CBT for Anxiety in Children and Teens
Anxiety is the most common mental health problem in children, teens, and adults, affecting an estimated 25% of the population. Many anxious children and teens experience serious social, behavioral, and learning problems. With early recognition and CBT interventions, up to 80% can successfully manage anxiety.
In this practical workshop, you will learn to utilize and apply CBT to the many forms of anxiety in children and teens, including separation anxiety, social anxiety, performance anxiety, test anxiety, worry, perfectionism, school refusal, specific phobias, panic, and sleep problems. You will be able to differentiate anxiety from depression, ADHD, Tourette Syndrome, and autism-spectrum disorders. You will also learn to recognize red flags for anxiety and understand what fuels anxiety, especially the Vicious Cycle of Escape and parenting traps.
Dr. Wagner combines highly-effective strategies with clinical pearls that can quickly be put to use in your practice. You will learn the innovative and child-friendly Worry Hill® CBT approach designed to optimize motivation and compliance in children and teens with anxiety and OCD.
Topics covered include:
| Normal fears across the life span | The fuel for anxiety: The Anxiety Triad |
| Normal vs. problem anxiety | The Vicious Cycle of Escape |
| The many faces of anxiety in youth | Parenting Traps |
| What’s anxiety, what’s not? | CBT: Evidenced-based treatment for Anxiety |
| Effects of childhood anxiety | Emotional Processing Theory |
| Red flags for anxiety at home and school | Inhibitory Learning Theory |
| Challenges in engaging kids and teens | Collaborating with parents |
| Therapists’ hesitations about exposure | Parenting strategies for anxious youth |
| The Worry Hill® approach to CBT | Realistic expectations: Reducing dropout |
| Assessment of anxiety | What not to do: Strategies that delay recovery |
| Cultivating treatment readiness in four steps | How to stop enabling |
| Realistic thinking and Socratic dialogue | Managing meltdowns and explosiveness |
| Exposure for various forms of anxiety | When treatment does not seem to be working |
| Practical, ready-to-use, tools for treatment | The art of CBT |
Follow along on provided handouts as Dr. Wagner presents and save them to use as an ongoing resource. Case studies and group discussion will help you develop and apply creative and specific treatment plans.
*These workshops are not designed for parents or those who are primarily interested in applying CBT in the classroom (see Workshops for Parents and Workshops for School Professionals).
If you wish to schedule or organize this workshop for your group or organization, please email Dr. Wagner awagner@anxietywellness.com for details, with CBT for Anxiety in Children and Teens in the subject line of your email.