Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) for Child Anxiety
What is CBT?
CBT is a type of talk therapy that:
- Educates children and adolescents about the nature of anxiety
- Gives the child or adolescent skills to change his/her anxious feelings, fearful thoughts, and avoidant behaviors
- Focuses on current issues and dealing with future situations, rather than looking at the past
- Teaches children and adolescents to see when their anxiety-provoking thoughts are irrational
- Includes homework exercises to help kids apply the skills learned in treatment to their lives, like at home and in school
- Often in CBT, with the help of a therapist, children and adolescents face situations they fear
- CBT is usually done in a weekly therapy format over 3-4 months
- The child or adolescent needs to be motivated to maximize benefits of treatment
Empirically supported research studies show that CBT is successful in reducing anxiety and related disorders, like depression, in children.
