.

At the present stage, dolls are used to solve problems of a psychodiagnostic and psychocorrectional nature. To determine the most appropriate tactics for overcoming fears through playing with dolls, A.I. Zakharov suggests first observing the child’s independent play in natural conditions. After this, you can begin to conduct therapeutic sessions in the playroom. The child is given the opportunity to independently choose toys and materials. To play, you need to prepare in advance toys that are similar to the object that the preschooler is afraid of, and play out a plot in which he can “deal with” his fear, thereby getting rid of it. The psychological mechanism for eliminating fear is to change roles: when an adult who is not afraid in life and a child who experiences fears behave in the opposite way.

Acting out fear helps to react to tension, relieve it, and transfer it to the doll. The child is given the opportunity to experience feelings of personal strength and determination in therapeutically oriented play. Therefore, if a child takes on the role of a scary character in a game and plays out a series of game actions with him, then this can sometimes be quite enough to get rid of fear.

Shadow theater dolls are used directly for psychocorrectional work with fears. They are made from black cardboard by cutting or tearing by the children themselves. A thread or stick is attached to the resulting concrete or abstract embodiment of fear, allowing you to move it across the screen.

By reviving his fear, playing with it, the child unconsciously imprints the fact that he can control his fear himself. The child is asked to come up with a story about his fear and act it out. After the performance ends, the “fear” dolls are destroyed. However, there are situations when a child, having become friends with his doll, does not want to part with it.

In addition to the cathartic effect, the doll can also provide educational benefits, for example in situations of painful medical procedures. It is difficult for children to distinguish medical procedures (injections, blood transfusions, teeth drilling, etc.) from punishment. This is where pre-playing out painful procedures on dolls can help. Such a system was described in the work of A.I. Tashcheva and S.V. Gridneva on the psychological correction of fears in preschoolers.

Correction by improving parent-child relationships. “Problem”, “difficult”, “disobedient” children, as well as children “with complexes”, “downtrodden” or “unhappy”, are always the result of incorrect relationships in the family.”

Consequently, “the microenvironment of the family and family upbringing influence the child and the formation of his personality. The emotional state of the child largely depends on the level of general and psychological-pedagogical culture of the parents, their position in life, their attitude towards the child and his problems, and the degree of parental participation in the correctional process.”

Therefore, in our opinion, many of the child’s difficulties should be resolved through the prism of family relationships: by changing the family situation, adjusting, first of all, the attitude towards the child, we resolve his problem.

Working together with the child’s family allows you to create conditions for the disclosure of the child’s personality, create opportunities for him to express himself, his feelings and emotions; contribute to enriching the emotional world of parents and children; help increase children's self-esteem and give them a sense of self-worth.

Correction through individual and group classes. Let's look at another interesting correction method. The original method of psychotherapy for children is dramatic psychoelevation. This method was created in 1990 by I. Medvedeva and T. Shishova. It is intended for working with children suffering from neurotic and similar borderline disorders: fears, aggressive behavior, tics, obsessions, logoneurosis, etc. The authors classify this method as individual-group, that is, classes are conducted in groups, but after the second classes, each child receives individual homework. In other words, each child follows an individual program in a group setting. A prerequisite for using this method is the active participation of parents.

In some aspects, dramatic psychoelevation is similar to theatrical techniques such as psychodrama by Jacob Moreno. The main difference between the dramatic psychoelevation technique is its predominant reliance on consciousness and superconsciousness. In the process of work, the authors strive to actualize the child’s desire to cope with his pathological dominant, to “rise above it” (psychoelevation - from the Latin elevare - to raise, elevate). Another difference is that the dramatic psycho-elevation method focuses on the characteristics of a given individual who cannot cope with any situation.

The tactics of this technique are fundamentally different from other psychotherapeutic techniques. In a few words it can be described as follows: pathological dominance > disadvantage > dignity.

In this method, exceptional importance is attached to the metaphorical form of theatrical sketches, since this form is the most effective and least traumatic in working with children. The most powerful therapeutic effect is achieved by combining the three components of this method: an imaginary situation, an adequately defined topic and the presence of very real people as characters, first of all, the child himself and his loved ones.

The main tools for working with this technique are the attributes of a puppet theater: screens, rag dolls, masks. They contribute to the self-disclosure of little actors, “highlighting” pathological personality traits, determining the pathological dominant, that is, they also perform a diagnostic function.

The authors emphasize that the theatrical setting itself and, in particular, the dolls do not have a healing effect. They only help to ensure that the child has the opportunity to realize his problem and solve it without mental damage to himself. From our point of view, dramatic psycho-elevation is an integrated method of correctional influence, one of the components of which is fairy tale therapy: in fairy tale therapy and in the method of dramatic psycho-elevation, special attention is paid to preparation for the performance, the production of dolls by children under the guidance of adults. By bringing his ideas to life, concentrating on the details that characterize the character, the child gains the opportunity to directly see the result of his creativity. In addition, making dolls yourself promotes the development of motor skills, as well as the ability to plan your actions and focus on a specific result.

Eda Le Shan notes in her book When Your Child Is Driving You Crazy: Parents are often reluctant to acknowledge children's fears because they are afraid of perpetuating them and even contributing to the birth of new ones. This concern is understandable, but it cannot be considered justified. Accepting that fear exists and showing real empathy is the best way to help it go away. In all my years of working with parents and children, I do not remember a single case where sympathy and understanding increased children's fears.

Fear is a very unpleasant and strong emotion. Every adult knows this for himself. Therefore, many parents are afraid of their children’s fears (especially if they are not fleeting) and try to save their beloved child from such worries. Are they right? It is difficult to answer this question unambiguously. So that you can develop one or another attitude towards your child’s fears, let’s first look at the functions of fear, its types and causes of occurrence.

Fear is an emotion that all living beings periodically experience. So is this really a cruel joke of nature, which endowed us with this ability? Of course not. After all, fear has a protective nature; it is a direct consequence of the instinct of self-preservation. Imagine for a moment that your child is completely ignorant of fear: he boldly climbs onto a roof, sticks his fingers into a socket, runs across the road on a busy highway, etc. (and such “fearlessness” actually happens in some mental illnesses). Agree, a terrible picture! So before you roll up your sleeves to fight fears, analyze whether your child’s fear has a natural protective component and what it is protecting him from. If you identify such a factor, then the goal of working with your son or daughter will be not so much the disappearance of fear, but rather the return of it to a “quantitative framework.”

In addition, parents need to know about age dynamics of fears . Then it will become clear to them that fears, like other mental manifestations, may reflect the child’s achievement of a certain level of development. So, for example, if a child at seven months is afraid to be left without his mother, and at eight months he is afraid of strangers, then one should not fight this, but rejoice, because this indicates his emotional attachment to his mother and the ability to distinguish her from strangers. So parents, on the contrary, should worry if they do not observe such anxiety in their baby. However, if the child has not “outgrown” such fears even at one and a half years old, then this may indicate a violation of his relationship with his mother or developmental deviations.

Let's consider fears that are typical for the development of children of other age categories (that is, those fears that arise in most children at a given age and are normal, although if you feel their tendency to repeat themselves, then you should immediately work through them using play methods).

From one year to three years The child may have a fear of unexpected sharp sounds (due to instinct), loneliness, loss of emotional contact with the mother (especially when visiting a nursery), pain, injections and health workers. During this period, children sometimes begin to have terrible dreams (often with fairy-tale characters), so fears of falling asleep may appear.

Aged from three to five years possible fears of loneliness, darkness and confined spaces. Fairy-tale characters that previously frightened a child only in his sleep can now make him afraid during the day.

From five to seven years you may observe the emergence of fear of devils or other representatives of the other world. Like many other fears, it is a type of the most important, leading fear that appears at this age - the fear of death (one's own and that of one's parents).

At primary school age ( from seven to eleven years ) the fear of not meeting the requirements of the social environment, of not being someone who is loved and appreciated by parents, teachers, and peers becomes the leading fear. From this global fear flow many small “fears”: fear of making a mistake, fear of being late for class, etc. In addition, children of this age are characterized by magical thinking, so they begin to be afraid of mysterious phenomena, predictions, and superstitions. This is the age of children's horror stories and chilling stories with which children enjoy scaring each other.

