Child Anxiety Related News and Articles

How Does Cognitive Behavioral Therapy Work for Anxiety?

Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy (CBT) has been dubbed the most effective treatment for anxiety disorders, for both children and adults. Let’s look at the reasons why, and also discuss how CBT works for anxiety. Let’s start with the basics of CBT. The CBT model suggests that dysfunctional cognitions (thoughts) are causally linked to emotional distress, and that correcting these dysfunctional cognitions results in improvement of emotional distress and interfering behaviors. In more simple terms, CBT’s goal is to change patterns of thinking and/or behavior that are behind people’s difficulties, [...]

Help for Kids Afraid of Throwing Up or Getting Sick: Part 3 Treatment – Safety Behaviors

In the previous blog, I mentioned treating this fear (emetophobia) was two-fold. First, face the fear. This is called exposure. Second, don’t play it safe. This is called response prevention. This is third in the series on helping kids afraid of throwing up or getting sick and will make more sense if you read part 1 and part 2 before you read this. In this post I will do my best to describe response prevention and what to do about it. Response Prevention is the academic phrase for NOT doing something. When anyone gets anxious they try to fix the problem. This is the response. Ironically, [...]

Help for Kids Afraid of Throwing Up or Getting Sick: Part 2 Treatment – Exposure

The effective way to help kids afraid of throwing up is two-fold. First, face the fear. That part of the treatment is called exposure. (Just so you know, contact with actual vomit or the act of vomiting is not a necessary part of exposure.) Second, don’t play it safe. That is called response prevention (preventing the usual response). Kids come up with all kinds of ways to stay "safe." These are steps 4 & 5 in my previous post. In this post I will only cover exposure. In my next post I will cover response prevention. For kids with anxiety both of these are incredibly difficult so it is [...]

How to support your child to become more socially comfortable: tips for shyness

As a parent, it can be difficult to determine what to do when your child exhibits a particular degree of shyness, and definitely challenging to differentiate between what is a tendency to act shy, and what is a deeper level of Social Anxiety. So, let’s do a quick comparison of the two, and then discuss some tips on how to support your child to become more socially comfortable. Similarities between Shyness and Social Anxiety First, the similarities: Both shy and anxious people “think” of social situations as being difficult to extremely difficult. Both imagine those situations in a [...]

Help for Kids With Fear of Throwing Up or Getting Sick: Part 1 Emetophobia Explanation

Disclaimer: This is an article about getting sick, particularly nausea and vomiting. If you are squeamish or anxious about this, reading this article may cause distress. In 2004 the Elementary School my daughter attended had an outbreak of the flu. She saw several kids vomit. She became afraid of getting sick. I have since discovered she was not alone. Over the years it has been my professional experience and personal opinion that the fear of throwing up or getting sick (nausea & vomiting) is far more common than reported in the professional literature and media. It is often missed as the [...]

How to boost your child’s self-confidence

As parents, you play an important role in shaping the way your child sees the world. Yes, you invest in their education, their physical well-being, and their material needs. But, why not make a significant investment into their emotional development by helping them cultivate positive self-esteem? Self-esteem is what helps us feel content with ourselves, like ourselves and even take pride in activities we partake in every day. It gives us the confidence we need to try new activities and stick to them even if we mess up. It makes us feel valued and loved, as well as equips us to seek out and [...]

How to handle common Childhood fears

Dr Chris McCarty talks about how to handle common childhood fears. In particular he gives advice on what parents can do to help their children that have fears of going back to school, night-time fears, separation anxiety and fear of being sick. You can also read about separation anxiety and school anxiety treatment. Click the link below to watch the video from wcnc.com http://www.wcnc.com/story/entertainment/television/charlotte-today/2014/09/22/how-to-handle-common-childhood-fears/16048139/ [...]

