The Use Of CBT On Children With Anxiety Disorder

Running head: USE OF CBT ON CHILDREN WITH ANXIETY 1

The Use of CBT on Children with Anxiety Disorder

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USE OF CBT ON CHILDREN WITH ANXIETY 2

Abstract

Early intervention for anxiety is fundamental to helping children cope with the situation since it

commonly results in mental health disorders. Even though CBT is the favorable therapeutic

technique for this disease, its implementation must be detailed for the children to efficiently

acquire as well as apply the necessary CBT survival skills (Regina et al., 2013). This study

focuses on the approach of treatment through child involvement, a specific kind of CBT for

diagnosing children with anxiety disorders. This assists them in regulating emotions and

thoughts within an environment of corresponding group activities. Positive involvement of child

through the treatment plan used always reflects a decrease in the child’s anxiety with time.

Assessment of participants of CBT by involvement results in less general anxious individuals.

Continuous child involvement during this treatment is important to producing positive results

consistently. This manual-based CBT method is recommended over other techniques as it is easy

and efficient.

Key words: Cognitive behavioral therapy, CBT, Anxiety disorder.

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The Use of CBT on Children with Anxiety Disorder

Cognitive Behavioral Therapy

Cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) is mainly grounded in the concept that how people

act and think affects their feelings. By altering distorted thinking and dysfunctional behaviors,

individuals can change their emotions. For children, focusing mainly on the behavioral method

of CBT proves to be most effective. The aim is always to undo the avoidant behavior.

One major significant technique used in CBT for most children is the child involved in

response and exposure prevention (Chu & Kendall, 2014). The main idea is that children are

exposed to the factors which prompt their anxiety in an incremental way, structured, and in a

secure surrounding. When they become comfortable with each of the triggers with time, the

anxiety decreases, and they become ready to engage in more powerful methods of treating the

disorder. This type of therapy is dissimilar to traditional talk therapy where children and the

therapist will try to find the causes of the anxiety with a hope to change their behavior. In this

therapy, the technique is to try changing the behavior to eliminate the fear. Involvement methods

can also be effective in different other forms of anxiety which include separation anxiety, social

anxiety, obsessive-compulsive order (OCD), and phobias.

How Child Involvement Works

Childs' level of involvement is always significant to the treatment process where a

manual way of anxiety treatment will rely on the child's exposure to special cognitive skills,

participating in exposure-based activities, and learning to manage emotions. Involvement entails

the child's readiness to participate behaviorally in the therapy exercises inclusive of the child's

readiness to ask questions, mentally engaging, and self-disclose issues in the therapeutic process

(Chu & Kendall, 2014). This technique is timely and essential is that the structure of the manual

USE OF CBT ON CHILDREN WITH ANXIETY 4

based treatment to be used could probably limit child’s engagement since it recommends specific

activities and topics which may, in some situations, promote restrictive psychotherapist

behaviors.

The first step in the child’s involvement is identifying the triggers (Chu & Kendall,

2014). The therapist develops a hierarchy of fears, several increasing challenges, with which

each is reasonable, and that by together will sum up to a significant process. For instance, a child

can be asked to consider the difficulties in some terms like I cannot touch a puppy or I cannot

cross a conduit instead of thinking normally in black and white terms. Similarly, for children

with fear of vomiting, they might be asked: how hard it is to write vomit. Some would even say

that if they see a cartoon of any person vomiting, they would vomit but not a higher level as

compared to seeing someone vomit. At the peak of the hierarchy, therefore, it would contain

something that would likely trigger vomiting in the child. By categorizing their fears, children

begin to realize that some are less severe and highly manageable than they had been thinking.

The next step is exposing the child to these factors (triggers) at the severest form, and offering

support until the anxiety collapses (Chu & Kendall, 2014). Fear, just like all sensations, subsides

over time; thus the children gain an intellect of mastery as they experience the anxiety fade.

Intensive Treatment

There are always cases of extreme anxieties. A child who is very anxious can, for

example, hardly leave his/her room for fear that the parents may die, or can wash the hands

several times a day trying to avoid contamination. Such cases need thorough involvement in

treatment method. It can start by exposing at the therapeutic facility, and when they begin to be

comfortable, more exposure can be done outside. For example, children with social anxiety, they

might be exposed to wear weird hats or walking banana on a strap. Similar to children with fear

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of contamination, they may be taken for a bus ride or shaking hands with foreigners, and eating

meals without hand washing.

Once such children have been exposed and start to feel confident, they are made to

practice that was done during the therapeutic facility sessions. This is important in helping them

have a good command of the exposures before continuing with the treatment. Parents are also

involved in helping their kids improve through encouraging overcome the anxious feelings,

instead of chipping in to protect them from such anxiety. Treating these severe anxieties can be

long and take 8-12 sessions, and some children make better improvements when they take

medications which reduce anxiety, thus making them more capable of engaging in the treatment.

However, it is important to recognize that child involvement is a hard process for both parents

and their kids. But as anxiety reduces, the kid goes back to doing things they usually liked, which

is a good thing in the end.

In summary, early involvement to anxiety is fundamental to helping children cope with

the situation since it commonly results in mental health disorders. CBT is import in treating

anxiety among children, and its implementation must be precise for the children to effectively

acquire or apply the necessary CBT survival skills. One main significant technique used in CBT

for most children is the child involved in response and exposure prevention. This type of therapy

is dissimilar to traditional talk therapy where children and the therapist will try to find the causes

of the anxiety with a hope to change their behavior. Childs’ involvement therapy relies on the

child's exposure to special cognitive skills, participating in exposure-based activities, and

learning to manage emotions. The first step in the child’s involvement is identifying the triggers

and developing a hierarchy of fears of several increasing challenges. Lastly, it is necessary to

USE OF CBT ON CHILDREN WITH ANXIETY 6

expose the child to these factors (triggers) at the severest form, and offering support until the

anxiety collapses.

USE OF CBT ON CHILDREN WITH ANXIETY 7

References

Chu, B. C., & Kendall, P. C. (2004). Positive Association of Child Involvement and Treatment

Outcome Within a Manual-Based Cognitive-Behavioral Treatment for Children With

Anxiety. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 72, 821-829.

Regina Kearny, Justine Pawlukewicz & Mary Guardino (2013) Children With Anxiety

Disorders: Use of a Cognitive Behavioral Therapy Model Within a Social Milieu, Journal

of Research in Childhood Education, 28:1, 59-68, doi:10.1080/02568543.2013.850130

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