Why do we feel scared?

CBT worksheet for understanding fear in children:

This worksheet is designed to help clients understand the ‘fight, flight, and freeze’ responses.

By recognising these instinctive responses, children can understand them as normal reactions to stress, which can help reduce anxiety and foster a healthier approach to managing challenging situations.

References and Further Reading

  • Bracha, H. S. (2004). Freeze, flight, fight, fright, faint: Adaptationist perspectives on the acute stress response spectrum. CNS Spectrums, 9(9), 679-685. https://doi.org/10.1017/S1092852900001954.
  • Steimer, T. (2002). The biology of fear- and anxiety-related behaviors. Dialogues in Clinical Neuroscience, 4(3), 231-249. https://doi.org/10.31887/DCNS.2002.4.3/tsteimer.
  • Keifer Jr., O. P., Hurt, R. C., Ressler, K. J., & Marvar, P. J. (2015). The physiology of fear: Reconceptualizing the role of the central amygdala in fear learning. Physiology, 30(5), 389-409. https://doi.org/10.1152/physiol.00058.2014.