A Practitioners Guide to using Lumi Nova: Digital Therapeutic Intervention for children with anxiety.

Who Lumi Nova is for

Lumi Nova is designed to help children and young people with mild to moderate levels of anxiety. If your child struggles with worry, they may seem to fear the worst in specific situations, they may lack the confidence to cope with new challenges in those situations, and they may even often complain of tummy aches, muscle aches, or headaches in response to a specific worry. 

Lumi Nova is not suitable to help children or young people with complex needs or whose generalised worry prevents them from participating in most day-to-day activities. It is not designed to help young people in crisis.

Lumi Nova is not intended to be used by:

• Young people who do not have parental or carer supervision

• Young people who are currently experiencing suicidal thoughts or are at risk of self harm (unless supported by a mental healthcare professional)

• Young people that have severe anxiety or are in crisis (unless supported by a mental healthcare professional)

• Young people with severe mental health symptoms or diagnoses (unless supported by a mental healthcare professional)

• Young people with disabilities preventing them from using a mobile device

  See Instructions For Use.

What to do if your child starts feeling worried/anxious during in-game challenges.

It is normal for your child to show some level of worry while they attempt in-game challenges. 

You can help them manage their worries by encouraging them to talk to you about what worries them, by listening openly, and by taking their fears seriously. Try to guide your child to support themselves rather than providing all the support they need. 

You can do this by asking open-ended questions, like: 

“How do you feel right now?” 

“Why do you think you feel worried?” 

“What do you think will make you feel less worried?” 

You can even ask them to decide how likely it is that what they worry about will really happen.

When you talk with your child, avoid giving reassurance like “It will be okay” or “That will never happen,” and try not to tell them what they should do to overcome their worry.

Your role is to help them figure out how to cope with the worry themselves and to learn that they can get through it with their own bravery and strength. You can remind them that you’ll be there alongside them to cheer them on while they tackle their worries. 

If you notice that your child seems too worried to complete an in-game challenge, it’s ok to pause and ask them some of these questions immediately.

If they are feeling too worried to talk about it immediately, do your best to stay calm and model calming strategies, like taking a deep breath, repeating a positive mantra (like “I am strong and brave!”), or even thinking about something that makes you happy for a moment. 

Encourage your child to take a short break if they need to, but try to find a time to talk with them about their worries and to try the challenge again soon. The longer they wait to try again, the more likely that their worries will grow instead of diminish. 

If taking a few deep breaths or a short break does not help your child calm down and they or you need more support, you can contact Anxiety UK:

Anxiety UK Helpline: 03444 775 774 

Anxiety UK Text support: 07537 416 905

What to do if your child starts feeling worried/anxious during real life challenges.

It is normal for your child to show some level of worry while they attempt real life challenges. Your child will likely have some difficulty confronting their fears with these challenges. You can encourage them to take each step, but be sure it is their choice to participate when they feel ready. 

You can help them manage their worries by encouraging them to talk to you about what worries them, by listening openly, and by taking their fears seriously. 

Try to guide your child to support themselves rather than providing all the support they need. You can do this by asking open-ended questions, like: 

 “How do you feel right now?” 

“Why do you think you feel worried?” 

“What do you think will make you feel less worried?” 

You can even ask them to decide how likely it is that what they worry about will really happen. 

When you talk with your child, avoid giving reassurance like “It will be okay” or “That will never happen,” and try not to tell them what they should do to overcome their worry.

Your role is to help them figure out how to cope with the worry themselves and to learn that they can get through it with their own bravery and strength. You can remind them that you’ll be there alongside to cheer them on while they tackle their worries.

Some real life challenges may take place in school when you aren’t present. In these cases, it may help to talk with your child ahead of time about what they can do when they feel worried.

Some strategies to practice include:  

Belly breathing: Put your hands on your belly, breathe in deeply through your nose, and then blow out slowly through your mouth 5 times in a row. 

Self-hug: Squeeze your own arms or shoulders like you’re giving yourself a hug

Positive mantra: Repeat an encouraging phrase like “I am strong and brave!”

Thought break: Imagine being somewhere else doing something that makes you happy for a moment

If you notice that your child seems too worried to complete a real life challenge while you’re with them, it’s ok to pause and ask them some of these questions immediately.

If they are feeling too worried to talk about it immediately, do your best to stay calm and model the calming strategies described above.

Encourage your child to take a short break if they need to, but try to find a time to talk with them about their worries and to try the challenge again soon. The longer they wait to try again, the more likely that their worries will grow instead of diminish.

