Coping with Anxiety and Stress Successfully

We want to improve the quality of life for anxious children and their families. Anxiety disorders represent the most common form of mental distress in children. Anxiety is meant to protect us, but for many children, anxiety prevents them from enjoying and participating in life. Without treatment, children with anxiety are guided by their hypersensitive radars that distort risk and danger. It is heartbreaking to see a child afraid of ordinary activities and familiar situations. With proper treatment, the prognosis for anxiety is very good and children can learn to overcome and manage their fears and worries.

Symptoms of Anxiety

• Excessive fear and worrying about everyday activities
• Has trouble coping with disruption of daily routines (e.g. trouble going to a friend’s house, family gatherings, doing errands, vacations)
• Asks repetitive questions for reassurance
• Inconsolable and won’t respond to logical arguments
• Gets regular stomachaches or headaches
• Regularly refuses to go to school
• Worries hours, weeks or months in advance
• Difficulty sleeping alone, interrupted sleep, difficulty falling asleep or frequent nightmares
• Self-critical or perfectionist tendencies
• Overly responsible, excessive concern that others are upset, unnecessary apologizing
• Demonstrates avoidance, refuses to participate in activities
• Requires significant coaxing to take part in normal activities
• Uncontrollable thoughts (e.g. worries about germs) followed by compulsion to perform rituals or routines (e.g. washing hands)
• Acute distress upon separations from parents and/or home
• Fears being humiliated, embarrassed or laughed at in everyday situations

Treatment

Numerous studies have shown that Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) is the best treatment for anxiety disorders with the most research evidence for lasting success with children.

CBT teaches kids to challenge their anxious thoughts, rather than accepting the anxious thoughts as ‘the truth’. CBT encourages kids to generate more realistic versions of situations and it improves their ability to cope with them. Children are then ready to gradually face their fears.

CASS can help

Using CBT and other current evidence-based strategies, we will teach your child, and you, to successfully cope with anxiety. One or both parents is asked to join our sessions to learn how to support the problem-solving skills your child is learning. Parents will also learn appropriate caregiver responses and how to differentiate between anxious behaviours and oppositional behaviours.

Registration

CASS is a 6 session program where children learn to overcome their fears using playful and effective teaching tools in private psychotherapy. Each session is 50 minutes in duration. Fees are covered by most extended health care plans.

Please call 905-442-2420 or email your contact information, your child’s name, age and presenting problems. Payment is due when services are rendered. We accept cash, debit, Visa and MasterCard.