By Phila. Hebrew Healthy Investigator reporters | It’s important to talk about anxiety, said Tazariah Johnson, therapist for children and teens in the Philadelphia area, in an interview with Healthy Investigator reporters
Anxiety is “a feeling of being worried, nervous, or afraid that something will happen,” according to kids.wordsmyth.net, a children’s online dictionary.
Feelings of anxiety are normal, Ms. Johnson said. The feelings are like an alert system and help you react or prepare for something. For instance, you might be anxious about being in a school play or an upcoming soccer game.
Ms. Johnson offered this example of how someone might experience anxiety: “Imagine you’re in a neighborhood that’s unfamiliar and you are riding a bike or scooter. You hear a dog barking, but you don’t see it. You may feel fearful, you start sweating. You may hyperventilate.”
Anxiety can affect how children behave, how they think, what they remember or what they forget, said Ms. Johnson. It can also give children stomachaches or headaches, make them dizzy or feel tired or short of breath, she said.
Usually, anxious feelings pass. If the feelings continue and get in the way of doing normal things, children should talk to a trusted adult, Ms. Johnson said.
Read more of the Healthy Investigator’s interview with Ms. Johnson below. Her answers have been lightly edited.
Q: Please describe your job.
Ms. Johnson: I am a mental health professional and work at the Resilience Community Counseling Group. I went to school for 10 years to get my degree. I get to work with children and young adults who may be struggling with anxiety and depression and trauma. I talk with them about their struggles and help them. I challenge my clients to think about the world from a different perspective.
Q: How can a little anxiety be a good thing?
Ms. Johnson: Anxiety is needed to help us learn to manage our emotions. They can be good emotions or bad emotions. It teaches us what we may be feeling.
Q: Why should we learn to manage anxiety?
Ms. Johnson: It helps children have a good grounding for mental and physical health. So they can concentrate better, have fewer headaches and stomachaches, and build stronger relationships.
Q: How do you make anxiety go away?
Ms. Johnson: You manage anxiety by learning strategies to live with it and talking about it. You can talk to a friend or you can talk to a teacher
Q: Why do you not do things because of anxiety.
Ms. Johnson: I think it’s because it’s in your mind, it makes your body feel weak. Until you learn to manage the symptoms of anxiety, it can keep you from doing things. People with anxiety may be looked at as lazy, but it’s something you have to work through.
Q: : What are some effective strategies you have seen for helping kids deal with anxiety?
Ms. Johnson: We use a grounding technique called the 5-4-3-2-1 technique. We are going to practice it today. Here is what you do:
- Name 5 things you see.
- Name 4 things you can feel.
- Name 3 things you can hear.
- Name 2 things you can smell.
- Name 1 thing you can taste.
When you feel activated or antsy, it helps you feel present in the moment. Another thing you can do is short but brief physical exercise:
- Stand up
- Start with some stretches. One arm and then the other arm.
- Wiggle it out!
Illustration by Cecilia, 6th grade, Adaire, 2025-2026.
