Performance anxiety and the gifted teenager: role of the school psychologist

Paper

<p style="text-align: justify;">It is developmentally functional and normal for teenagers to be especially aware of their functioning in social surroundings as if they were on a stage, performing for an imaginary audience. This increased awareness can be related to anxiety – especially in evaluation and/or performance situations. For many reasons, some gifted students seem to be especially vulnerable to dysfunctional and developmentally harmful performance anxiety.</p>

<p style="text-align: justify;">Gifted students, their parents and even teachers daily seek counselling about different anxiety related symptoms: mental blockages during written or oral examinations, paralyzing stage fright, panic attacks and psychosomatic seizures (during school, at home), phobias and obsessive-compulsive issues in development, sleeplessness, fear of possible disappointment etc.. Issues are mostly related to and enhanced by academic (or other) underachievement - sometimes they are so grave the gifted student drops out of the public school system. Since there is a lack of research on the matter, we presume there are as many approaches to dealing with the issue as there are school counsellors in Slovenia. Finding professional help outside the school is a viable option for some students.</p>

<p style="text-align: justify;">In case of reoccurring difficulties, support of (external) clinical experts is essential, but the paper argues that sometimes on-site intervention(s) of a trained school psychologist or even a teacher can be sufficient – perhaps even more efficient. The role of a school psychologist exceeds supporting recuperation. The paper proposes some possibilities for psychological preventive support for students, parents and teachers, that are feasible within the current system of school counselling in Slovenia.</p>