CBT for Anxiety

[ShannonOtown]

I'm moving on the what I consider the next step for my son who just turned 12 yesterday. He is currently in a good place post Augmentin (Winter for 3 weeks) and Cefdinir (study with Dr. Murphy) and his immune system is stable and his results from pnuemovax vaccination came back passing all 14 titers (he had failed 13). He still has some night time anxiety and urination issues and eye tics (which are horrible right now) and I see just little bits of PANDAS here and there.... but overall things are much better. Of course I'm fully aware (and waiting) for that next strep exposure to rock the boat!

 

Now that things have calmed (knock on wood), I'm scheduling some CBT appts to give him some tools to handle his anxiety issues. I see he still worries about a lot of things and hopefully the therapy will help him not sweat the small stuff. He can get nervous with crowded places, group school projects, too much homework, too late, too early, etc. and I'm looking for some coping skills for him. I'm reading a book on children with anxiety and it stresses not to wait or put off getting help for your children, that anxiety issues don't go away and they don't grow out of them.

 

Being that he's 12 and has been dealing with Pandas since he was 9, he's not going to be too happy that he's going to another doctor's appt... especially when he thinks everything is under control.

 

For those who have pre-teen or teenage children who have done CBT... did it help? Did your kids really participate or just go through the motions?

 

We have never been in 'therapy' and don't know what to expect.

 

Thanks. Shannon

[MomWithOCDSon]

Hi Shannon!

 

So glad your son is improving! That is great news.

 

I'm sure you'll be getting lots of mixed results here in asking about CBT and its effectiveness. In general though, I think the concensus is that, once the truly rough, deep phase of a PANDAS exacerbation has passed, then therapy can really help with developing coping skills.

 

My DS12 has been through both CBT and ERP, since he has both generalized anxiety and OCD-borne contamination issues. The CBT definitely helped him up until he "fell off the planet" during his latest exacerbation; then, until the abx kicked in, I don't know that anything would've helped him.

 

But once in a relatively calm, controlled phase, I think the CBT is invaluable. It teaches them coping skills that they can pull out on their own eventually, when they don't necessarily have family to lean on (like at school); and the therapy gave us as parents some very practical tools for helping him through an anxious event, too. Perhaps most importantly, though, the CBT helped my son separate himself from the anxiety . . . to see himself not as "damaged" by the condition/disorder, but as a whole, capable person who just happened to have this extra component of himself to deal with. Hard to explain, but through CBT, he was able to externalize the anxiety, both for himself and for us, so that he didn't have to be defined by it, even when it was raging pretty intensely. He even gave it a name, and then we were all able to call out the anxiety, blame IT instead of DS12, when it tried to take over. These techniques have helped him maintain his self-esteem and confidence, even during some tough times.

 

Just find the right therapist; if you or your son don't hit it off after one or two visits, then move on and find someone else. We've found that the rapport, especially with kids our sons' age, is really important. In our case, both our CBT and ERP therapists have been men, and I think that, especially as they're entering puberty, this can be really helpful.

 

Good luck!

[ShannonOtown]

Hi Shannon!

 

So glad your son is improving! That is great news.

 

I'm sure you'll be getting lots of mixed results here in asking about CBT and its effectiveness. In general though, I think the concensus is that, once the truly rough, deep phase of a PANDAS exacerbation has passed, then therapy can really help with developing coping skills.

 

My DS12 has been through both CBT and ERP, since he has both generalized anxiety and OCD-borne contamination issues. The CBT definitely helped him up until he "fell off the planet" during his latest exacerbation; then, until the abx kicked in, I don't know that anything would've helped him.

 

But once in a relatively calm, controlled phase, I think the CBT is invaluable. It teaches them coping skills that they can pull out on their own eventually, when they don't necessarily have family to lean on (like at school); and the therapy gave us as parents some very practical tools for helping him through an anxious event, too. Perhaps most importantly, though, the CBT helped my son separate himself from the anxiety . . . to see himself not as "damaged" by the condition/disorder, but as a whole, capable person who just happened to have this extra component of himself to deal with. Hard to explain, but through CBT, he was able to externalize the anxiety, both for himself and for us, so that he didn't have to be defined by it, even when it was raging pretty intensely. He even gave it a name, and then we were all able to call out the anxiety, blame IT instead of DS12, when it tried to take over. These techniques have helped him maintain his self-esteem and confidence, even during some tough times.

 

Just find the right therapist; if you or your son don't hit it off after one or two visits, then move on and find someone else. We've found that the rapport, especially with kids our sons' age, is really important. In our case, both our CBT and ERP therapists have been men, and I think that, especially as they're entering puberty, this can be really helpful.

 

Good luck!

 

Thanks for the reply. That is what I hope happens for my son... that he will be able to identify the anxiety and learn to deal with it, instead of it consuming him. I figure this is a good age going into middle school with sooo many stresses. My son actually works better with women... he's a momma's boy and men actually intimidate him more.... But good advice about making sure they hit it off....

[Megs_Mom]

There are some workbooks that can be good starting places even before therapy - they may be too young for him, but in general they have been well received up until around the age of 13. You can check them out on Amazon to see what you think.

 

for General Anxiety: http://www.amazon.com/What-When-You-Worry-...5520&sr=8-1

 

for OCD/Anxiety: http://www.amazon.com/What-When-Brain-Stuc...5644&sr=8-1

 

I have a much younger child, but we have 2 friends with pre-teens, and they have done very well with therapy, although they were not happy to go at first! I think they try to keep it pretty matter of fact.