Services for adolescents and children

6F6AD97B-80E7-4047-BC30-CF0DE55AC987.jpeg
 
 

I provide individual therapy to children and adolescents with the following issues: 

  • Obsessive Compulsive Disorder

  • Specific phobias

  • Panic attacks

  • Worries

  • Trichotillomania

  • Social Anxiety

  • Perfectionism

Philosophy

 Parents are usually the first ones to notice that their child is struggling. They may find that the difficulties persist, despite their best efforts to help. This can leave parents feeling very concerned about their child and can undermine their confidence in their ability to parent effectively. At this point, gaining a deeper understanding of the issues and trying out some new strategies may greatly benefit families.

I believe that parents are the experts on their children and play a critical role in supporting and encouraging their child’s efforts to try out new behaviors and thoughts. Although some children may initially be reticent to meet someone new and begin therapy, in my experience, children are often encouraged when they learn that many others share their experiences and are open to try new strategies that may help them feel better. Because it is the child that sets the plan and pace of therapy work, they are empowered to confront problems, seek help and support from others, and take steps to actively improve their experience.

The outlook for children who experience anxiety is improved with early treatment. Children learn skills that remain useful throughout their life. I believe that therapy should empower both parents and children to actively face fears and learn new, more adaptive ways of relating to each other and the world. This is accomplished using developmentally appropriate methods and care is taken to actively engage children in fun and creative ways. If you are interested in an active, goal directed treatment to help your child manage their worries, fears, or anxious behaviors more effectively, cognitive behavioral therapy may be right for you. 

 

Treatment approach

Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for children and adolescents is designed to decrease anxiety by changing the thoughts and behaviors that help to keep the anxiety going.  This is done by teaching children and adolescents new tools that they can use to manage their anxiety.  

 

 Cognitive Behavioral Therapy has two parts:

  1. Cognitive:  Catching worried or scared thinking and replacing it with more helpful thoughts.  

  2.  Behavioral:  Gradually confronting the situations that scare children to help them overcome their fears.

 

Phases of Treatment

  1. Learning about anxiety and how it works.

  2. Mapping out anxiety symptoms and creating a fear ladder.

  3. Practicing facing fears.

  4. Using rewards to encourage progress.

  5. Learning relaxation tools.

  6. Learning STOP (a way to practice more helpful thoughts).

  7. Reviewing tools and planning for future coping.