From eleven to sixteen years old , that is, during adolescence, children’s fears change, as do developmental tasks. Teenagers are afraid of the physical changes that are happening to them, they are afraid of not being themselves, they are afraid of becoming depersonalized, they are afraid of losing power over their feelings. At the same time, they are afraid of loneliness, punishment, rejection from peers, and failure to cope with their obligations. Natural fears (based on the instinct of self-preservation) also do not disappear. They transform into fear of war, fire, disaster, fear of getting sick. Add to this impressive list previously acquired and not completely eliminated fears, and you will feel that adolescence is problematic not only for parents, but also for the children themselves.

The causes of fear can be a variety of circumstances:

Really traumatic experience received by a child (for example, a dog bite);
- normal growing up (this is how, for example, the natural fear of death appears);
- disruption of relationships with parents ;
- mental illness ;
- other feelings and desires who hide behind fear, like behind a mask (for example, a child is afraid to be alone). Such fear can be true, or it can serve as a tool for influencing parents and controlling their lives.

Only a specialist in this field can fully understand the hidden reasons. It is more important for parents to take into account the factors that contribute to the emergence of fears.

Firstly, overprotectiveness . If parents try to protect the child from all troubles, anticipate all difficulties, worry about him, then accordingly the child begins to perceive the world as incomprehensible, alien and threatening with dangers.

Secondly, adult conversations about illnesses and misfortunes . If adults in the family are prone to pessimism and themselves see in life primarily troubles and difficulties (which is expressed in frequent conversations about misfortunes and illnesses, both their own and those of others), then, naturally, they will not teach their child cheerfulness. After all, small children perceive the big world through the prism of their parents’ views, and in this case the resulting image does not bode well.

Third, excessive tension and misunderstanding in the family . If conflicts often arise in the family or tension and misunderstanding are felt between family members, then this directly affects the emotional well-being of the child, including the strength and number of fears that arise. The same applies to the situation of parents’ divorce.

Fourthly, parents' lack of confidence in their educational actions . If parents behave too softly, all the time doubting the correctness of their actions in relation to their son or daughter, then this also adversely affects his (her) development. For the psychological well-being of children, it is necessary for parents to be a kind of fortress that confidently limits the scope of freedom and at the same time reliably protects. Otherwise, the child develops internal “limitations” in the form of fears.

Fifthly, lack of communication with peers . In children who have the opportunity to play with peers, fears are less likely to reach a pathological level. This is probably explained by the fact that in joint games, children of the same age involuntarily turn to the topic of the most pressing fear for them and thus give free rein to their emotions and at the same time receive group support.

So before you begin to directly work to reduce (or eliminate) fears in your son or daughter, try to identify all the circumstances that may influence the occurrence of this emotion and take appropriate measures to change them.

If you have already taken care of this, then you can move on to special ways of working with fears.

Let’s immediately make a reservation that the gaming methods presented in this article will help you cope with the natural (ordinary) fears of children. If fear is already expressed at a pathological level, that is, it takes extreme forms (the child is completely unable to control it, this emotion adversely affects the character, interferes with normal relationships with other people, does not allow one to adapt well to social conditions, etc.) , then it is better to consult a professional psychologist, and possibly a child psychiatrist.

At all play (and its analogues such as drawing and fantasy) gives the child an excellent opportunity to master his fear. In the game, every little coward is able to experience his fear again, as if in make-believe, and thus reduce the severity of the experience. In the game, nothing prevents the child from imagining that he is brave and strong, capable of defeating any enemy (external or internal). While playing, it is easy to portray the image of fear itself, and then from the child’s “master” he will gradually turn into his servant (or at least his partner). In the game, this fear can be changed by adding bright, warm colors or comic details to the image. You can even make your fear very small and feel sorry for it.

In a word, in working with this problem, the game provides a lot of opportunities, and all these methods are completely natural for the child. That is why you can use not even special psychocorrectional games, but folk fun games that do an excellent job of reducing various children's fears and preventing them. You will see this for yourself by analyzing the next few games.

Tag

This is an ancient game that has survived to this day. Perhaps because, in addition to joy, it brings tangible benefits to children, one might say, preventing the fear of attack, injections and physical punishment.

Place chairs and tables around the room in disarray. The driver must insult the player by slapping him on the back or slightly lower. However, he does not have the right to reach the player through a chair or other furniture. Try to “stain” children (or a child) not just symbolically, but by tangibly slapping.

Note. During the game chase, it is useful (and also fun) for the leader to shout out phrases like: “Well, just wait!”, “You’ll get it from me!”, “I’ll catch up and eat you!” - and similar threats, which, of course, are comic, but will help the child get rid of the fear of unexpected influence and fear of punishment in real life.

Zhmurki

As you probably guess, this folk game helps a child cope with fears of darkness and confined spaces. Everyone knows the rules, but if you play indoors, it is better to make some adjustments to them.

Blindfold the child who is playing the role of driver. You can spin it a little to make it more difficult to navigate the space, but this is not recommended for very anxious children or those who have a strong fear of the dark. After this, the players must disperse in different directions. When the driver shouts: “Freeze!” - they should stop in the places where they find themselves and not move anywhere. The driver's task is to find all participants. If this process is delayed, you can help it in this way: all uncaught players begin to clap their hands at the same time. In the next round, the one who was found first becomes the driver.

Note. To prevent the game from becoming boring, during subsequent repetitions you can complicate the conditions by placing barriers in the room from chairs and tables. If you are playing together with a child, then it is better to do it right away, and to maintain the excitement of the game, make sounds from time to time (for example, “Ha!”, “Wow!”, etc.). This will not make the driver’s task any more primitive (after all, he will have to not just approach you, but do it by passing a labyrinth of obstacles).

Hide and seek

The correctional value of this folk game is the same as the previous one. At the same time, it helps to cope to some extent with the fear of loneliness, since the hidden child is left alone for some time.

The rules of this traditional game are simple and known to everyone, so we won’t dwell on them. But it’s worth talking separately about the conditions that make this fun more effective in combating fears.

If your child is afraid of the dark, then you can turn off (or at least dim) the light in the room, leaving it only in the corridor, where there are no convenient “secret” places. Explain this by saying that it is much more difficult to find a person in a dimly lit room than in a brightly lit one. If a child is driving, try to hide in a dark room so that he is forced to look there in search of the player. If you are the driver, then try to make the child want to hide in an unlit room. To do this, when you go in search of a child, look into the dark part of the apartment and portray fear and horror that you are afraid and will never go there. Continue to think out loud that your son (daughter), of course, will never dare to hide there; in general, there is no need to overcome your fear. Your child really won’t torture his beloved dad (mom) like that, forcing him to enter a scary room! Continue to lament in the same spirit. Then, after some time, your baby will certainly want to “torment” his cowardly parent, hiding in a dark room. After all, children love to fight with other people’s shortcomings, and even more so with their parents’.

Note. When you find a child in the role of driver, do not forget to express great joy over the found loss. This emotional reinforcement will come in handy and will reward the baby for the efforts he has made in controlling his own feelings (after all, he had to sit quietly, perhaps in an uncomfortable position, alone in a dark room, or perhaps in a confined space such as a closet or bathroom ).

All three games described above are suitable for both children from two years old and older. Interest in them fades away only towards the end of primary school age, that is, they are extremely universal.

But the games we are going to describe can be used to work with fears in children of a certain age and level of development. So before using them, try to match the requirements of a particular game with the individual characteristics of your child.

"Quick answers to stupid questions"

The main feature of this game is speed. Time restrictions create a stressful situation (albeit a humorous one). Therefore, if your child is afraid of not being on time and being late (for example, to school, for clubs, on an excursion, to finish a test, etc.), then be sure to periodically play this game with him.

Take the ball. The driver throws the ball to the player and asks various “stupid” questions. When the child has the ball, the driver immediately begins to count out loud: one, two, three. If the player does not answer anything before three, he does not receive a point. The one who scores the most points wins.

If you are playing together with a child, then you can agree on the following condition: the child wins if he scores at least five points out of ten possible, that is, he answers five questions out of ten. Immediately explain to your child that there is no need to look for serious or scientific answers, let him say what comes to mind, the main thing is that the answer is relevant to the topic and is not an obvious lie. So, if the driver asks: “Why do the herons have long legs?” - then the player can answer: “So as not to get your stomach wet!” or “Because he lives in a swamp.” To the question: “How far is it to Mars?” There may be such answers: “No further than from Mars to Earth”, “Can’t get there on foot”, etc.