Help Your Anxious Child Get Through the Start of School

For lots of reasons, school is a very common trigger for anxiety, especially when it starts or after a break. Getting an anxious child back in school can be rough. The type of anxiety that can be triggered by school can vary. It might be separation anxiety, fear of getting sick, perfectionism, social phobias or fear of panic to name some. (On a personal note, the thought of math class can still make me run in circles and holler.) If you are concerned your child may get very anxious going back to school here are a few things that will help. Focus on the Right Target Most people focus on the [...]

How to tell if your child has an anxiety disorder

Written by Emily Powell, MACC Children today experience a lot of pressures in an increasingly intensifying society. Unlike many adults, who are able to verbalize and express their anxiety clearly, most children do not. For various reasons, it is difficult to tell if your child has an anxiety disorder. Perhaps they don’t even know how to qualify what emotions they are experiencing to know what is “normal” worry, and what is not. Or maybe they even conceal their anxiety because they don’t know how to begin to explain what they are feeling, particularly, if they live in an environment [...]

Parenting an Anxious Child: 10 Things that Will Help You Succeed

Written with Emily Powell, MACC Parenting an anxious child isn’t easy. At times, even the best-intentioned parents are overwhelmed trying to manage daily life with a child battling anxiety. Plans, expectations and dreams for your family can get lost. Yet you serve a critical role in helping your child and that keeps you going. Here are 10 things that can help you navigate this difficult course. Be careful to not “over” protect. Overprotection is hovering over a child and being hyper-vigilant about danger. When parents do this a child is restricted from learning how to deal with life’s [...]

How to help your child face their fear

Without question, one of the hardest things to do when you are anxious is to voluntarily face your fear. It is the last thing in the world you want to do. It is really hard to help your child face their fear. Everything in them wants to do just the opposite. Therapists spend a lot of time in treatment trying to persuade clients to face their fears. As a parent, this is a huge issue. How many hours have we all spent trying to get our kids to not be afraid and do the things they need to do? Here are few things that may help: Break It Into Steps Can you break it down into steps? If you are [...]

Healthy Marriages = Healthy, Happy Families!

In this TV interview, Dr. Christopher McCarthy, co-creator of Turnaround: Turning Fear Into Freedom, discusses the importance of couples maintaining healthy relationships for the sake of the children. Studies show that children care more that their parents love each other than they love them as children. This is because children received a great deal of security and peace by seeing their parents maintain a healthy, loving relationship. Watch this interview for more info regarding how modern life makes it harder for parents to focus on each and to hear some suggestions on ways to improve [...]

Some Perspective from One Parent to Another with Anxious Kids

Anxiety was an intense and often overwhelming issue for 4 to 5 years of our lives. There were moments that I wasn’t sure I could continue to take it...and I'm the adult (at least sometimes). I know my child felt the same and worse since she had the anxiety. She couldn't always describe her feelings and thoughts but I still remember the fear in her eyes. It was awful. If you are in middle of struggling with one or more of your kids with anxiety you will wonder, "How long will this go on?" "Will this take years?" "Will it be a lifelong battle?" "Will it ruin her life?" Having been through it and [...]

Medical Issues that Present as Anxiety Disorders

If your child has the symptoms of an anxiety disorder it is probably just that, an anxiety disorder. However, most parents want to pay a visit to the pediatrician to rule out any medical conditions and I would certainly recommend that. Let me qualify my comments by saying I am NOT a medical doctor. Nothing I write should be considered a medical opinion. That being said I do want to make a list of possible medical reasons for anxiety in children. Anxiety includes powerful reactive changes in the nervous system including increased heart rate, changes in breathing, slow down of digestive system, [...]

How can parents help their children overcome their fears and handle their anxiety?

Written with Emily Powell, MACC Parenting Isn't Easy Parenting a child who has anxiety isn't easy. Certainly parents of anxious children are often overwhelmed and baffled as to how best help their child overcome their fears and handle their anxiety, especially when they’ve tried various things with little to no success. This particular post is geared towards parents, to hopefully give them some tools and strategies to better handle their child’s anxiety. To put it simply, children better handle their anxiety when their parents and other caregivers encourage and support non-anxious [...]

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