Anxiety Therapy for Children, Teens, and Young Adults

What is Anxiety?

Anxiety is a normal part of life, but when worries, fears, or physical symptoms become overwhelming or interfere with daily functioning, additional support may be helpful. Children, teens, and young adults may experience anxiety in many forms, including generalized anxiety, social anxiety, separation anxiety, health anxiety, phobias, selective mutism, panic disorder, and perfectionism. Anxiety can affect school performance, friendships, family relationships, sleep, and participation in activities, often leading to avoidance and increased distress over time.

Evidence-Based Anxiety Treatment

As an anxiety therapist specializing in children, teens, and young adults, I provide evidence-based treatment tailored to each individual's needs. Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) helps clients understand the connection between thoughts, feelings, and behaviors, while learning practical skills to manage worry, build confidence, and reduce avoidance.

When anxiety leads to avoiding situations, people, sensations, or experiences, I use exposure-based approaches to help clients gradually face fears and develop confidence in their ability to cope. Exposure work is carefully planned, collaborative, and tailored to each child's developmental level and goals.

I also incorporate Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT), which helps children and teens develop psychological flexibility, make room for difficult thoughts and feelings, and focus on what matters most rather than letting anxiety dictate their choices.

For parents, I may integrate elements of Supportive Parenting for Anxious Childhood Emotions (SPACE), an evidence-based parent-based treatment that helps caregivers reduce accommodations that unintentionally reinforce anxiety. Parents learn practical strategies to support their child while encouraging resilience, independence, and long-term confidence.

What to Expect During Therapy

Therapy begins with a comprehensive assessment to understand how anxiety is affecting your child or teen's daily life, relationships, school functioning, and overall well-being. Together, we'll identify patterns of worry, avoidance, physical symptoms, and family factors that may be maintaining anxiety.

Treatment focuses on helping children and teens build coping skills, face fears gradually, and develop confidence in managing uncertainty. Parents are often included in treatment to learn effective ways of supporting progress at home. The goal of therapy is not to eliminate all anxiety, but to help children, teens, and young adults participate fully in the activities, relationships, and experiences that matter most to them.