Note. This game not only develops the ability to act quickly in a stressful situation, but also promotes the development of speech, ingenuity and creative thinking.

"Thread of Narrative"

Children usually love this game because it is a joint activity with adults. As you know, monologue in children is less developed than dialogue, so they are happy to involve other participants in composing a common story.

Take a ball of thick thread or braid. Come up with the beginning of a story about a child who was afraid of something. For example, this: “Once upon a time there lived a boy, Petya. He was kind and smart. He had loving parents. Probably, everything would have been fine with Petya if it weren’t for his fears. And he was afraid...” With these words, pass the ball child, leaving the end of the thread in his hand. The child must continue the story and give Petya some fears. Most likely, these will be the child’s own fears or those that he has long experienced.

Sometimes children come up with completely harmless fears, which makes the story humorous. This is also a good option, since there is one step from laughing at small fears to an ironic attitude towards your real fears and it will be done over time. The further course of the game assumes that the participant holding the ball in his hands logically continues the overall story, influencing the course of the plot. The thread remaining in the hands of the players shows how many circles the ball has made. If there are already too many such thread layers, then try to bring the story to an end (preferably a happy one) yourself. If you don’t get a happy ending, then promise your child to continue inventing stories about Pete next time, maybe he’ll have better luck with them.

Note. In this game, your child gets the opportunity to talk openly about his fears and other experiences, while remaining completely safe, because it’s not all about him, but about the coward Petya. You also have complete freedom for creativity and can turn the plot in the right direction, give indirect support to the child (that is, Petya), show that you believe in his strength, and circumstances will certainly arise in which Petya will distinguish himself, show what he is capable of. actually.

"Portrait of My Fear"

Children often find it difficult to draw their fears. Sometimes this feeling is so strong that it seems simply unthinkable for a child to take and reflect on paper all the horrors that torment his soul. In these cases, he may refuse to draw. Difficulties may also arise for other reasons: if the child is ashamed of his fear and does not want to acknowledge it, much less advertise it. Such children usually claim that they are not afraid of anything and offer to draw on a different topic.

Do not be embarrassed by such resistance from the child; this is a manifestation of the natural defense mechanisms of the psyche. There is no need to break them either, just try to create an atmosphere for the child that is safe for his self-esteem and self-esteem. Offer, for example, to draw something that he was afraid of when he was little. Or let him portray something that all children are usually afraid of. If your son or daughter admits their fears, but is afraid to portray them, then you will have to show him (her) an example. Then draw your own fears (which, by the way, is very useful for adults), discuss them with your child. Then next time, maybe he will want to deal with “his dragons.”

Let's assume that the scary picture did appear at the suggestion of your child. This is already the first stage of overcoming fear, and the young artist coped with it! Don't forget to praise him for this, emphasizing that it takes special courage to draw his fears. Now talk about what is drawn. Be interested in everything: what fear wants, how it can influence the child, where he lives, who can defeat him, who the fear is angry with, what he doesn’t like, what he is needed for, etc. You can even try to act out a dialogue between the coward and his fear, where both roles (but sitting on different chairs) will be played by the child himself. During this dialogue, you can guess about the internal causes of fear in your child and its connection with other feelings.

You can complete the portrait of fear as follows. Tell your child in confidence that you know what all fears are afraid of - they are afraid of becoming a laughing stock! They hate it when people laugh at them. After this, solemnly condemn the child's fear to ridicule. "Kara" can be implemented in several ways. For example, add funny details to the image of fear - bows, braids, ridiculous hats, etc. You can redraw the drawing, making a new plot in which the same fear finds itself in an absurd situation, for example, falling into a puddle, and is very embarrassed by this.

Note. If, despite all your efforts, the child does not want to draw his fears himself, then use the following game. It is suitable for both children who experience too much fear and children who are ashamed of this emotion and are trying to cope with it.

"Image of fear"

Ask your child if he knows what an identikit is. Surely he heard that this is a portrait of a person drawn by an artist (or created on a computer). Its peculiarity is that the artist himself never saw his character, but painted a portrait from the words of eyewitnesses. Why are such portraits needed? Your child may guess (or know for sure) that they are used, as a rule, to find a criminal.

A child’s fear can also be called a criminal, since it interfered with his quiet life (or sweet sleep), for example, last night (or remember another date). But then the troublemaker disappeared (after all, the child is not experiencing acute fear at the moment). We need to find him and neutralize him! To do this, imagine that a child comes to the police and writes a statement about a missing scoundrel. He is asked in detail about all the signs of fear. As the story progresses, the adult (that is, the policeman) draws an identikit. Periodically ask your child something like: “Did this fear have a red mustache?” - and at the same time draw a mustache in the drawing. When the child explains to you that there were no such signs, then erase the mustache.

Note. The more fun details you can include in the image, the better. However, try to maintain the seriousness of the game, because in fact you are now influencing the child’s inner world. But only he himself has the right to laugh at his fears. So remain a focused “guardian of the law”; it’s better to let your child laugh at what is happening and at your lack of understanding.

"Fear and the Sculptor"

This game will be especially useful for your child if, during previous games and conversations, you have noticed that his feeling of fear is associated with other strong feelings, such as anger and anger. Here he will have the opportunity for emotional release.

Tell your child a short story, which you will then dramatize. For example, this one.

"The sculptor Denny lived in one city. He was a real master and sought to immortalize in sculpture everything he saw around him. His collection included completely different images - the most beautiful girls in the city, and feeble old men, and evil trolls, who, according to legend, , inhabited the forest outside the city. As soon as he encountered a new image, he immediately tried to embody it in stone or plaster. But such images became fewer and fewer.

And then one day he sat, thinking, in his workshop. Dusk was deepening. The sky became gloomy and menacing. Denny's soul was filled with doubts and worries. And suddenly he felt fear take over his heart. It was so strong that it threatened to turn into horror. Denny got up and wanted to run away, but realized that he would be even worse on the street.

They say fear has big eyes. So it began to seem to Denny that in a dark corner of the workshop he saw the shining eyes of a terrible monster. "Who are you?" - the frightened Denny barely exhaled. A terrible laugh was heard in the silence. Then the answer was heard: “I am your fear, great and invincible!” The sculptor was speechless with horror. It seemed that he was about to lose consciousness.

But suddenly an interesting thought occurred to him - maybe he could mold this fear out of clay? After all, such a creepy image had never been in his collection! Then he plucked up his courage and asked: “Mr. Fear, have you ever posed for an artist?” Fear was completely lost. “What?” he asked. “Before you completely take over my mind, let me mold you from clay so that everyone will fear and recognize you,” suggested the master. The monster did not expect such a turn of events and mumbled: “Okay, go ahead, just quickly!” Work has begun. Denny took the clay and got to work. Now he was collected and focused again.

Since it was getting completely dark, I had to turn on the light. Imagine Denny's surprise when he was able to get a better look at the monster. It was not even a monster, but rather a small monster, puny, as if it had not eaten for a week. This made him shudder a little, probably guessing what Denny was thinking. And the master shouted at him: “Don’t twitch, otherwise the sculpture will come out crooked!” Fear obeyed.

Finally the sculpture was ready. And Denny suddenly realized that he was not at all afraid of this monster, his fear suddenly became not scary. He looked at the monster huddling in the corner and asked: “Well, what are we going to do?” The Scarecrow also realized that they were no longer afraid of him here. He sniffed and said: “I guess I’ll go.” “Why did you come?” - Denny asked. “Yes, it’s boring to be alone!” - answered the monster. So they parted. And Denny's collection was replenished with a new unusual sculpture. Everyone around was surprised at its originality, and Denny looked at his creation and thought that skillful hands and a smart head could cope with not such horrors.”

After you tell this legend, talk to the child, find out if he liked it, what surprised him, pleased him, upset him?

If the child is not too tired after this, then you can immediately move on to the second stage of the work - acting out the story. If you feel tired, it is better to do it the next day.

Let the child be a master. Start reading this fairy tale again (with abbreviations possible), and the child will try to depict everything he hears about. When you get to the point where the monster appears in the workshop, try dimming the lights. Then, when work on the sculpture begins, you turn it on again, and the child sculpts the image of fear as he imagines it from plasticine.

