Is CBT Good for Anxiety in Children?

Do you have an anxious kiddo who seems to worry about everything? So much that it’s impacting their everyday life, and probably even yours, too.

We are familiar with this. Maybe they’re worrying about grades, or fitting in, or just anything and everything. This can be really hard for your child and for you as a parent too. When anxiety starts disrupting daily functioning, it becomes a big enough concern to seek help. Therapy is a common choice of help when it comes to anxiety, and CBT is even more common. CBT in St. Louis is considered a “first line” treatment for children with anxiety because of it’s effectiveness.

CBT in St. Louis is one of the most recommended treatments for children who are experiencing anxiety or anxious symptoms. What’s great about CBT for anxiety is that it gives children tools for managing their anxiety themselves, which is helpful in the present and in the future.

The process of CBT for children starts by helping the child understand their anxiety and get distant from it - so it becomes something that is separate from their identity, not who they are. Then the therapist and child can look at anxiety as the something like a “bully in the brain,” while moving forward we can teach skills to handle and control the “bully,” rather it controlling them. Essentially what CBT does is ease or remove anxious symptoms by understanding and changing anxiety at the root, and because CBT targets the root cause, it’s effects also run deep, allowing for everlasting change.

70-80% of children respond respond well to CBT, making it a great choice for anxiety in children.

The ability to use metaphors for CBT concepts and techniques makes CBT that much more of a good option for anxiety in children. Metaphors like the “bully in the brain” are engaging for children and allow them to conceptualize their anxiety. It’s also fun being the hero in their own story by handling and controlling the anxiety bully.

Image Credit: Annie Spratt @anniespratt on Unsplash

When children start to understand their anxiety in therapy, learning the right coping skills through CBT tends to be a “breakthrough” moment as they see that they do have a say in how they think and feel and can control their anxiety, which is really empowering.

Being anxious can be such an “out-of-control” feeling that when a child does realize that they do have control it is very freeing - you can imagine this by thinking about a string puppet. Your child is the puppet, while anxiety is the thing controlling the movement of the strings, and essentially the puppet. In this case, anxiety has a hold over your child - it’s controlling your child. Once your child learns about their anxiety and develops coping skills through CBT, the child becomes the one controlling the puppet. Anxiety can then be seen as the strings—something that really is just there but your child ultimately has control over themselves and the anxiety.

Read more about CBT and anxiety

As a parent, you want the best for your child, specifically the best treatment for your anxious kiddo. Here at Compassionate Counseling St. Louis we have a team of CBT therapists dedicated to help your child.

You can start by scheduling a free phone consultation here. We will discuss details, walk through our approach, and decide if we are the best fit - and if we’re not the best fit, we have a robust referral network of therapist we’d be happy to refer you to. We’re happy to help and your child’s progress is important to us.

Curious to learn more about anxiety therapy for kids, teens, and college students in St. Louis? Wondering if you need to connect with a therapist in St. Louis? Compassionate Counseling St. Louis specializes in anxiety therapy for teens, kids, and college students, along with partnering with parents through parent coaching - basically therapy for parents here in St. Louis. We’re located in Clayton and work with clients throughout the St. Louis region. To schedule a free phone consultation, please use our contact page.