Parents Trained to Help Anxious Children

Workshops to help train parents of anxious young children could offer a breakthrough in addressing this difficult problem, say British psychologists.

Providing psychological treatments for children under age 10 with anxiety disorders is problematic for health professionals, because the approaches that are most successful with teenagers and adults are difficult to apply to the very young.

However, Dr. Samantha Cartwright-Hatton says that treatment like cognitive behavior therapy relies on the patient having highly-developed verbal skills, and needs them to understand and reflect on the causes of their symptoms.

This is very difficult for younger children, and there is not much evidence that it works with them, said Cartwright-Hatton.

Instead, the workshops have therapists work with parents to share techniques for raising children’s self-esteem and dealing with fears and worries, as well as offering strategies for managing difficult behaviors such as tantrums calmly.