When Your Child has an Anxiety Disorder
Parenting a child with an anxiety disorder such as generalized, social, or separation anxiety disorders can be incredibly difficult. Simple tasks may become challenging for both the parent and the child when anxiety is involved. Fortunately, there are resources and information available to assist you if this is something your family is struggling with.
Therapy
Therapy may be the right treatment for your child and is often a good starting point when he or she is facing the daily and persistent struggles of anxiety. Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT), offered at McLean Counseling Center, is a common choice for treating anxiety disorders. CBT aims to target the specific triggers and help the patient develop methods of dealing with and quelling anxiety, giving them the tools to go about their lives and become a competent individual. CBT will allow your child to identify abnormal thoughts and create goals to overcome them. It is short-term therapy and can be performed with the patient individually, with family, or with a group depending on your child’s needs and comfort level. You can read more about CBT for children here.
Parent or Family Counseling
It is hard to know what to do when your child is in the throes of a panic attack or struggling to thrive due to their chronic anxiety. Seeing your son or daughter face these issues can be heart-wrenching, and often you may be unsure what the best course of action is to help them reach their full potential. Parent counseling can give you the tools you need. Parent counselors at McLean Counseling Center can teach you strategies and proper approaches for you to care for and raise your child to be a healthy, successful person you want them to be. Counselors can give you the tools and research-backed information you need to best connect with your child and help him or her cope with their chronic anxiety in day-to-day life and positively develop the relationship between you and your child.
Medication
Sometimes therapy alone is not enough to provide someone with what they need to succeed in life. Up and coming research and strong field-based evidence frequently shows that a combination of medication and therapy is the best course of action for many who suffer from anxiety or other mental health concerns. However, you want to make sure your child is being monitored and treated by a highly knowledgeable professional if this is the choice you and counselors decide is right for the child. McLean Counseling Center has the staff needed to assure that he or she is getting the best treatment for them.
Dealing with anxiety is difficult and can make parenting a struggle, but the people at McLean Counseling Center are equipped to help you and your family live a happy life.