Michigan Online Educator Certification System

Anxiety Disorders in Children and Adolescents

The increasing rate of stress and trauma to children, which includes divorce, family breakdown, violence in society, the media, and a failing school system, has produced a "shell shocked" generation suffering from anxiety. The challenge for clinicians is to recognize anxiety in children and help them cope. Dr Christine Dargon will teach you how and why anxiety develops in children and adolescents. She will present practical treatment strategies that can be applied immediately. The seven key anxiety disorders along with case examples to be addressed include: Separation anxiety disorder panic disorder overanxious obsessive-compulsive disorder social anxiety disorder phobias post traumatic stress disorder Other co-occuring disorders (e.g. behavior problems, medical conditions, depression, ADHD, learning disabilities, selective mutism) will also be discussed. Emphasis will be on creative interventions involving insight-oriented, cognitive-behavioral, biological, mindfulness, expressive arts and family systems approaches.