Psychological Treatments for Child Anxiety

Psychological treatments for child anxiety range from simple self-management techniques to therapies that are more complex. Administering medication as a management tool can enhance psychological treatment and can prevent or control severe instances of anxiety. The type of therapy needed largely depends on the intensity and frequency of the child's anxiety.

The Facts

• A child is never too young or too old for an anxiety diagnosis. If left untreated, the anxiety may worsen and eventually spill over into adulthood resulting in a life of problems. In an attempt to escape the unpleasant feelings, the over-anxious child will often turn to experimentation with drugs or alcohol.

  Anxiety can be specific such as due to separation from a loved one, or more basic such as generalized anxiety disorder. Each type of child anxiety requires a distinct psychological treatment that includes a combination of therapists, doctors, medication and parental involvement.

Self-Management Tools

• A child that knows how to identify and handle times of stress has a better chance of tackling the anxiety before it gets out of control. Self-management tools teach a child how to recognize anxiety triggers so that the child completes prevention or control without any outside assistance.

  Knowing what causes the anxiety is necessary for self-management. If the stressor is unavoidable, the child learns how to adapt and handle his or her reaction to the situation prior to it occurring. This tool emphasizes control and reinforces confidence.

Relaxation Techniques

• Being able to relax and calm down during an anxious situation significantly reduces or eliminates the adverse reaction. The best relaxation techniques focus on breathing.

  Breathing increases the flow of oxygen and naturally reduces stress. Focusing on the breathing creates a distraction for the child that further decreases stress. Coaching a child to inflate and deflate the "balloon" in their belly is one way to make deep breathing fun. That is also simple. Sending the breath on an elevator ride starting in the nose, traveling through the body and arriving at the toes is an imaginative anxiety-relieving exercise.

Cognitive Behavioral Therapy

• Cognitive behavioral therapy focuses on educating the child regarding the inappropriateness of their behavior. Using a story or role-playing to act out the scenario is an ideal example of how to use cognitive behavioral therapy to help children modify their reactions.

  Since fear is a large component of anxiety, a lack of education can also be a cause for concern. Little to no information about the topic or situation creates an increased fear and anxiety potential. This naturally decreases if the child possesses a full understanding of the stress learned through therapy methods.

Psychotherapy

• Counseling the child regularly is a popular method of dealing with anxiety. Addressing the particular aspect of the anxiety that causes the most stress can help the child overcome it. Encouraging talk reveals underlying causes of stress and anxiety and provides an outlet for the child to release fears.

  If there is a specific cause of the anxiety, psychotherapy can tackle it through exposure. Slowly having the child encounter their fear can bring about a dismissal of it. While it initially may seem to aggravate it, in the end the anxiety can be beaten. If the fear is intense, therapists may first simulate the cause of the fear using a computer or pictures. Eventually the child will be able to deal with the real thing.

Psychiatric Evaluation

• If psychological treatments for child anxiety do not completely address the problem, medication may be helpful. Depending on the severity and complications caused by the child's anxiety, medication may or may not be necessary. The psychologist can refer the child to a psychiatrist that specializes in the specific type of anxiety. While a psychologist can identify the possible need for medication, only a licensed psychiatrist can evaluate the situation and administer the proper drugs.