From the author: Published in the collection of materials of the IV International Scientific and Practical Conference Hotlines EMERGENCY PSYCHOLOGICAL CARE IN DIFFICULT LIFE SITUATIONSThe issue of fears quite often appears in the framework of face-to-face and telephone psychological counseling, it can be raised by parents, educators and the children themselves. Hence, a specialist needs to have information about fear so that he can provide competent psychological assistance to clients. The purpose of our article is to consider the concept of “fear”, the manifestation of fears in children of primary school, adolescence and youth, the possibilities of psychological work with fear. Fear belongs to the class basic emotions characteristic of both humans and animals. In psychological science, there is still no unified approach to the definition of fear and age-related characteristics; there are only ideas of certain directions, while the degree of study of issues of fear within the framework of psychological theories varies. In particular, “the psychoanalytic theory of affect is based on research on emotional expression and associated neuroendocrine, peripheral and central processes of the nervous system, as well as on work on the cognitive, behavioral and linguistic parameters of affect.” [5] In our work, we understand fear as “an emotional state that arises in the presence or anticipation of a dangerous or harmful stimulus” [1], which consists of certain and very specific physiological changes, expressive behavior and specific experiences arising from the expectation of a threat or danger At the same time, we consider emotional manifestations that are socially determined, that is, we pay attention to both fear (both an instinctive form of reaction) and anxiety, which is more associated with society. In our work, we pay attention to both anxiety and fear together, without drawing boundaries between them, which may be found in other authors, since anxiety is a premonition of danger, a state of restlessness, which is also characteristic of fear. We believe that it is necessary distinguish between normal and neurotic fear. As for normal fear, the age norm is taken into account here, that is, the presence of a definition of age limits for the appearance and disappearance of fears. In case of increased anxiety, obsession, involuntariness, that is, lack of control by consciousness, negative impact on everyday life, interpersonal relationships, etc. neurotic fear manifests itself. A.I. Zakharov, for the first time in domestic and world practice, examined the causes of the emergence and development of fears. At the same time, he also explored the age limits of the appearance of certain fears. In particular, twenty-ten basic fears characteristic of children from three to twelve years old were identified. As noted above, the presence of certain fears is the age norm, but if the listed fears are present in adolescents and young men, neurotic tendencies are possible. When considering fear in children, it is necessary to pay attention to the reasons and circumstances accompanying its appearance. “The emotion of fear arises in response to a threatening stimulus. In turn, the understanding of danger and its awareness are formed in the process of life experience and interpersonal relationships, when some stimuli that are indifferent to the child gradually acquire the character of threatening influences.” [2] Thus, the development of fear is primarily influenced by the child’s environment. Raising the issue of age limits for the manifestation of certain fears, it should be noted that the emotional sphere of children (especially in adolescence) is characterized by instability, which may be an additional factor influencing to the development of fears. It is on the basis of increased emotional sensitivity in children that there is a high probability of the emergence and consolidation of fears,caused by the following reasons [3]: - the presence of fears among parents and other close relatives; - anxiety in relation to the child (which can be expressed in the form of overprotection, a ban on communicating with peers, engaging in certain types of activities, etc.); - emotional non-acceptance of the child; - inconsistency of upbringing; - lack of opportunity for role identification with a parent of the same sex (which affects confidence in interpersonal relationships with peers); - conflict relationships between parents in the family; - mental trauma in the past (as mentioned above, fear is closely associated with physiological reactions, which can be fixed in the form of conditioned reflexes, interfering with everyday life); - mental infection by fears in the process of communicating with peers and adults (in our opinion, influence and the media should be answered). Thus, from the listed reasons it is clear that the genesis of fears in children is associated with their social environment (family, peers). Based on the social conditioning of fears, the child has a predominant feeling of anxiety and fear of doing something wrong, being late, not meeting generally accepted requirements and norms. At the same time, the fear of disapproval prevails in the child’s mind, that is, if he does not behave as expected of him, then he will not be loved and respected, that is, the child will be frustrated with the important need for love and respect, which in turn, may contribute to greater neuroticism. Along with the fear of disapproval, such objects of fear as death, illness (6-7 years), natural disasters, wars, transport (8-10 years), external attractiveness (after 11), sexual relationships (14-18 years) may appear [ 2]. This is not a complete list of fears that are most often found in children of primary school, adolescence and youth, however, taking into account the processes of personality development in these age periods, it is possible to build an effective program of psychological work. In our opinion, active methods should be used when working with fears work, in particular, you can use games, verbal and non-verbal methods. We believe that it is most advisable to use the listed methods in combination, for example, to include the verbalization of fear, drawing in the game process, or, conversely, to build a game based on created fears and drawings. At the same time, the plot for the game can be built taking into account the specific situation, objects of fear and age characteristics of clients. When working with primary schoolchildren, and in our opinion, it is necessary to work with parents, which can be carried out within the framework of individual or family counseling (the choice of form of work depends on the needs and preferences of clients, as well as the professional position and competence of the psychologist). Work with parents should be aimed not only at preventing possible violations, but also, in some way, at correcting incorrect parenting styles that are traumatic for the child. The main goal of working with parents is to teach effective communication skills and ways to express your love for a child. Thus, we examined the concept of “fear,” by which we mean a negative emotional state, anxiety associated with real or imaginary danger. The fears characteristic of children, starting from school age, are to a greater extent social, for example, even the biological fear of death becomes socially conditioned, that is, the child begins to fear the death of parents, friends and other people. Considering this fact, it is advisable to carry out psychological work not only with the child himself, but also with the family as a whole, using not only conversation, but also active methods of work (games, fairy tale therapy, drawing fear and other methods that may be applicable in each specific situation). case). However, in the case of using various methods (especially if a psychologist conducts preventive classes), it is necessary to take into account the peculiarities of a particular age and the set of fears characteristic of", 1998.