Back to School Tips | Dealing with Changing Schools | Child Anxiety Expert Counselor Video

By Jim WestPublished On: August 10th, 20110.9 min read

Will I make friends as great as my old friend? Will I make friends at all? Who will I sit with at lunch? Will I connect with my teachers? Will my teachers like me? These questions are valid and parents can help resolve these concerns. Changing schools can be a nightmare for parents and students! The entire family may be affected when a child is forced to transition from one school to another. Often times, changing schools can be so stressful, members of the family may experience a variety of symptoms of depression and anxiety. Students have a number of questions that can only be answered after the transition occurs.
What Parents need to know:
1) It takes children about 6 weeks to settle in to their new environment
2) Children need stability
3) A child may experience symptoms of depression, grief, and anxiety when faced with significant change.
4) Friendships are most important to children, especially teens
Symptoms Parents can look for:
1) Sadness
2) Lack of sleeping and eating
3) Irritable
4) Change in behaviors
What can Parents do?
Read What Parents Can Do here

Jim West

Adolescent Expert, Jim West offers expert advice to Local and National TV News & Schools Internationally and provides phone or face-to-face counseling in the Orlando area. Jim is an Author, Communicator, School Consultant, Nationally Certified and State Licensed Counselor and specializes in counseling for Attention Deficit Hyperactive Disorder (ADD/ADHD) and Oppositional Defiance Disorder (ODD). Jim has been interviewed for multiple TV, Radio, magazine and newspaper articles. He is president of Total Life Counseling Center and his Total Life approach accelerates the therapeutic & healing process by relating to children, adolescents and adults and incorporating wellness. Jim’s clients travel from all over Florida, England, Georgia, Cayman Islands and the Bahamas as he has been able to treat clients with ADHD, Anxiety, Mood Disorders, Depression and more with FDA approved supplements and Dietary Modifications. 85% of his clients have not needed medication or used less medication than when they first came to Total Life Counseling Center.

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Total Life Counseling Center consists of Licensed Counselors, masters level therapists, Español counselors, Licensed Mental Health Counselors, business coaches, and image enhancement coaches who provide counseling for emotional, mental, physical and spiritual care including marriage, individual, family, substance abuse and more. TLC’s family, trauma and marriage experts have been interviewed on National and Local TV/Radio over 200 times for their expert advice on Fox News, OWN, WETV, ABC’s Medical Minute and more. Our skilled counselors are relational, approachable and specialists providing therapy services in the Central Florida area including: Orlando, Winter Park, MetroWest, Windermere, Dr. Phillips, East Orlando, Lake Mary, and Clermont, Boca Raton Florida, and Dallas, TX.