Note. The description of this game is quite long, but it's worth it. After all, here, in a single harmonious action, several methods of influencing the child’s psyche are combined in order to eliminate fear. The story itself is a typical psychotherapeutic tale. Notice how the listener's attitude to what is happening changes in it: from the peak culmination of fear and drama of the story to ridicule and even sympathy. When a child plays the role of a master in this skit, this is also the use of a psychotherapeutic technique. And finally, he sculpts a sculpture of his fear from plasticine, and this is the third method of correction, when the child creates a visual image of a feeling, gets the opportunity to control and change it. So spare no time and effort on such complex psychotherapeutic games. By the way, you can come up with similar simple stories yourself as a plot to repeat the game at another time.

"Screen tests"

This is a universal game that can be used to solve many problems. Here we will look at how to help your child overcome their fears using this game.

Help your child imagine that he is trying his hand at acting. The screenwriter (that is, you) will now introduce him to the plot of the future film. Then the young artist will try to reproduce the action. If, in addition to him, other people must take part in it, then he can either play for them himself, or use dolls or some toys.

But in coming up with stories, you will have to be creative. It should be based on a story that actually happened to a child and caused him fear, or an event that is not in the life experience of your son or daughter, but nevertheless the child is afraid of it. If, for example, your child is afraid of getting lost in a crowded place, then you can act out such a scene.

Mom and her son (daughter) went to the store. In a huge department store, the mother looked at the display window, and the child stopped near the toy he liked. So they lost sight of each other. The mother was very worried about her baby, she began rushing around the store looking for him. At first the child was also confused, he even wanted to cry, but then he thought that this was unlikely to help him find his mother. Then he approached the seller and said that he was lost. The seller asked his name and made an announcement over the speakerphone. “Attention, attention!” said the announcer. “The boy Roma (the girl Sveta) has lost his mother and is waiting for her in the jewelry department.” An excited woman ran to this department literally a minute later. She was in a panic. And what did she see? The baby was calmly waiting for her, looking at the decorations. She hugged her son (daughter) and burst into tears. The child began to console his mother that nothing bad had happened, and the seller told her how calmly and bravely her son behaved. Mom was very proud of her child, because he behaved just like an adult.

Let your child play the role of essentially himself, and you can act as his absent-minded mother. Then try not to skimp on the delight and feeling of pride at the end of the story, let the child feel such a reward in the game, so that later he can strive for it in real life.

This same fear of getting lost can be “acted out” in a skit where your child will help a lost baby, that is, initially play the hero. You can take a small doll to play the role of a crying baby. This way, your son or daughter will more easily feel responsibility for the younger one and their advantage in self-control and search for solutions.

You can come up with similar everyday stories yourself so that you and your child can use them to combat his real (not fictitious) fears.

Note. With the help of this game, you will be able to implement the so-called prevention of the problem, since, by playing a role in a scene you have invented, the child learns one or another strategy of behavior in a difficult situation. Therefore, if he suddenly really finds himself in it, then it will be easier for him to behave as he already did once, albeit in a playful version.

Children's fears and ways to correct them in preschool children

Shchipitsina Marina Ivanovna, educational psychologist, MBDOU "Savinsky kindergarten", village of Savino, Perm Territory, Karagay district.
Description of material: I bring to your attention games selected for parents to correct children's fears. As a rule, the correction of fears is carried out to a greater extent by parents, so parents need to try different methods of working with their child’s fears. The material will be useful to parents of preschool children, teachers and psychologists of preschool educational institutions.

Target– Relieving fears in children
Tasks:
1.Develop social trust.
2. Develop inner freedom and looseness.
3. Help in overcoming negative experiences.

Fear is a mental state associated with a pronounced manifestation of asthenic feelings (anxiety, restlessness, etc.) in situations of threat to the biological or social existence of an individual and aimed at the source of real or imaginary danger.
Children's fears are a topic that is carefully studied by psychologists, doctors, and teachers, but not fully studied. Children are afraid of injections and dragons, dogs and the giant who lives under the bed, loud noises and moths...
Causes of children's fears: multi-traumatic situation, authoritarian behavior of parents, impressionability, suggestibility, stress, illness. Children often develop situational fears due to unexpected touching, too loud a sound, falling, etc.
The fact that the child is afraid indicates the following:
- won’t fall asleep alone, won’t let you turn off the lights;
- often covers ears with palms;
- hides in a corner, behind a closet;
- refuses to participate in outdoor games;
- does not let mom go;
- sleeps restlessly, screams in his sleep;
- often asks to be held;
- does not want to meet and play with other children;
- refuses to communicate with unfamiliar adults who come to the house;
- categorically refuses to accept unfamiliar food.

Verbal and artistic exercises

1. Draw your fear.
The child is asked to draw his fear on an A4 sheet of paper. When the drawing is ready, ask: “What do we do now with this fear?”
2. We come up with a fairy tale.
Together with your children, compose a fairy tale about a magic chest that contains something that conquers all fears. What could it be? Have the children draw it.
3. We come up with and draw a friend.
Ask your child: “Who do you think is not afraid of anyone or anything?” When the child answers,
add up: “Let’s try to draw him (her).”
4. Rainbow of power.
Draw a rainbow on a sheet of watercolor paper and separate small pieces from pieces of plasticine (the primary colors of the spectrum). Invite your child to smear the pieces, repeating out loud: “I am brave,” “I am strong.” “I am brave” - the children repeat, smearing the plasticine with their right hand; “I am strong” - smearing plasticine with his left hand.
5. Where does fear live?
Offer your child several boxes of different sizes and say: “Please make a house for fear and close it tightly.”
6. Let's scare fear.
Invite your child to listen and repeat the poem after you:
Fear is afraid of a flying rocket,
Fear is afraid of cheerful people
Fear is afraid of interesting things!
I will smile and the fear will disappear,
Will never find me again
Fear will be frightened and tremble,
And he will run away from me forever!
The child repeats each line, smiles and claps his hands.
7. Throw out fear.
Children roll a ball out of plasticine, saying: “I’m throwing away fear.” The ball is then thrown into the trash bin.
8. If I were big.
Invite your child to imagine that he has grown up. “How will you drive away fear in children when you yourself become an adult?”
9. Letting go of fear.
Inflate the balloons and give them to the child. Releasing the ball into the sky, repeat; “Balloon, fly away, take your fear with you.” While the ball flies away, repeat the poem.
10. I will feed my fear.
Invite your child to listen and repeat after you the poem one line at a time:
Fear is afraid of sunlight
I'll take three kilograms of buns,
Sweets, cakes and cheesecakes,
Cookies, chocolate,
Jam, marmalade.
Lemonade and kefir,
And cocoa and marshmallows,
Peaches and oranges
And I'll add blue ink.
Fear will eat it all up and behold,
He has a stomach ache.
Cheeks puffed up in fear,
Fear shattered into pieces.
When the child repeats the poem, ask him to draw a picture for it,
11. Burying fear.
Prepare boxes of sand and one large empty box. Make several flat circles out of clay. Ask your child: “What will this fear be called?” (Fear of the dark, fear of noise, fear, “they won’t take me out of the garden,” etc.). After receiving the answer, offer to shackle the fear. When all the fears are buried, place the boxes in a large box and invite the child to draw a guard who will not let the fears out of the box. The box must be hidden in a closet and locked with a key.
12. Magic wand.
Attach a ball of plasticine to the tip of a pencil, coat the pencil with glue, and wrap it in tinsel (rain, foil). Attach beads and seed beads to the plasticine ball. Put the wand down for 5 minutes to “gain the magic.” Learn a “spell” against fear:
I can do anything, I'm not afraid of anything,
Lion, crocodile, darkness - so be it!
The magic wand helps me
I am the bravest, I know it!
Repeat the “spell” 3 times, circle the “magic wand” around yourself.
13. Finger puppet theater.
Act out scenes in which one of the dolls is afraid of everything, and the others help her cope with her fear. You should ask children what options for dealing with fear they can offer, encourage them, and come up with as many options as possible.
14. Let's trample fear.
Spread three sheets of Whatman paper on the floor. Pour boys' paints into plastic plates. Invite your child to step into the paint and walk through whatman paper with words; “Now I’ll trample on fear, I want to become brave!”
15. Invite your child to listen and repeat the poem after you:
Shouting exercise:
I clap (clap my hands)
I stomp (I stomp my feet),
I growl loudly (pronounce “r-r-r”),
I drive away fear (wave hands)
16. We come up with a horror story.
You start the story, and the child adds one sentence at a time. For example: “It was a terrible night...
a big dog came out for a walk... She wanted to bite someone...”, etc. The parent should end the horror story funny; “Suddenly a large bowl of ice cream came down from the sky. The dog wagged its tail, and everyone saw that it was not at all angry, and they gave it a lick of ice cream.”
17. We write to the wizard Dobrosil.
Draw your fear and write: “Wizard Dobrosil, turn my fear into... (globe, candy, rainbow, dragonfly...). Seal letters in envelopes. Bring the child the answer.
18. We are brave and friendly.
Children stand in a circle, holding hands, and repeat the poem line by line after the psychologist, raising their hands up at the end of each line.
I'm not afraid of anything with a friend
Neither darkness, nor wolf, nor blizzard,
No vaccinations, no dog,
Not a bully boy.
Together with my friend I am stronger
I'm braver with my friend.
We will protect each other
And we will conquer all fears!

