Anxiety disorders are shockingly common — and not just in adults, but in adolescents and children, too. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention report that 7.1 percent of children aged three (yes, you read that right) to 17 in the United States alone are living with a diagnosed anxiety disorder.
That translates to well over four million kids. And of course, everything about the COVID-19 rollercoaster we were so suddenly forced onto suggests that those numbers will have risen exponentially.
Because research suggests that most people who will go on to struggle with anxiety disorders throughout adulthood develop symptoms by the time they're in their teens, if not earlier, parents should never assume that anxiety will simply pass with time. The question is, what should you do if your child is suffering from intense anxiety?
What is cognitive behavioral therapy?
Whenever someone mentions that they are going to "therapy", for a wide variety of specific mental disorders or just to work through some issues, it's extremely likely that they are attending cognitive behavioral therapy, or CBT for short. Though there are always "dissidents", most professionals working in the field of psychology would agree that cognitive behavioral therapy is the gold standard in psychotherapy.
That's because:
- CBT has been researched half to death — it's more studied than any other therapeutic approach, and generally has good results.
- Whole heaps of research also show that no other kind of therapy is superior to CBT in results or approach, at least when we're discussing therapy — attended for any and all reasons — in general.
- The fact that cognitive behavioral therapy is always being studied means that improvements are also always being made.
You could add CBT being widely available and accessible to the list.
How does cognitive behavioral therapy work, though, or in other words what is it?
CBT achieves this work of helping people rid themselves of unhealthy thought patterns and behaviors, which up to that point reinforced each other constantly, by guiding them to reexamine their innermost thoughts:
- With the guidance of the therapist, come to understand which chronically-held but harmful thoughts are creeping around the mind. This understanding helps propel change.
- At the same time, learning to understand other people and their potential intentions and emotions better, as well.
- Teaching very practical problem-solving strategies that work better than whatever the client previously relied on.
- Learning to confidently handle any challenges in your life.
Many therapies with slightly different approaches, like exposure therapy, activity-guided CBT, mindfulness-based CBT, and stress inoculation training, are also very much founded on the principles of cognitive behavioral therapy.
Having gone through a course of cognitive behavioral therapy myself, I can tell you that sessions are quite structured but at the same time have a relaxed feel. Mostly, the client just talks about what's currently on their mind or bothering them, and then the therapist will guide them through examining the situation (more) realistically. They may just listen, or they may offer helpful strategies to cope with similar situations in future.
Then, people attending CBT can expect breathing exercises and some role-playing. There's also homework. Client and therapist identify something that should be worked on, and you're then sent home to put the better coping techniques to practice.
How successful is cognitive behavioral therapy in the treatment of anxiety disorders?
No other therapeutic approach has quite as much evidence to back it up.
Has the success of cognitive behavioral therapy been studied in children with anxiety?
Yes.
A large body of scientific research suggests that cognitive behavioral therapy is effective for children and adolescents diagnosed with an anxiety disorder — so much so, in fact, that two-thirds who begin attending it will no longer have anxiety by the time they are done with CBT.
Courses of cognitive behavioral therapy are generally short, lasting up to around 16 weeks. With regular "maintenance therapy", in which the child diagnosed with anxiety continues to check in with their therapists but less often, those results are even better.
Cognitive behavioral therapy, research indicates, helps people of all genders, socioeconomic groups, and cultures — as well as people of all ages.
With cognitive behavioral therapy, the results don't stop when the therapy does, as CBT teaches a child or teen skills that can be used throughout their lives. This is why CBT is widely in use in multiple pediatric settings, from schools to children's hospitals.
What's more, cognitive behavioral therapy can be tailored to the needs of anxious children:
- For younger children, CBT can be play-based and have a very relaxed feel. For teens, it can be talk-based.
- Therapists trained to provide cognitive behavioral therapy to children and teens will be able to relate to their clients on their own levels.
- CBT can be done in family sessions, parent-and-child sessions, group sessions, or individual sessions.
If you're the parent of an anxious child, should you get CBT for yourself, too?
Yes, you should strongly consider not only having your child attend therapy, but getting some sessions for yourself, too.
First off, you're also going to be psychologically impacted if your child suffers from life-ruining anxiety, both because you feel powerless to help them and because their anxious behaviors may be hard on you. In therapy for you, you'll learn to safeguard your own mental health and also to better support your child with an anxiety disorder.