Not as Straightforward as it May Seem
- Challenges of engaging anxious children in CBT
- Rationale for integrating play therapy activities with CBT
- Key guidelines for CBT with anxious children
- Creative use of rewards to motivate children to follow through with skill practice
What’s Normal and What’s Problematic
- What anxiety looks like and feels like in children
- Differentiating anxiety and ADHD
- Common anxious thoughts
- Physiological responses to anxiety
- Build trust and rapport with children with play therapy
- Help children open up and share their fears
- Hone in on key areas to assess
- Gather key information from parents and teachers
- Translate assessment information into an effective treatment plan
- Limitations and risks
Play Therapy Games, Art, Stories & More
- Play therapy interventions to address the core components of CBT
- Foster treatment readiness
- Exposure plans to fit unique needs of each client
- Address resistance so children will approach rather than avoid their fears
- Collaborate with parents and school personnel to augment the child’s therapeutic progress
- Storytelling with young children to facilitate gradual exposure
- Signs and symptoms of phobias, separation anxiety, perfectionism, and selective mutism
- Sample gradual exposure plans to treat complex anxiety disorders
- Creative games, stories, art, and more play therapy to equip children with essential skills to face their fears