Theatrical sketches.

An improvised screen can be made from 2 chairs and a blanket, the characters are toys.
19. Sketch of a terrible dream.
A boy or girl goes to bed, and suddenly... something scary appears in a dark corner (providence, wolf, witch, robot - it is advisable for your child to name the character himself). The “monster” must be portrayed as funny as possible. The child doll is afraid, trembles (all emotions should be greatly exaggerated), and then he himself or with the help of the mother doll turns on the light. And then it turns out that the terrible monster is just a curtain fluttering in the wind, or clothes thrown on a chair, or a flower pot on the window...
20. Study of a Thunderstorm
It happens in a country house or in a village. The doll child goes to bed and is just falling asleep when suddenly a thunderstorm begins. Thunder rumbles, lightning flashes. Thunder is not difficult to convey, and lightning does not have to be shown, just saying it is enough. By the way, speaking (and not just demonstrating events and actions on a screen) in therapeutic sketches is extremely important. The child-doll is shaking in horror, chattering his teeth, maybe crying. And then he hears someone whining pitifully and scratching at the door. This is a small, chilled and frightened puppy. He wants to enter a warm house, but the door just won’t budge. The “child” feels sorry for the puppy, but on the other hand, it’s scary to open the door to the street. For some time these two feelings fight in his soul, then compassion wins. He lets the puppy in, calms him down, takes him to his crib, and the puppy peacefully falls asleep. In this sketch, it is important to emphasize that the “child” feels like a noble defender of the weak. It is advisable to find a small toy dog ​​so that it is noticeably smaller than a child doll.
You can act out these and similar scenes with your child, and if he refuses at first, make him a spectator. The best thing is when the adults become the audience, and the child is the only “actor” playing different roles in turn.
21. Sketch based on a scene from the cartoon “A Kitten Named Woof.”
Invite your child to “go” to the cartoon “A Kitten Named Woof.” A kitten climbed into the attic during a thunderstorm and sits there alone, trembling with fear. Everything around is roaring, but he doesn’t run away and even invites his friend, the puppy Sharik, to be afraid together. Discuss the characters' actions and then act out the scene.
22. Game “Bee in the Dark”
“The bee flew from flower to flower (chairs of different heights, cabinets, etc. are used). When the bee flew to the most beautiful flower with large petals, she ate nectar, drank dew and fell asleep inside the flower (a table is used that a child climbs under). Night fell imperceptibly, and the petals began to close (the table is covered with cloth). The bee woke up, opened her eyes and saw that it was dark around. She remembered that she remained inside the flower and decided to sleep until the morning. The sun rose, morning came (the matter is removed), and the bee began to have fun again, flying from flower to flower.”
The game can be repeated, increasing the density of matter, that is, the degree of darkness.
23. Exercise “Swing”.
The child sits in the “fetal” position: he raises his knees and lowers his head to them, his feet are firmly pressed to the floor, his hands are clasped around his knees, his eyes are closed. The adult stands behind him, puts his hands on the child’s shoulders and carefully begins to slowly rock him. The child should not “cling” with his feet to the floor and open his eyes. You can wear a blindfold. The rhythm is slow, the movements are smooth. Perform the exercise for 2 - 3 minutes.
24. “Tumbler” (for children from 6 years old).
Two adults stand at a distance of a meter, facing each other, with their hands out in front. Between them stands a child with his eyes closed or blindfolded. He is given the command: “Don’t take your feet off the floor and feel free to fall back!” The outstretched arms catch the falling person and direct the fall forward, where the child is again met by the outstretched arms of an adult. This swaying continues for 2 - 3 minutes, while the amplitude of the swaying may increase. Children with severe fears perform the exercise with their eyes open, the amplitude of the swing is minimal at first.
25. Game “In a dark hole”
In the room where the child is, turn off the light for 3 to 5 minutes, as if by mistake. Invite your child to imagine that he is in a mole's hole. A firefly hurries to visit him with his magic lantern. A child who is afraid of the dark is chosen to play the role of the firefly. "Firefly" with the help of his magic lantern (use any pre-prepared lantern) helps children reach the illuminated place.
26. Game "Shadow"
Calm music sounds. The children are divided into pairs: one child is the “traveler”, the other is his “shadow”. The “Shadow” tries to accurately copy the movements of the “traveler” who walks around the room, makes various movements, unexpectedly turns, crouches, bends down to “pick a flower,” pick up a “beautiful pebble,” nods his head, jumps on one leg, etc.

Valentina Pizhugiida
Fear therapy and its use in correcting fears of preschool children

INTRODUCTION

In a situation of social instability, the modern child is faced with many unfavorable factors that can not only slow down the development of the individual’s potential, but also reverse the process of its development. Therefore, much attention to the problem fear is given in the works of domestic psychologists and psychotherapists, who note an increase in the number children with a variety of fears, increased excitability and anxiety.

Children's fears to one degree or another due to age features and are temporary. However, those children's fears, which persist for a long time and are difficult for the child to experience, speaks of the child’s nervous weakness, incorrect parental behavior, conflictual relationships in the family, and in general are a sign of trouble. Most of the reasons, as psychologists note, lie in the area of ​​family relationships, such as connivance, inconsistency in upbringing, a negative or too demanding attitude towards the child, which creates anxiety in him and then forms hostility towards the world.

The child’s psyche is characterized by heightened susceptibility, vulnerability, and inability to withstand adverse influences. Neurotic fears appear as a result of prolonged and insoluble experiences or acute mental shocks, often against the background of painful overstrain of nervous processes. Therefore neurotic fears require special attention from psychologists, teachers and parents, since in the presence of such fears the child becomes constrained and tense. His behavior is characterized by passivity, and affective isolation develops. In this regard, the issue of early diagnosis of neurotic disorders arises. fears.

Recently, issues of diagnostics and correction of fears have acquired importance due to their fairly wide spread among children. In connection with the above, there is an urgent need for an integrated approach to solving the problem correction of children's fears fears

Fears, emotional disturbances are susceptible corrections and pass without consequences children under ten years old. Therefore, it is extremely important to contact a specialist in a timely manner and take measures to overcome the child’s phobias. In this regard, the most relevant task for practical psychology and pedagogy is to find the most effective ways to identify and overcome a child’s mental ill-being.

CHILDREN'S FEARS IN PSYCHOLOGICAL AND PEDAGOGICAL LITERATURE

Psychologists of the 20th century saw the cause of anxiety in the development of civilization and the huge flow of information that falls like an avalanche on people. Modern psychology views anxiety as a social phenomenon.

Scientist K. Izard explains the difference between the terms « fear» And "anxiety" like this way: Anxiety is a combination of certain emotions, and fear is just one of them. Russian psychologist A.I. Zakharov believes that fear is one of the fundamental human emotions that arises in response to a threatening stimulus.

A.I. Zakharov notes that fear can develop in a person at any time age: y children from 1 year to 3 years nocturnal fears, in the 2nd year of life, most often manifests itself fear of unexpected sounds, fear of loneliness, fear of pain(and related fear medical workers). At 3 – 5 years old for children are characterized by fears of loneliness, darkness and closed space. From 5 to 7 years old the leader becomes fear of death. From 7 to 11 years old children are most afraid “not to be someone who is well spoken of, respected, appreciated and understood” Each child has certain fears. However, if there are a lot of them, then we can talk about manifestations of anxiety in the child’s character. To date, a definite point of view on the causes of anxiety has not yet been developed.