If taking a few deep breaths or a short break does not help your child calm down and they or you need more support to reduce their anxiety quickly, you can contact Anxiety UK:

Anxiety UK Helpline: 03444 775 774 

Anxiety UK Text support: 07537 416 905

If your child’s anxiety around  a real life challenge is longstanding and requires more attention, you can contact your GP to find local mental health support or speak to your child’s school about getting SENCO support.

Training with providers from BFB Labs is a key component of successfully supporting young people and a great opportunity for you to connect with other teachers or clinicians in your area. 

If you were unable to attend: Contact BFB Labs at support@bfb-labs.com about joining another training session.

Lumi Nova is a standalone app so can be used at multiple points such as:

• When a child first presents with difficulties

• As part of the whole school approach

• At point of triage

• Alongside other support

• As ‘step down’ from F2F or other therapeutic support

We recommend children use Lumi Nova a minimum of 1-3 times per week. Only one challenge be completed per day and the game play will automatically conclude after 30 minutes of play per day.

We recommend 6-12 weeks access per child to allow sufficient time to receive psychoeducation, attempt multiple in-game challenges, and ideally some real world challenges.

Not all users will need to complete a goal to demonstrate improved outcomes (which can be monitored via the VitaMind Hub).

Anxious thoughts - expecting bad things to happen

Anxious feelings - rapid heart rate, fast breathing, sweating, tummy aches, headaches

Anxious behaviours - fight, flight, or safety-seeking

Lumi Nova supports young people who show signs of anxiety that prevent them from doing things other people their age commonly do. These include:

Separation anxiety - fear of being away from a particular person, usually a parent or carer, that may make it difficult for a young person to sleep alone, be home with other adults, sleep away from home, or attend school.

Social anxiety - fear of being in the spotlight, being judged, rejected, or embarrassed, that may make it difficult for a young person to take tests, speak in front of others, make mistakes, make new friends, be around strangers, attend social events, or attend school.

Specific phobias - fear of concrete objects that may make it difficult for young people to be around insects, dogs, visit high up places, or spend time in the dark.

Some parents/guardians may be very aware of their child’s anxiety, and others may not, especially if it is specific to school activities

Some parents/guardians may have their own anxieties as well.

It’s important not to make parents/guardians feel like their child is being singled out, or that they are to blame for their child’s anxiety.

• Email or print out a Lumi Nova flyer from the resources page for the parent/guardian.

• Explain that Lumi Nova provides access to evidence based therapy called exposure therapy. Talk to them about a specific goal within Lumi Nova which you think could help their child to build confidence, learn to cope with worries, and become more resilient.

• If they agree to their child’s participation, let them know to expect an SMS with a link to a brief introduction to Lumi Nova and a short survey about how their child is doing.

• Share www.luminova.app with the parent/guardian as an online resource for them

It is important not to make a young person feel like they’re being singled out, as this may add to any anxiety they’re already experiencing. Some parents/guardians may prefer to introduce Lumi Nova to their child themselves, so check in with parents/guardians first. If they do want you to talk to the young person about Lumi Nova, keep these tips in mind:

• Normalise anxiety - tell them that everyone worries sometimes!

• Ask open questions about some of the things they worry about - What do you worry about at home, at school, etc.?

• Make it fun! Tell them they can play a fun new game to help them learn how to build confidence and cope with their worries.

• Describe how Lumi Nova works - the user will get to choose a goal that may be hard for them to do now, the game will help them break it down into really small steps so they feel less worried throughout their journey.

Contact with the parent/guardian will be automated through the VitaMind Hub.

Saving a new user profile in your VitaMind Hub account will automatically send an SMS to parents/guardians with an introduction to Lumi Nova and a brief baseline survey.

Once parents/guardians complete this initial survey, they will receive another SMS with a link to download the app, as well as ongoing information about their child’s progress through in-game and real-life challenges.

Parent/Guardian support is a critical component of success for Lumi Nova. Whenever possible, you might consider encouraging parent’s/guardian’s continued involvement by:

• Checking in with the child/young person and encourage them to tell their parents/guardians about what they’re doing in the game

• Sending email reminders to suggest that parents/guardians check in with their young person about their progress in Lumi Nova

• Organising school / group coffee mornings or meetings for parents/guardians to talk with you and with each other about their experiences, progress, and concerns with their young people playing Lumi Nova

• Sharing www.luminova.app with the parent/guardian as an online resource for them