Teenage Anxiety: Learn To Set Boundaries And Take Ownership With Brittany Richmond

Teenage Anxiety From Poor Communication

In today’s ever-changing world, it’s becoming increasingly important for us to understand how to help our students cope and manage anxiety. Anxiety is a real and very common issue among teens, and the fact is, we need to be better prepared to see early signs and offer coping mechanisms. In today’s episode Brittany Richmond, a Youth Speaker and Anxiety Expert, shared her insights on teenage anxiety and how we can better help our students navigate through it.

Brittany explained that a significant issue teens are facing today is people-pleasing. She noted that, often times, teens feel like they have to please everyone, whether it’s their peers, their teachers, their parents, or even their online followers. This leads to unrealistic expectations and an overwhelming sense of pressure, which can be overwhelming and exhausting.

Brittany also shared that teens communicate differently than previous generations. She explained that understanding their own “language” is essential if we want to be able to help them effectively. As education professionals, it’s important that we understand how our students express themselves and the mediums they communicate through.

She also noted the stigma that still exists around mental health. Mental health is still a taboo topic for many, and this makes it difficult for teens to speak up about their feelings. Brittany suggested we work at creating a safe and secure environment in order for students to feel comfortable expressing their issues.

On top of fostering an open environment for discussion, Brittany noted that it’s also important to teach strategies to help students cope with teenage anxiety. She suggested relaxation techniques such as mindfulness and deep breathing. It’s also important to help teens recognize their own triggers and to provide them with the skills to manage them, as well as their reactions to the triggers.

Finally, Brittany suggested teaching teens the importance of self-care. She noted that teens often struggle with feeling overwhelmed and exhausted, and it’s important to help them understand the importance of taking time for themselves and doing things that make them happy and relaxed.

Overall, Brittany offered a lot of great advice on how we can better help our students manage their anxiety.

Brittany Richmond is an energetic, charismatic communicator and a mental health expert of 10+ years. Right after high school, Brittany was diagnosed with multiple anxiety disorders (including an impulse control disorder) which led her into the field of counseling and psychology. From there, she has made it her mission to not only end the stigma, but “hug as many young people hurting” as she can with her stories and her voice.

Brittany uses her own battle with mental health to inspire students, but most importantly, let them know that they are not alone; and that there is help and hope. She says, what saved her life in her own mental health battle was learning to lean into the things that brought her joy,  which led to strong offensive coping strategies and creating structure in her daily routine.  Brittany’s energy and knowledge instantly draws students in as she creates a safe place to be vulnerable and compassionate – to connect with students and help them start to build, develop and implement, what she calls, “life-saving” proactive coping strategies.

Brittany is a sought after student influencer and is a popular youth mental health speaker. She has given presentations across the country at conferences, conventions, school assemblies, and other student events. She is one of only about 15 active women speakers in the youth market today!

While Brittany does love speaking and inspiring students, she loves her husband and cats even more! She also loves rockin’ out in her vintage band tees, sequins and leggings while listening to 80s hair bands. If she’s not riding on her Peloton, you might find her at a St Louis Cardinals game, drinking coffee at a local coffee shop, or binge watching Christmas Movies or Gilmore Girls on her couch – she lovingly calls herself, a “hot-mess express, in a good way!” She lives in Green Valley, Illinois with her husband Zach and cat Missy.  

For more info, follow her on Instagram where she loves to hang out with those students she speaks to and continue to help and support them however she can! @thebrittanyrichmond