Fears can be conditionally divided into situational and personally determined. Situational fear occurs in an unusual, extremely dangerous or shocking environment for the child. Personally determined fear predetermined by a person's character, For example his tendency to experience anxiety, and may appear in a new environment or during contacts with unfamiliar people. And in fear, and anxiety has a common emotional component in the form of feelings of excitement and worry, that is, they reflect the perception of threat or lack of a sense of security.

Otherwise the situation will be children with emotional distress. Their fear, as a rule, is not associated with any objects or situations and manifests itself in the form of anxiety, causeless, pointless fear. If a fearful child finds himself in a difficult situation, he begins to behave in an unpredictable "way. In this case, the most insignificant objects and situations are fixed by the child, and it is these that he subsequently begins to fear. The stronger the emotional distress of the child, the greater the possibility of situations arising that cause interaction difficulties child with the outside world. The child becomes insufficiently contacted, anxious, and experiences a variety of persistent fears; he has inadequate self-esteem. Other children, on the contrary, begin to display aggressive behavior, but the strength and form of their actions may be a completely inadequate response to the situation.

Anxiety is an emotional experience, and anxiety is a psychological feature, a stable property of a person, a characteristic trait for him.

Fear- a mental state that arises on the basis of the instinct of self-preservation as a reaction to real or imagined danger. Fear has many reasons, both subjective (motivation, emotional-volitional stability, etc., and objective) (features of the situation, complexity of tasks, interference, etc.). S. manifests itself both in individuals and in groups and large masses. The degree and forms of its manifestation are varied, but this is primarily the area of ​​individual psychology. There are various forms fear: fright, fear, affective fear is the strongest. Fear, arising due to serious emotional distress, may have extreme forms of expression (horror, emotional shock, shock, protracted, difficult to overcome course, complete lack of control by consciousness, adverse impact on the formation of character, on relationships with others and adaptation to the outside world .

Majority children starting from 3 years old they are afraid of age: stay alone in a room, apartment; bandit attacks; get sick, become infected; die; death of parents; some people; dad or mom, punishment; fairy-tale characters (Baba Yaga, Koschey, etc., being late for kindergarten; scary dreams; some animals" (wolf, dog, snake, spider, etc.); transport (car, train); natural disaster; heights; depths; closed space; water; fire; fire; blood; injections; doctors; pain of unexpected sharp sounds. Average Girls have more fears than boys. Most sensitive to fears children 6-7 years of age.

For a long time, psychologists and psychiatrists L. A. Petrovskaya, T. M. Mishina, A. S. Spivakovskaya emphasized that one of the most common reasons for the appearance of children fears is improper upbringing of a child in the family, difficult family relationships. Thus, representatives of various theoretical directions in psychology and pedagogy agree on the recognition of the negative impact of disturbed intrafamily relationships on the mental development of the child. Among the reasons for the formation and development of various pathological character traits and neurotic symptoms lying in the family area are: following: intra-family conflicts; inadequate educational positions of parents; disruption of the child’s contact with his parents due to family breakdown or the long absence of one of the parents; early isolation of the child from the family environment; personal characteristics of parents and some others. Inappropriate parental behavior leads to the destruction of emotional contact with the environment, which in Russian psychology is considered as one of the mechanisms for the formation and development of personal anomalies.

It should be noted that fearfulness and fear in preschool age are not a stable character trait and are relatively reversible with an adequate approach to them from adults. However, the importance of actively working with children fears are due to that in itself fear capable of exerting a pathogenic influence on the development of various spheres of personality. K. D. Ushinsky noted that exactly fear capable of provoking a person to commit a base act, disfigure him morally and kill his soul.

In connection with the above, there is an urgent need for an integrated approach to solving the problem correction of children's fears, in particular, family involvement. This work can be expressed both in familiarizing parents with the results of the study in an acceptable form, and in sending parents for consultation with a specialist on family issues. This approach can affect not only the external aspects of manifestation fears, but also on the circumstances that give rise to it.

The origins of anxiety should be sought in early childhood. Already in the second year of life it can arise as a result of improper upbringing. As already noted, for children The second year of life is characterized by a heightened indicative reaction to novelty. Emotionally negative impressions from early childhood can cause anxiety and the formation of such undesirable character traits as cowardice. Adults should not provoke fears leading to anxiety. Prevention of anxiety is a sensitive, attentive attitude towards the child, protecting his nervous system.

For little ones children everything is real, therefore, them fears are also real. Baba Yaga is a living creature living somewhere nearby, and Uncle is just waiting to take them into the bag if they don’t listen to their parents. Only gradually does the objective nature of ideas develop when they learn to distinguish sensations, cope with feelings and think abstractly - logically. The psychological structure also becomes more complex fears along with the emerging ability to plan one’s actions and anticipate the actions of others, the emergence of the ability to empathize, a sense of shame, guilt, pride and pride.

Egocentric, based on the instinct of self-preservation, fears are complemented by socially mediated ones, affecting the life and well-being of others, first parents and caregivers of the child, and then people outside the sphere of his direct communication. The differentiation process considered fear in historical and personal aspects - this is the path from fear to anxiety, which can already be discussed in the senior preschool age and which, as a socially mediated form fear acquires special importance in school age.

In different civilizations, children in their development experience a number of common fears: V preschool age - fear of separation from mother, fear of animals, darkness, at 6-8 years old - fear of death. This serves as evidence of general patterns of development, when maturing mental structures under the influence of social factors become the basis for the manifestation of the same fears. To what extent will this or that be expressed? fear and whether it will be expressed at all depends on the individual characteristics of mental development and the specific social conditions in which the formation of the child’s personality occurs.

Fear, anxiety children can cause neuropsychic overloads constantly experienced by the mother due to forced or deliberate substitution of family roles (primarily the role of the father). Thus, boys and girls are afraid more often if they consider the mother, and not the father, to be the main one in the family. A working and dominant mother in the family is often restless and irritable in her relationships with her children, causing them to respond with anxiety. The dominance of the mother also indicates the insufficiently active position and authority of the father in the family, which makes it difficult for boys to communicate with him and increases the possibility of transmission of anxiety on the part of the mother. If boys are 5-7 years old in an imaginary game "Family" choose the role not of a father, as most of their peers do, but of a mother, then they have more fears.

WAYS CORRECTION OF CHILDREN'S FEARS

Correction is a special form of psychological and pedagogical activity aimed at creating the most favorable conditions for optimizing the mental development of the child’s personality and providing him with special psychological assistance.

Subject corrections most often they are mental development, the emotional-personal sphere, neurotic states and neuroses of the child, interpersonal interactions. Organizational forms may vary correctional work - lecture-educational, advisory-recommendation, actually correctional(group, individual).

Especially widespread in correctional work uses leading activity children. IN preschool age- this is a game in its various varieties (plot, didactic, action, dramatization game, director's).

Important place in correctional work is assigned to artistic activity. Main directions correctional influences by means art:

1) exciting activities;

2) self-disclosure in creativity.

Correction through drawing. Drawing is a creative act that allows children to feel the joy of accomplishment, the ability to act on inspiration, to be themselves, freely expressing their feelings and experiences, dreams and hopes.

By identifying himself with positive and strong, self-confident heroes, the child struggles with evil: cuts off the dragon's head, protects loved ones, defeats enemies, etc. There is no place for powerlessness, the inability to stand up for oneself, but there is a feeling of strength, heroism, that is fearlessness and the ability to resist evil and violence.

Drawing is inseparable from emotions of pleasure, joy, delight, admiration, even anger, but not fear and sadness.

Correction through play therapy. According to A. Ya. Varg, play therapy is often the only way to help those who have not yet mastered the world of words, adult values ​​and rules, who still look at the world from the bottom up, but in the world of fantasies and images are the ruler.

Correction through fairy tale therapy. In the practice of fairy tale therapy, three options are used: dolls: puppets (very easy to make, they can be without a face, which gives the child the opportunity to fantasize); finger puppets; shadow theater dolls (used mainly for working with children's fears).

There are several methods of working with fairy tale: analysis, storytelling, rewriting, composing new fairy tales.

Reviving your fear, while playing with it, the child unconsciously imprints on the fact that he can control his own fear. The child is asked to come up with a story about his fear, play her.

Correction through individual and group classes.

