NYCAO
Tel: 917-565-9940
Child and Adolescent Services
We foster a warm, fun and collaborative environment where children and teens are empowered to face their fears and grow.
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CBT
For Child and Adolescent Anxiety
Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) for child and adolescent anxiety is broken into two parts: (1) learning skills to cope with anxiety and (2) gradually entering anxiety provoking situations while practicing coping skills. We help children and teens understand how their anxiety and other feelings manifest in their body, teach relaxation techniques including deep breathing and progressive muscle relaxation, identify and talk back to worry thoughts (sometimes externalized as the “worry monster” or another creative name) and learn problem solving skills. In the second phase of treatment we partner with children and teens to create a hierarchy of anxiety provoking situations and help them gradually enter these situations while practicing coping skills. Children and teens learn that feared situations are not as bad as they may have thought and/or that they can handle them.
ERP
For Child and Adolescent OCD
Exposure and Response Prevention (ERP) for OCD begins with psychoeducation about obsessions, compulsions and how ERP works. Children and teens collaboratively develop an exposure hierarchy with clinicians with a range of easy, medium and hard situations they can enter and practice resisting compulsions. In ERP treatment, children and teens learn to gradually expose themselves to anxiety provoking situations while resisting engaging in compulsions. OCD is externalized (often given a creative name) and youth and clinicians form a team to fight OCD. Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) is woven throughout ERP treatment as children and teens are asked to take steps in line with their values and goals in the face of OCD. Youth learn that compulsions do not actually prevent feared consequences, that the associated distress will not last forever and that they can handle the experience.