Is Anxiety Impacting Someone In Your Family?

Are you concerned that either you or your child may suffer from a form of anxiety? Do symptoms related to social or separation anxiety, phobias, panic attacks, or obsessive-compulsive behaviors impact daily life at home? Did you know that therapy can help you move beyond anxiety and restore the serenity your life has been missing?

If Your Child Suffers From Anxiety…

Perhaps your child exhibits anxious behaviors, such as excessive worrying that impacts their performance at school or in sports. When they become anxious, they may be overwhelmed with fear that something terrible will happen or feel like they’re not allowed to make a mistake. These negative reactions likely cause them to avoid people or activities they associate with their distress, which further intensifies the problem.

If your child complains of physical symptoms—such as headaches, stomach aches, difficulty breathing, or heart palpitations—they may be experiencing the effects of internalized anxiety.

You may have noticed their sleeping or eating routines are disrupted or that they engage in compulsive behaviors like hair pulling or skin picking when anxious. Since the pandemic, your child may have developed a phobia that keeps them trapped in a loop of irrational fear.

If You’re A Parent Who Suffers From Anxiety…

You may doubt your abilities to meet the demands of parenthood and be burdened by negative self-talk. Perhaps unresolved trauma from your past has triggered the symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), such as catastrophizing any potential outcome or experiencing panic attacks.

The good news is that whether the symptoms you or your child are dealing with are big or small, therapy can help you or your child manage anxiety so that it no longer disrupts daily life or causes emotional pain.

Isolation Fostered By The Pandemic Has Exacerbated Anxiety Disorders

Although anyone at any age can suffer the effects of anxiety, the prevalence of anxiety in youth has nearly doubled compared to pre-pandemic figures. A meta-analysis conducted in 2021 found that “estimates of clinically elevated child and adolescent depression and anxiety were 25.2 percent and 20.5 percent respectively, suggesting that both age groups had likely doubled.”[1]

When you consider the social isolation our children and teens endured as a result of the pandemic, it's no wonder that anxiety is on the rise in their age group. Anytime something is taken away from us it can produce anxiety. In the case of the pandemic, our kids lost physical contact with their peer group during their socially formative years.

Unfortunately, what replaces face-to-face interaction is often social media, where the perception of others is filtered through a false lens of perfection. The “ideal” lifestyle reflected back at our children puts them under pressure to meet impossibly high standards, which only serves to diminish their self-esteem and exacerbate anxiety.

We Often Ignore Our Anxiety Symptoms Rather Than Seek Help

Many of us struggle to overcome anxiety because we tend to downplay the impact its symptoms are having on ourselves or our children. Or perhaps we think how we feel is normal because we’ve always felt this way, even when we endure severe panic attacks or crippling social anxiety that keeps us isolated from others—sadly, we don’t realize what a benefit therapy can be.

Luckily, treatment can help you or your child overcome panic attacks, phobias, social anxiety, and a host of other anxiety-based disorders. Learning to realize you are safe and that your fears are often unfounded is the first step in overcoming the symptoms of anxiety and restoring emotional balance.

Therapy Can Help Parents And Children Better Manage Anxiety

The hardest part of anxiety is that you might not realize how much your thoughts are controlling the way you live. Anxiety can steer you away from living by your values, pushing you towards fear and avoidance. However, with support and guidance, you can take back control of your life and live a full, value-filled life.

By helping paint a picture of what your life will look like without anxiety, your therapist will help you visualize an attainable path to a new future. They will listen to you closely, validating your experience in a safe, compassionate, and non-judgmental environment that fosters radical self-acceptance and encourages you to adopt a solution-focused mindset.

What To Expect In Sessions

Whether it’s you or your child who attends therapy, the initial session will be tailored to suit your specific needs. If your child is too young to be able to express what they are experiencing, they will be paired with a child therapist trained in Play or Art Therapy who can help them articulate their thoughts and feelings. For teenagers, we offer them the choice to attend the first session by themselves or have you join in for a small portion of the hour—building trust and maintaining privacy is always top of mind when working with this age group.

And if you’re attending therapy for yourself, we will review your intake form together to get clarity on what your concerns with anxiety are. Once you’ve identified the anxiety symptoms you need help with, your therapist will present the treatment plans available so that together you can develop tangible goals and collaborate on the best path forward.

In ongoing sessions, we typically start with a problem-oriented approach that will teach you skills to offer initial relief while providing psychoeducation along the way. Once the problem is identified, we will shift the focus to working toward solutions. Adopting a future-focused and goal-directed approach will motivate you toward making positive changes in your thoughts and behaviors.

The Modalities We Use

We take an integrative approach to treating anxiety, which includes Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT), Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT), Exposure Therapy, as well as Play Therapy for children. CBT focuses on changing your thoughts which, in turn, will change your emotions and actions. Through cognitive restructuring and gentle assurance from your therapist that thoughts are not always facts, you will be encouraged to replace negative beliefs with more positive thoughts that will constructively influence how you think, feel, and behave.

DBT focuses on reducing anxious behaviors by teaching distress tolerance, distraction, and relaxation techniques, which are also helpful skills to defuse panic attacks. And Exposure Therapy can help neutralize unwelcomed fears or behaviors if you or your child struggles with OCD or phobias.

Regardless of who in your family needs help with anxiety, therapy can guide you to long-term solutions. By keeping your focus on the future and helping you or your child reach tangible goals, it will empower you to step into a new life free from the burden of anxiety.

But You May Wonder Whether Anxiety Therapy Is Right For You…

I’m concerned that by attending anxiety therapy my child will miss school and fall behind.

We understand that the stress of falling behind in school could exacerbate your child’s anxiety symptoms. If you or your child is concerned about missing too much school, appointments can be made bi-weekly or be scheduled when they’ll miss an easier class to make up. Should your child miss school, we can write a medical note for you that counts as an excused absence.

My child won’t agree to seek treatment for anxiety unless it’s private.

If you have a teenager, it’s normal that they won’t want to share everything that’s discussed in therapy with you. You can let them know that everything we discuss in therapy is confidential with some notable exceptions—including self-harm, thoughts of hurting others, child abuse, elder abuse, or animal abuse. If their counselor thinks it would be beneficial to share something with you, such as to report progress or explain a coping skill for anxiety they learned in counseling, we will get their permission first.

How can I help my child with their anxiety disorder at home?

If you would like to reinforce what your child is learning during therapy to cope with their anxiety, we welcome you to join sessions occasionally or schedule individual meetings or phone calls with their therapist. The therapist can provide you with helpful resources, including relevant articles and book recommendations, as well as share the skills your child is learning in therapy so you can ensure they are implementing what they’ve been taught at home. And if prescribing medication is appropriate, they will also discuss this option with you.

Your Entire Family Can Benefit From Anxiety Therapy

When one family member struggles with anxiety, it can impact everyone—but there’s hope for a more peaceful life. If you would like to find out more about anxiety therapy with us, you can call 513-770-1705 or visit our contact page.