OVERVIEW OF DIAGNOSTIC TECHNIQUES

Children's fears represent a hierarchical structure of different nature and intensity fears, which are determined by the characteristics of the child’s personality, individual experience, attitudes accepted in a given society, as well as those common to all people age and gender patterns. Speaking of children's fears and their manifestations, it is necessary to understand what is considered normal and what is pathology. In psychology, 29 have been identified fears which children may experience from birth until they reach 16 years of age age. For preschoolers are characterized by fears of loneliness, death, attack. About childhood neurosis fear you can also say if the child names any other fears than those that are characteristic according to A.I. Zakharov for his age and gender. For real fearless the child does not exist, but sometimes fears affect him so much that he is no longer able to adequately perceive reality. And then pathology arises in the manifestation child's fears.

Modern psychology divides 29 insurance for the following types: obsessive fears, delusional fears, super valuable fears.

Obsessive fears include them: gypsophobia ( fear of heights, claustrophobia (fear of closed spaces, agoraphobia (fear of open spaces, sittophobia (fear of eating) etc. Obsessive children hundreds and thousands of fears; It is certainly impossible to list everything. These fears the child experiences in certain, specific situations, is afraid of the circumstances that may entail them.

Delusional fears are fears, the cause of which is simply impossible to find. How, For example, explain why the child is afraid of the chamber pot, refuses to take this or that food (fruits, vegetables or meat, is afraid to put on slippers or tie shoelaces. Delusional fears often indicate serious deviations in the child’s psyche and can serve as the beginning of the development of autism. Children with delusional fears can be found in neurosis clinics and hospitals, since this is the most severe form.

Fears, associated with certain ideas (as they say, with "fixed ideas", are called overvalued. Initially, they correspond to some life situation, and then they become so significant that the child can no longer think about anything else. To children's super valuable fears include social fears: fear of people around, fear of answering at the board, stuttering.

Children's extra valuable fears are rightfully considered the most common, these are exactly what practicing psychologists encounter in 90% of all cases. On these children often fear"get stuck", and it can sometimes be very difficult to pull them out of your own fantasies. The most fear of death is common. In its pure form this fear appears in 6–7 year olds preschoolers, and older children manifests itself not directly, but indirectly, through other fears. The child understands that death is unlikely to come like this suddenly, unexpectedly, and is afraid to be left alone with the threatening space or circumstances that may lead to it. After all, then something unexpected might happen and no one could help him, which means he might die. Towards indirect children's supervaluable fear death is possible attribute: fear of the dark(in which children's imaginations inhabit terrible witches, werewolves and ghosts, fairy-tale characters, as well as fear of getting lost, attacks, water, fire, pain and sharp sounds.

In this regard, the issue of early diagnosis of children fears and becomes important in view of their rather wide spread among children.

Let us consider existing psychodiagnostic methods, in particular the method of identifying children fears A. I. Zakharova and M. A. Panfilova « Fears in the houses» , projective technique of A. I. Zakharov "My fears» , as well as a questionnaire for assessing the level of anxiety by G. P. Lavrentieva and T. M. Titarenko and a questionnaire by P. Baker and M. Alvord, a projective method for studying emotional problems and difficulties in family relationships "Drawing of a family" V.K. Loseva and G.T. Khomentauskas, method of diagnosing emotional state "Silhouette of a Man" L. Lebedeva.

Methodology « Fears in the houses» M. A. Panfilova. The author has produced a unique synthesis of two well-known techniques: modified conversation by A. I. Zakharov and test "Red House, Black House". Modified conversation about fears A. I. Zakharova suggests identifying and clarifying the predominant species fears(fear of the dark, loneliness, death, medical fears, etc. d.). Before helping children overcome fears, it is necessary to find out how exactly they are subject to fears. Find out the whole spectrum fears, it is possible with a special survey, provided there is emotional contact with the child, a trusting relationship and the absence of conflict. ABOUT fears You should ask one of your familiar adults or specialists when playing together or having a friendly conversation. Subsequently, the parents themselves should clarify what exactly the child is afraid of and how afraid it is.

Conversation is presented as a condition for getting rid of fears through playing and drawing them. Start asking about fears according to the proposed list it makes sense children no earlier than 3 years old, questions should be easy to understand in this age. The conversation should be conducted slowly and thoroughly, listing fears and waiting for an answer"Yes" - "No" or "I'm afraid" - "not afraid". The question of whether the child is afraid or not should be repeated only from time to time. This avoids interference fears, their involuntary suggestion. With stereotypical denial of everyone fears are asked to give detailed answers like "I'm not afraid of the dark", but not "No" or "Yes". The adult asking the questions sits next to, not opposite, the child, not forgetting to periodically encourage and praise him for telling it like it is. It is better for an adult to list fears from memory, only occasionally looking at the list rather than reading it.

The child’s cumulative responses are combined into several groups by type. fears, which were formulated by A.I. Zakharov. If a child gives an affirmative answer in three cases out of four or five, then this type fear diagnosed as available. Carrying out this technique (see Appendix 1) is quite simple and does not require special training.

Projective technique "My fears» A. I. Zakharova. After a preliminary conversation updating the child’s memories of what scares him, he is offered a piece of paper and colored pencils. In the process of analysis, attention is paid to what the child drew, as well as to the colors he used in the drawing process. After finishing drawing, the child is asked to talk about what he depicted, i.e., to verbalize his fear. Thus, it is assumed that the child’s active discussion of his feelings in a play setting allows internal resources to change direction from defense to a constructive process of personal change. After which the drawing is wrinkled, torn, and burned. The American psychologist K. Machover believed that the central mechanism of visual activity is projection. In other words, using the materials of visual activity, a person reflects on it the features of his inner world. Therefore, projective techniques are used to identify the most vivid experiences of feeling. fear

Methodology "Silhouette of a Man" L. Lebedeva diagnoses the emotional state of a child by color choice, according to Max Luscher (see Appendix 2). Research by Max Lüscher showed that four colors correspond to four types of self-awareness. A person who prefers blue is characterized by satisfaction with life, one who chooses red is characterized by cheerfulness, activity, green - a serious attitude towards life, stability, light yellow - cheerfulness, openness. Besides, "blue" strive for unity, need agreement, "red" strive for success and the opportunity to influence the environment. Those who prefer green (M. Luscher believes that this color is in his test "cold", strive for security and stability (power, knowledge, competence). "Yellow" are committed to change, they need freedom in order to hope for the best. Time also fits within the framework of these four colors. Calm blue corresponds to the length of time, orange-red - the present, green - the current moment "Here and now", and yellow - the future.

According to M. Lusher, L. N. Sobchik, it is important to pay attention to the color range. The choice of primarily brown, gray, black colors indicates a state of severe stress. This may be an objectively extremely difficult situation or a neurotic reaction to life’s difficulties. Feelings highlight phenomena that have stable motivational significance.

Drawings of emotions and feelings are, figuratively speaking, a kind of analogue of the nonverbal form of confession, the revelations of which involuntarily become the property of the psychologist. In the context of interpreting the figure, it is worth paying attention to where exactly such "talking" feelings and emotions: like pain, guilt, resentment, anger, humiliation, fear, revenge.

Informative is "emotional content" vital zones: areas of the brain, neck, chest, abdomen. It may indicate problems that bother a person, but for some reason are not yet realized or are deliberately suppressed.

Methodology "Drawing of a family" G. T. Khomentauskas and V. K. Loseva allows us to track emotional problems and difficulties of relationships in the child’s family, to see his subjective assessment of his place in the family and relationships with other family members.

G. T. Hometauskas in his work “Use of children’s drawings to study intra-family relationships” speaks: “The features of graphic presentations of family members express the child’s feelings towards them, how the child perceives them, which characteristics of family members are significant for him, which ones cause anxiety.”

The test helps to identify the child’s attitude towards his family members, how he perceives each of them and his role in the family, as well as those relationships that cause anxiety in him.

The situation in the family, which the parents evaluate positively, may be perceived by the child in a completely opposite way. Having learned how he sees the world around him, his family, his parents, and himself, you can understand the causes of many of the child’s problems and effectively help him in solving them.

Order of conduct: from a conversation with a child, which is traditionally held after the drawing process itself, it follows to know:

Whose family is depicted in the drawing - himself or some friend, or a fictional character;

Where are the characters depicted and what are they doing at the moment;

What gender is each character and what is their role in the family;

Which of them is the nicest and why, who is the happiest and why;

Who's the saddest (the child himself of all the characters) and why;

If everyone gathered for a car ride, but there was not enough space for everyone, then which one of them would stay at home;

If one of children behave badly how he will be punished.

