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Digital Seminar

Certification Training: Growing Up Anxious: Treating Anxiety Disorders in a Generation Hyper-focused on Achievement, Technology & Safety

$459.99 Standard

We all want kids to be successful, safe, and secure, but such good intentions are having unintended consequences.

Three societal ingredients … a hyper-academic mindset, preoccupation with safety, and a tech-obsessed society … are fueling childhood anxiety, leaving kids fearful, avoidant, and ill-equipped for adulthood.

Watch child psychologist Steve O’Brien, Psy.D., and his practical strategies as he presents a three-level treatment model for childhood anxiety using targeted, evidence-based therapies to:

  • Connect with and “rewire” anxious children and families
  • Provide child-friendly instruction about anxiety and the brain
  • Promote self-expression and healthy coping in shut-down kids
  • Reduce debilitating social anxiety in adolescents
  • Treat technology-related worries, obsessions, and compulsions
  • Develop anxiety-free safety plans for distressed kids and parents

Don’t miss out on this cutting-edge program for equipping and empowering kids to not only cope with anxiety, but to thrive as they develop a growing sense of both competence and confidence!


Best of all, upon completion of this training, you’ll be eligible for Certification in Child and Adolescent Anxiety through Evergreen Certifications. Certification lets colleagues, employers, and clients know that you’ve invested the extra time and effort necessary to understand the complexities of child and adolescent anxiety counseling. Professional standards apply.

Certifications customized to match your professional background include:

Here's What You'll Learn


Growing Up Anxious – 3 Key Ingredients

EARLY EMPHASIS ON HIGH ACHIEVEMENT AND PERFORMANCE
  • Emotional costs of a hyper-academic mindset and over-evaluation
  • Performance philosophy pitfalls: perfectionism and procrastination
  • Consequences of strong individualism: anti-collaborative attitudes
TECHNOLOGY IMMERSION: PLUGGED IN BUT TUNED OUT
  • Tech-savvy, socially naive
  • Fearless online, fearful offline
  • Gratification-dependent, grit-deficient
PREOCCUPATION WITH SAFETY AND POTENTIAL THREAT
  • Overprotected but underdeveloped … socially and emotionally
  • How dysregulated adults promote anxiety-ridden kids
  • Failure to launch: Why “adulating” is difficult and frightening
INTEGRATING EVIDENCE-BASED TREATMENT APPROACHES
  • Behavior therapy/modification
  • Cognitive-behavior therapy
  • Family-focused/systemic therapy
  • Interpersonal therapy
  • Play/art/creative therapies
  • Mindfulness-based therapies
GUIDELINES FOR RAPPORT-BUILDING AND CLINICAL INTERVIEWING
  • Semi-structured parent interviews: Combining engagement with efficiency
  • Developmentally-sensitive child interviews: Integrating observation, play and dialogue
  • Parent consultation: Constructing a framework for parental involvement
PSYCHOEDUCATION FOR PARENTS AND KIDS: THE FIRST INTERVENTION
  • Teaching parents about their child’s overactive brain
  • Giving a child-friendly “tour of the brain”
  • Highlighting the mind-body connection

BIOPSYCHOSOCIAL TREATMENT: THE SECOND INTERVENTION 

  • ”LOWERING THE TEMPERATURE, SLOWING THE PACE”
  • Reducing Emotional Intensity and Conflict for a Calmer Environment
  • Healthy habits and daily transition rituals
  • Self-expression and support-seeking skills
  • 3 R’s of anxiety management: Recognize, Relax, Redirect

