URI_Research_Magazine_Momentum_Spring_2015_Melissa-McCarthy

Don’t Worry, Be Happy

Helping Children Overcome Anxiety by Bruce Mason

Anxiety is a normal part of growing up, and all children experience it. But when it becomes extreme, anxiety can interfere with a child’s well-being and happiness. In most cases, anxiety experienced by children is temporary, and may be caused by a specific, traumatizing event. For example, a young child may experience separation anxiety from his or her parents on the first day of school. Or, a child may watch a violent or scary show on TV and experience nightmares. In some cases, however, anxiety in children can be persistent and intense, and can interfere with a child’s daily routines, such as eating, sleeping and concentrating in school. When anxiety in children proves unrelenting it can be diagnosed as an anxiety disorder. “Anxiety disorders are one of the primary mental health problems affecting children and adolescents today,” says Ellen Flannery-Schroeder, a licensed clinical psychologist and a professor of psychology at the University of Rhode Island (URI). “Given the wide range of stressors associated

with growing up, it is important that our children have appropriate skills for coping with anxiety and other difficult emotions.” Flannery-Schroeder has specialized in the cognitive- behavioral treatment (CBT) of childhood anxiety disorders for nearly 20 years. In 2004, she established the Child Anxiety Program in the Psychological Consultation Center at URI as a specialty treatment program for children with anxiety disorders. The Child Anxiety Program consists of approximately 10 therapists who are graduate students enrolled in URI’s clinical or school psychology programs. A large part of what inspires and motivates Flannery- Schroeder’s work lies in her search for viable ways to overcome the difficulties associated with access to children’s mental/behavioral health care. She says that despite a greater awareness with regard to the importance of mental health and well-being, access to services such as treatment and care remain limited. “There are not enough treatment providers to meet the needs. The therapists who are available may not have the expertise necessary to address the individual problems of the child, which results in specialists having long waiting lists for treatment,” says Flannery-Schroeder.

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