The questionnaire by the authors P. Baker and M. Alvord advises taking a closer look at the child and makes it possible to see whether the behavior is characteristic preschooler the following signs, criteria for determining anxiety in baby:

1. Constant anxiety.

2. Difficulty, sometimes inability to concentrate on anything.

3. Muscle tension (For example, in the face, neck area).

4. Irritability.

5. Sleep disorders.

It can be assumed that a child is anxious if at least one of the criteria listed above is constantly manifested in his behavior.

Questionnaire by G. P. Lavrentieva and T. M. Titarenko (see Appendix 3) applies in order to identify an anxious child in a peer group.

In kindergarten, children often experience fear separation from parents. It must be remembered that in age two to three years, the presence of this trait is acceptable and understandable. But if a child in the preparatory group constantly cries when parting, does not take his eyes off the window, waiting every second for his parents to appear, special attention should be paid to this.

Availability fear separation can be determined by the following criteria, according to psychologists P. Baker and M. Alvord:

1. Recurrent excessive upset, sadness at separation.

2. Constant excessive worry about loss, about the fact that the adult may feel bad.

3. Constant excessive worry that some event will lead to separation from his family.

4. Constant refusal to go to kindergarten.

5. Permanent fear of being alone.

6. Permanent fear of falling asleep alone.

7. Constant nightmares in which the child is separated from someone.

8. Constant complaints about malaise: headache, abdominal pain, etc. (children, those suffering from separation anxiety, and they can actually get sick if they think a lot about what worries them).

If at least three traits manifested themselves in the child’s behavior over a period of four weeks, then we can assume that the child actually exhibits this type of behavior. fear.

To understand the child, to find out what he is afraid of, what he is experiencing fears, you must ask parents, educators, and teachers to fill out the questionnaire. Answers from adults will clarify the situation and help trace the family history. And observations of the child’s behavior will confirm or refute the assumption. However, before drawing final conclusions, it is necessary to observe the child causing concern on different days of the week, during training and free activities (at play, on the street, in communication with other children.

PROGRAM CORRECTION OF CHILDREN'S FEARS

For the program correction of fears in preschool children the most effective are the following methods:

1. art therapy;

2. reading fairy tales, watching cartoons;

3. aromatherapy;

4. communication with nature.

Let's consider each of them separately.

Art therapy includes painting, appliqué, sand therapy (playing in the sandbox, drawing with sand on a light table, viewing paintings and illustrations, music therapy.

In artistic creativity, a child embodies his emotions, feelings, hopes, fears, doubts and conflicts. Through artistic images, the unconscious interacts with consciousness. In kindergarten she does the following: functions: educational, correctional, psychotherapeutic, diagnostic and developmental. Techniques and techniques should be selected on the basis of simplicity and effectiveness. The process of creating an image should be attractive, so non-traditional visual techniques are possible. TO example, drawing with sand through a light table or finger painting with paints.

Sand therapy classes under the guidance of a psychologist provide answers to many questions parents have regarding the inner emotional world of their child, allows them to reveal and see the true causes of conflicts, fears, and in the future carry out correction!

The sandbox is an excellent mediator for establishing contact with a child. And if he speaks poorly and cannot tell an adult about his experiences, then in such games with sand everything becomes possible. By playing out an exciting situation with the help of small figures, creating a picture of their sand, the child opens up, and adults get the opportunity to see the child’s inner world at the moment. Having been to a sand class once, children dream of coming back again, and more often than not they don’t want to leave at all.

To organize sand therapy will be needed: sand box (sandbox, sand (regular, but sifted, washed and calcined), water, collection of miniature figurines.

For organizing classes on light tables required: light tablet/pallet/table - depending on the room (if the equipment is stationary, then you can have light tables; if you need to clean up after classes, then it is better to purchase tablets/pallets, quartz sand (you can have several options for colored sand for art therapy).

Sand painting has a number of important aspects that do not benefit from the classical painting technique. Drawing with sand develops fine motor skills, improves memory, plastic movements, and brain function. The sand is incredibly pleasant to the touch and gives you the opportunity to truly relax and unwind. It is in this state that stress and internal tension are best relieved, and problems go away. Drawing occurs directly with your fingers in the sand, which promotes the development of sensory sensations, liberates and harmonizes, and also promotes the development of two hemispheres, since drawing is done with both hands.

Corrective The possibilities of musical art in its various combinations in relation to the child are manifested, first of all, in the fact that they act as a source of positive experiences for the child. Music helps to perceive the harmony and disharmony of the world through the sound abstract musical image. According to psychologists, classical music is ideal for a person and his mental state. They say that it is the classics that bring a person’s feelings, emotions and sensations into harmony. Classical music "drives away" sadness, eliminates stress, fears and depression. good example works can serve Tchaikovsky: "Nutcracker", "Swan Lake", "Seasons", "Sleeping Beauty"; Strauss waltzes "Polka in C minor"; as well as Prokofiev's symphonic tale "Peter and the Wolf" and many others.

What are the benefits of fairy tale therapy? It is fairy tales that help children understand how complex and contradictory the world around them is, what vicissitudes can happen in life. Watching the adventures of the heroes, the child assimilates: a person may face injustice, hypocrisy, pain, death, but this is not a reason for despair. Because there is a way out of many difficult situations, and most importantly, there is a place in the world for joy, friendship and love. However, a child is not always able to understand the instructive meaning of fairy tales, so they need to be discussed. Let the child draw his own conclusion – you should not try to ensure that it coincides with the parent’s conclusion. For this method the following will work: literature: Gianni Rodari "Chipolinno", "Pinocchio", fairy tales by Andersen, fables by Krylov, fairy tales by Pushkin, Dragunsky "Deniska's stories", stories by Nosov, Chukovsky. Children also perceive poetry with interest ( For example, Lermontov "Clouds"). Undoubtedly excellent example are Soviet cartoons: "Flying ship", "Swan geese" and many others based on fairy tales.

Aromatherapy is an effective technique. Essential oils from certain plants promote harmony in the body, mind and soul. The purported therapeutic effect lies in their effect on hormones and other important biochemical particles in the body. Children's thoughts and feelings are not subject to logical analysis; there is too much selflessness and emotion in them. Get rid of nighttime fears will help: Myrrh combined with Petite grain. For overexcitement, whims and anger - Ylang-ylang with Valerian. There are a lot of aromas; choosing them requires an individual approach and use with caution.

Communication with nature and walks in the fresh air are very important. They are useful not only for health, but also for the moral satisfaction of the child and his psychological state. The child will listen with interest to the sounds of life (the rustling of leaves, birdsong, the sound of water, watching animals and insects.

The listed methods are more effective in combination. You can combine walks in nature with reading books. Charushin, Bianki, Prishvin described nature in all its manifestations, in all its beauty. Likewise, a good addition to fairy tales would be to look at paintings of famous artists: Vasnetsov "Alyonushka", "Ivan Tsarevich and the Grey Wolf", Vrubel "The Swan Princess" (see Appendix 4).

CONCLUSION

So you can do the following conclusions:

1. Fear plays an important role in a child’s life; on the one hand, it can protect against rash and risky actions. On the other hand, positive and stable fears hinder the development of the child’s personality, fetter creative energy, and contribute to the formation of uncertainty and increased anxiety.

2. Fears inevitably accompany the development of the child and the appearance of various emotional disorders, psychological problems associated with a number of adverse events that occurred in childhood.

3. Prevention fears consists, first of all, in nurturing such qualities as optimism, self-confidence, independence. The child must know what he is supposed to know age, about real dangers and threats, and treat it adequately. Existing methods of reduction and control fear based primarily on learning theory.

4. Correction of fears carried out through play therapy, fairy tale therapy, art therapy, puppet therapy, psychoelevation, individual and group classes, and improving parent-child relationships.

5. Drawing is used in correctional purposes. By drawing, the child gives vent to his feelings and experiences, desires and dreams, rebuilds their relationships in various situations and painlessly comes into contact with some frightening, unpleasant and traumatic images.

6. The importance of being active corrective work with children's fears is due to the fact that in itself fear capable of exerting a pathogenic influence on the development of various areas of the child’s personality.

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