TARGETED TREATMENT FOR MAJOR (DSM-5™)  ANXIETY DISORDERS: THE THIRD INTERVENTION

  • Generalized Anxiety Disorder
    • Identifying manifestations of chronic worry
    • Cognitive strategies for discrediting the “what-if? person”
    • Self-talk for empowering the “helpful coach”
    • Cognitive-behavioral redirection for worries
    • Paradoxical relaxation for overachievers
    • Separation Anxiety Disorder
    • Assessing psychological and somatic components
    • Pre-treatment preparation: It’s all about the plan
    • Developing a treatment-support team
    • Action plans for high-distress episodes
    • Strategies for distressed/enmeshed parents
  • Social Anxiety Disorder
    • Evaluating cognitive versus physiological features
    • Cognitive-behavioral methods for getting teens out of their heads and into the world
    • Role-playing and free association games for promoting real-time interaction
    • Desensitization strategies for combating social avoidance
  • Phobias and Panic Disorder
    • Cognitive and physical/physiological symptoms
    • Essential ingredients for desensitization
    • ”Challenge ladders” for gradual exposure
    • Planning-for-panic strategies
  • Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder
    • Variations in obsessive-compulsive symptomatology
    • ”Brain challenges” for rigid perfectionists
    • Mindfulness strategies: “Balloon breathing and wet noodles” for high-threat perceivers
  • Controlled withdrawal and replacement for tech-addicts

CO-OCCURRING DISORDERS: TREATMENT IMPLICATIONS, RISKS, AND LIMITATIONS

  • Depressive Disorders
  • Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder
  • Autism Spectrum Disorders

ANXIETY-RIDDEN AT SCHOOL: CONSIDERATIONS AND CLASSROOM APPLICATIONS

  • Relationship-building with distressed/disruptive kids
  • Dealing with the 3 (dreaded) 3 D’s: Defiance, Disrespect, Disruption
  • Creating a calm, responsive classroom
  • Reducing task avoidance and test anxiety
  • Managing compulsive technology usage
  • Identifying, intervening, and preventing bullying
  • Tips for (post) pandemic adjustment

MEASURING TREATMENT PROGRESS

  • Evaluating symptomatology and functional level
  • School consultation and recommendations
  • Medication: Guidelines for discussion and referral

Everything You're Getting


  • More than 12 hours of video content
  • Up to 12.25 CE credits
  • Certificate of completion
  • Handouts and resources
  • Certification through Evergreen Certification

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Certification Training: Growing Up Anxious: Treating Anxiety Disorders in a Generation Hyper-focused on Achievement, Technology & Safety
Digital Seminar
$459.99

Meet Your Experts


Steven O'Brien, PsyD

Toggle speaker biography

Steve O’Brien, PsyD, is a clinical psychologist with over 30 years of experience working with children, adolescents, young adults, and families in his Clearwater, Florida practice. He is a respected national consultant for mental health professionals seeking guidance on the treatment of anxiety and mood disorders, ADHD, Autism Spectrum Disorders, and adjustment challenges in divorced and blended families.

 

Since 2017, Dr. O’Brien has provided continuing education and professional training for mental health clinicians, focusing on evidence-based interventions for anxiety, depression, and neurodevelopmental disorders in youth. He is the author of The Essential Guide to Treating Childhood and Adolescent Anxiety, a clinical manual designed to enhance treatment outcomes.

 

His integrative-systems approach combines CBT, interpersonal techniques, and exposure/desensitization strategies, all tailored to the developmental needs of young clients and their families. Intensive parent consultation—emphasizing psychoeducation, communication skills, and behavior modification—is a cornerstone of his therapeutic work.

 

Dr. O’Brien has worked in numerous healthcare environments, including community mental health, psychiatric, inpatient/residential, substance abuse, and medical facilities. He also served as associate professor of child-adolescent studies at the Florida School of Professional Psychology. In addition to his clinical work, Dr. O’Brien is an app developer (Life@Home by Psychtouch.com) and a frequent guest on local news outlets for his expertise on childhood anxiety. Visit obrienpsychology.com for more information.

 

Speaker Disclosures:
Financial: Dr. Steven O'Brien maintains a private practice. He receives a speaking honorarium, recording and book royalties from Psychotherapy Networker and PESI, Inc. He has no relevant financial relationships with ineligible organizations.
Non-financial: Dr. Steven O’Brien is a member of the American Psychological Association and the Florida Psychological Association.

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We’re that confident you'll find this learning experience to be all that's promised and more than you expected.

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Media Type:
Digital Seminar
Product Code:
POS057005
Duration:
12 hours, 18 minutes
Copyright:
Feb 13, 2025
Closed Captions:
Available
Format:
Audio and Video

ADA Needs


We would be happy to accommodate your ADA needs; please call our Customer Service Department for more information at 1-800-844-8260.

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