Anxiety Treatment for Children
Parents of stressed out kids... help your child overcome anxiety. Schedule an appointment today.
Anxiety Treatment for Children
It’s not easy to watch your child’s anxiety reach a breaking point. When they’re left out of activities or bullied at school, a child may internalize these events as personal failures. Others may need help with communication skills and improving self-awareness. Yet some may fear rejection and steer clear of social situations that could make them feel vulnerable.
It can be tough to witness your child avoiding meaningful events out of fear that something terrible could happen to them. Your child likely seeks guidance on what to do if things don’t turn out their way. That’s where child anxiety therapy services can help. Learn the causes of anxiety, how it manifests and ways a child anxiety therapist can help them regain control of their life.
Where Does Your Child's Anxiety Stem From?
Worries often arise because we don’t know what is coming next. We may expect something bad to happen, often due to a particularly distressing experience. For instance, a child may experience anxiety due to abuse by a trusted adult, an attack by a dog or bullying by a classmate.
Other possible causes of anxiety in kids can include:
- Frequently moving house or school
- Parents fighting or arguing
- The death of a close friend or relative
- Becoming seriously ill
- Exams and other school-related pressures
- Being abused or neglected
Anything that has a lasting impression on your child can cause them to become anxious. They may feel like they are losing control and believe they are unable to handle new situations. While everyone worries at times, anxiety is much more than feeling shy or nervous. Child anxiety therapists can help your child peel back those layers concealing trauma and deal with challenges directly. We will create a safe space for your child to bring underlying problems to the surface to begin the process of healing.
Spotting Anxiety in Children
When a child cannot ease the fear and pain they feel inside, it can manifest in several anxious symptoms. For instance, they may constantly second-guess their thoughts and believe themselves inadequate. As a result, spotting anxiety in children can be difficult if your child doesn’t open up about these internal struggles. However, you may notice more obvious signs, such as:
- Difficulty concentrating
- Not sleeping or eating properly
- Quickly becoming irritable or angry
- Feeling tense or fidgety
- Frequent crying and clinginess
- Complaining of stomach aches
While it’s normal to feel anxious about performing poorly on a test or what to say on a first date, children with anxiety find it harder to take chances. Whereas some may put themselves out there on a first date or try their best to succeed at a test, children with anxiety get so wrapped up in what could happen that they stop living their lives.
You may notice class presentations making your child feel ill, or they may refuse to attend school altogether to avoid rejection, embarrassment or distress. It’s not the case that your child cannot face these situations — rather, the fear of messing up has taken over their mind, and they feel that they cannot take the first step.
Book a Complimentary Call with a Licensed Child Therapist
Courageous Kids Counseling is a specialized therapy practice focused on helping children and teens struggling with anxiety, depression, and trauma, among other difficulties. We use CBT, DBT, EMDR, biofeedback, and other solution-focused approaches.
When your child is struggling, you need a specialist that can help. We are happy to answer any questions you may have as you navigate this process.
Types of Anxiety
Some of the most common types of anxiety in children and teens we see at Courageous Kids Counseling include:
Social Anxiety
Social anxiety is an intense fear of social situations. Children with social anxiety may also fear performance situations and activities such as class presentations or speaking with peers. It can significantly impair your child’s performance and attendance and their ability to maintain and develop relationships.
Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD)
Children with OCD are plagued by unwanted, intrusive thoughts and feel compelled to repeatedly perform certain routines to ease their anxiety. Many children with OCD are diagnosed around age 10, though it can even strike kids as young as two or three.
Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD)
Children with GAD will worry excessively about many things in their lives, from grades to family issues and relationships. If your child has this type of anxiety, they likely seek constant approval and reassurance from others and constantly avoid situations that trigger their fears. GAD can also co-occur with mental health conditions like depression.
How Child Anxiety Therapy Services Can Help
At Courageous Kids Counseling, we specialize in anxiety treatment services for teens and children. We can help your child in various ways:
Education
At Courageous Kids, our focus is on providing education and tools at the beginning of child anxiety services. Starting with our first session, we provide insight into the mind-body connection and how anxiety can cause physical symptoms. Using diagrams and imagery, we’ll discuss how specific parts of the brain are responsible for anxiety and how it is triggered.
As your child becomes aware of the impact of anxiety on their thoughts, behaviors and physical feelings, they can begin to recognize when they are most anxious and how to control it. Education is empowering, giving children ownership over what is happening to their bodies.
Behavioral Therapy
Once your child recognizes their anxiety triggers, child anxiety treatment services help “retrain” the brain to respond differently to new situations. Counseling for a teen with anxiety can help them learn how to not succumb to worrisome thoughts. Behavioral therapy can empower your teen or child to take control of their anxiety.
They’ll learn how to fight off anxiety with language such as “I don’t want to give this presentation because I don’t know what people will think of me, but I’m going to do it anyway.” Adopting new language and perceptions can help them tell their anxious thoughts that they aren’t the boss. It can also help improve self-esteem and encourage self-growth as they begin thinking more positively.
Applying Techniques
Kids are quicker to learn and adapt than adults, making experimentation a crucial part of therapy for kids with anxiety. Counseling for a child with anxiety will look like learning and applying new techniques to ease stress in specific situations, such as class presentations or talking to peers.
As they learn what works best for them, they can learn how to face everyday situations, become better problem solvers, feel happier and strengthen relationships with friends and family. Child anxiety services can help your child achieve better overall well-being.
We Provide Anxiety Treatment Services for Kids and Teens
Anxiety can be very distressing for kids, but they don’t have to deal with it alone. At Courageous Kids Counseling, we can provide the support and guidance they need to manage anxiety and its symptoms. By implementing strategies and working toward your child’s unique goals, we can provide the care they need to succeed. We offer child anxiety counseling and teen anxiety counseling.
We also heavily value forming relationships with families, ensuring you always have access to our team when you need support. With your help in and outside of therapy, practicing these strategies will become easier for your child every time they do it. Whether anxiety has become a new problem or has been occurring for years, we can help your child change course.
Book a complimentary call for child anxiety therapy services or schedule an appointment today.
Want to know where to start?
In our work together, we will uncover what is missing from your child’s life, what’s holding them back in worry and despair, and what are the ways we can help them move toward a place of happiness and fulfillment.
We provide convenient online sessions.
Schedule An AppointmentContact Us