The Worry Jar
The Worry Jar is a technique for people, especially children, who suffer from worry and anxiety. It helps kids identify, name and release their worries.
Materials
- Container to Hold Worries
- Paper
- Scissors
- Pen
Instructions
- Cut paper into small strips.
- Write your worries down on the little pieces of paper.
- Fold up the pieces of paper containing your worries, and put them into a jar or container. (This is your Worry Jar.)
- Come back later and look through your worries.(Don't come back 10 minutes later. I'm talking more like a week or a month later, depending on the nature of your worries.)
- Chances are there will be several slips of paper containing worries that either never happened or worked themselves out.You can rip these up and throw them away!
- Repeat with any new worries as they come up.
Notes
- You can use any type of container as a worry jar. Consider a glass jar, wooden box, basket, mug, or other special container.
- You can embellish your worry jar by adding a ribbon or twine bow around the neck of a jar, or painting a wooden box. You could use Mod Podge to cover a box or jar with photos.
- Use the urgency of your worries to dictate how long you wait before you come back to revisit your worries. If your current anxiety triggers have an upcoming deadline (like a test, meeting, or race) you can revisit those worries after that deadline has passed. Otherwise, give your worries more time before you revisit them.