Exam stress, pilots and tea bags…
There was a recent podcast by a newly retired flying instructor who was discussing the importance of focus. He recalled a story of observing two young pilots engaging in a difficult – and risky manoeuvre high above the countryside. He was above the action, upside down, hanging in his straps and straining to ensure he didn’t blackout. At a critical moment, his mind wandered, and he remembered thinking ‘I didn’t buy any tea bags for the crew room’. By his own admission ‘sh*t happens quickly in fast jets and a split second can mean the difference between death, or tea and medals!’ At that point, he knew he had lost his edge, so called off the exercise and returned to base to consider his own decision-making abilities.
This week marks the start of the most pressurised point in school life as the GCSE exams commence. Five years of preparation culminates in what feels – to many young people – like the most daunting experience yet to be faced. This creates anxiety, stress, variable mood, and a schedule that feels relentless. It will come as no surprise that the next six academic weeks are the most challenging for counsellors like us who regularly work with young people in a school environment. It can also be six weeks of communication difficulties, worry and uncertainty for parents too as they try to remain balanced and calm during exam season. To provide awareness of how we can support young people to achieve the best of their abilities, here are three counselling techniques we use on a regular basis.
Being reminded that GCSE exams are just around the corner – we are told by young people – is unnecessary, frustrating and a huge contributor to anxiety. The first point of consideration is calming, followed by breaking down the meaning of the word. This is subjective as it can mean many things to many young people. Often, the phrase overwhelmed is used to describe their feelings – and this is a great opportunity to evaluate obligations and available time. The result of this is usually comes as a surprise, with the young client seeing that with structure, a realistic timetable can offer ample time for revision. Young people can feel torn when not applying themselves exclusively to exam prep, so including self-care and social time within the timetable provides assurance that obligations can be covered.
Another good motivator is the carrot-and-stick approach. We encourage students to rate the level of anxiety between 1 and 9 (one being low and nine being high). We discuss how a level of stress is a good indicator of the importance of the fear; this is followed by rating a level of satisfaction at the thought of completing the job in hand. Usually, the level of satisfaction is higher than the anxiety, proving that the fear is short-term and can be smashed. Reward is an important part of breaking down the negative thoughts; this is a simple form of conditioning whereby we are encouraging the brain to recognise the difficulties while connecting them to positive outcomes.
We like to sell the dream. When young people are exhausted and can’t see beyond Wednesday, we encourage them to cast their mind ahead to leaving school for the very last time. Exploring how this might feel often relaxes body language and stimulates conversation as to how the next few months may look and feel… twelve weeks off is a reassuring thought. We can take this a stage further by exploring how it will feel to open the results envelope and realise that future plans can now be actioned.
What about the tea bags. Where do they fit into assuring and motivating young people to find a sense of balance during their exams? Any fast-jet pilot will tell you that when they prepare for a flight, all unnecessary thoughts must be left in the crew room… so when in the cockpit or in an exam, awareness is on the job in hand. Focus is everything.
For counselling and exam support, focus and anxiety issues, talk to Active Listening Therapies in Newark on Trent. We have over five-years experience of working with students directly across three different schools. There are still some available slots for students to meet us privately and out of school from 4pm each weekday afternoon. Contact us by clicking here
Alternatively email
louise@activelisteningtherapies.com
or
duncan@activelisteningtherapies.com
