You're a Star

by Lacy

The video briefly explains a simple activity for a therapist to use with a child to increase the child's awareness of people that love, care about, and help them. The activity is called "You're A Star" and can also be used as a method of coping with future emotional issues that the child may encounter.

This is an activity that is described in more detail in Liana Lowenstein's "Favorite Therapeutic Activities for Children, Adolescents, and Families: Practitioners Share Their Most Effective Interventions" which can be accessed at:

http://www.lianalowenstein.com/e-booklet.pdf

Robinson, N.S. (1995). Evaluating the nature of perceived support and its relation to perceived self-worth in adolescents. Journal of Research in Adolescence, 5, (2), 253-280.

Anxiety Body Signals in Children

Children seen in a mental health setting have an estimated occurrence of anxiety between 12-20% (Carter, 2010).  Often feelings of anxiety and its concurrent physical discomfort  can cause feelings of fear and confusion which may cause children to have avoidant or distracting responses. 

The therapeutic treatment in relation to anxiety in children and having primary efficacy is Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT).  In the preliminary phase of CBT treatment, psycho-education, the clinician can assist the child to identify their body’s signals when anxious.  By being able to focus on their body’s responses to anxiety (e.g., which signals are the strongest and most noticeable) they become more self-aware and able to promptly use calming or relaxation techniques. 

The below-referenced articles provide more research regarding up-to-date information about anxiety and  children, Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) approaches, intervention techniques and applicable worksheets. 

Click here for a worksheet for discussing anxiety body signals with children.  This worksheet appears in the book called Anxiety by Stallard, referenced below.

by Tara Shirek

References:

1.  Carter, S. Managing anxiety in children. (2010). Retrieved on April 14, 2012 from: http://www.lianalowenstein.com/articles.html.
2. Jongsma, A. E., Peterson, L. M., & McInnis, W. P. (2006). Eating disorder. In T.J.Bruce (Ed.), The adolescent psychotherapy treatment planner (4th ed., pp. 109-117). Hoboken, New Jersey: John Wiley & Sons.
3. Beidas, R.S. , Benjamin, C.L., Edmunds, J.M., Kendall, P.C., Puleo, C.M. (2010) Flexible Applications of the coping cat program for anxious youth. Cognitive Behavioral Practice 17(2): 142–153. doi:10.1016/j.cbpra.2009.11.002.
4. Stallard, P. (2009). Anxiety: Cognitive behavior therapy with children and young people.  Routledge, London.

Managing Anger- Exploding Balloons

by Amanda Gustafson

     Often times, children and adolescents are not taught the coping skills necessary to manage anger.  It may be common for them to be told their behavior is “unacceptable” in how they react to the situations in which they experience anger.  These children then hold in their feelings and as their anger builds inside, they explode, just like an overfilled balloon, when acceptable coping strategies are not utilized in their anger management.  Through this exercise, these children and adolescents are shown a symbolic example of what happens when anger is kept inward.  Through this example and discussion of alternative coping strategies, counting back from 10, relaxation techniques, thought stopping, etc.; more appropriate  behaviors will be learned and reinforced as the child begins to better manage feelings of anger.

Source: Lauren Snailham Published in Creative Family Therapy Techniques Edited by Lowenstein, 2010  http://www.lianalowenstein.com/e-booklet.pdf

Kendall, P. (Ed.). (2011). Child and adolescent therapy: Cognitive-behavioral procedures. Guilford Press.

Miranda, A., & Jesús Presentación, M. (2000). Efficacy of cognitive‐behavioral therapy in the treatment of children with ADHD, with and without aggressiveness. Psychology in the Schools, 37(2), 169-182.

Zeman, J., Cassano, M., Perry-Parrish, C., & Stegall, S. (2006). Emotion regulation in children and adolescents. Journal of Developmental & Behavioral Pediatrics, 27(2), 155-168.

Feel Good Files- a Self-esteem intervention

    Children of varying ages including adolescents can benefit from creating a “Feel Good File.” The primary goal of creating this type of file is to encourage positive self-talk through the identification and verbalization of positive self-qualities. This activity provides a child with an opportunity to focus on their strengths while learning how to release negative self-thoughts and images by focusing on positive affirmations.  The feel good file can be used in the therapeutic setting as well as within the child’s home. The child can also learn how to use their file on their own and continue to add to the file over time. This video will demonstrate how to create and use a feel good file with a child in a therapeutic setting.        

by Shawna Hall

References:                   

http://www.lianalowenstein.com/e-booklet.pdf 
       

Clin Child Psychol Psychiatry July 2008 vol. 13 no. 3 395-407

Yoga for Children's Mental Health

by Rhonda Callahan

Children who experience attention issues and/or anxiety issues can be benefitted by yoga. Studies have found that yoga can help increase focus and to reduce anxiety. Yoga can be used to enhance and complement other interventions in a therapy setting, a classroom setting or in the home. There are many great resources including videos and classes that children and their “helpers” can use to do yoga. Yoga can also be a very connecting experience for children and their therapist, parent or teacher. The video will give some tips that can help a therapist in doing yoga with a child and demonstrate some simple poses while using kid-friendly terminology and making the relaxation exercise a fun experience.

Please see these articles for more information:

Arnold, L. (1999). Treatment alternatives for Attention-Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). Journal of Attention Disorders. 3, 30-48, doi:10.1177/108705479900300103.

Harrison L.J., Manocha R., Rubia K. (2004). Yoga Meditation as a family treatment programme for children with attention deficit-hyperactivity disorder. Clinical Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 9 (4) ,479-497.