Reply to Test prep as therapy for test anxiety

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[quote=Anonymous]Does your DD have a therapist for her anxiety? If not, and you can’t get her one for some reason, I’d suggest doing some research on apps like Calm or other online sources. She needs to have a toolkit of ways to prepare herself mentally before—and to regroup during—high-stress situations like exams. Preparation for the test itself will be important, but anxiety has no respect for logic when you’re in the moment.

My DD’s therapist had her work with some classical conditioning techniques for anxiety. She chose a lip balm with a distinct smell. They did some breathing exercises and meditation, then immediately afterwards she was to inhale the scent of the chapstick to link the scent with the feeling. After a number of sessions, she was able to discreetly put on the lip balm while inhaling the scent, and it would enable her to get back to that calm, centered state without drawing attention to herself.

This was for social anxiety, so having something common and easily available like the lip balm was important for her. But your DD might be able to use an essential oil like lavender or peppermint that she could apply to the inside of her wrists before a test. Rubbing the spot with her thumb should reactivate the scent, and wouldn’t violate any testing rules. But the key is to work in advance on strongly associating the scent with a calmer mindset, so it will help her reach that state with just a few deep breaths.

That’s just an example, of course, but with a bit of trial and error, your DD will hopefully find a few thing that work for her. [/quote]

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