Treating Anxiety, Depression, Worry and Stress in Children and Adolescents

Agenda & Learning Objectives

Module 1: The Anxious & Depressed Brain – Developmental Context

• The “Hidden” Epidemic: Understanding current trends in youth mental health (social media impact, post-pandemic stressors).
• Assessment & Diagnosis:
  • Depression vs. Irritability: Why depressed kids often look angry, not sad.
  • Anxiety vs. ADHD: Teasing apart restlessness from worry.
• Neurobiology for Kids: How to explain the “Amygdala Alarm” to a 7-year-old vs. a 15-year-old.

Module 2: Anxiety & Worry – The CBT & ACT Toolkit

• Externalization: Naming the Anxiety (e.g., ” The Bully,” “The Worry Bug”) to separate the child from the symptom.
• The Avoidance Trap: Teaching kids (and parents) that avoidance feeds the fear.
• Cognitive Defusion: ACT techniques for teens to “unhook” from spiraling thoughts rather than fighting them.
• Exposure “Missions”: Designing playful, gamified exposure hierarchies to face fears gradually.

Module 3: The Parent Trap – Systemic Interventions

• Understanding Accommodation: The well-intentioned things parents do that keep anxiety alive (e.g., ordering for the child, sleeping in their bed).
• The SPACE Model Concepts: Brief introduction to Supportive Parenting for Anxious Childhood Emotions.
• Co-Regulation: Teaching parents to be the “thermostat” rather than the “thermometer” of the emotional climate.

Module 4: Depression – Breaking the Inertia

• Behavioral Activation (BA):
  • The Fun First Rule: Why we schedule enjoyment before mastery for depressed teens.
  • Activity Monitoring: Tracking mood vs. activity to prove the link to the client.
•  Suicide & Self-Harm Assessment: Specific protocols for assessing risk in minors and safety planning with parents.
• Somatic Complaints: Addressing the “stomach ache” of depression without medicalizing emotional pain

Module 5: Stress Management & Resilience

• School Refusal: A specific protocol for getting kids back into the classroom.
• Sleep Hygiene: The critical role of sleep in emotional regulation for adolescents.
• Social Media Literacy: Helping teens navigate the “comparison trap” and cyber-stress.

Module 6: Integration & Case Studies

• The Comorbid Child: Managing a case with both high anxiety and depressive shut-down.
• Engaging the Resistant Teen: Strategies for the client who “doesn’t want to be here.”
• Q&A

Learning Objectives

• Differentiate between developmentally appropriate worry (e.g., stranger anxiety, academic stress) and clinical disorders to ensure accurate diagnosis and treatment planning.
• Apply youth-friendly CBT interventions, such as “externalizing the worry monster” and “thought detective” exercises, to help children challenge maladaptive thinking patterns.
• Identify and address “Family Accommodation Behaviors”—where parents modify routines to prevent a child’s distress—that maintain and worsen anxiety disorders.
• Utilize Behavioral Activation strategies adapted for adolescents to break the cycle of withdrawal and lethargy common in youth depression.
• Teach somatic regulation skills that help children manage physical symptoms of stress (stomach aches, headaches) when they lack the vocabulary to express emotion.