Parent-led therapy
Seeing your child struggle with anxiety can be difficult, and many parents find themselves wondering, “Am I doing the right thing?”.
Parent-led CBT is an evidence-based psychological intervention for parents of children aged 5-12 experiencing anxiety, fears or worries. Based on the approach developed by Cathy Creswell and colleagues, it gives parents practical CBT strategies to support their child in everyday life.
Rather than your child attending individual therapy, you are the main participant. Together, we’ll work towards helping your child build confidence, independence, and their ability to cope with things that feel tricky.
helping your child with anxiety
Separation anxiety
Specific fears and phobias
Excessive worry
Reassurance seeking
Avoidance of activities, social situations, school, or other experiences
Anxiety=related physical symptoms such as tummy aches or feeling sick
Sleep difficulties related to anxiety
Big emotional reactions linked to anxiety
Reduced confidence or independence
What can parent-led cbt help with?
What does parent-led cbt with me look like?
We’ll start by understanding what’s happening for your child, what you’d like to be different and what may be contributing to or maintaining their anxiety.
We’ll consider your child’s individual needs, experiences and circumstances before creating a bespoke treatment plan based on their needs, your goals and the maintaining factors we’ve identified.
You’ll then be supported to put the agreed strategies into practice at home, with regular reviews to see what’s helping and adapt the plan as needed.
every child is unique
Children don’t always have the words to tell us they’re anxious. Anxiety can look like anger, avoidance, tears, clinginess, physical symptoms or difficulty sleeping.
I’ll consider your child’s individual temperament, development, experiences and circumstances when we’re trying to understand what’s happening. What looks like an anxiety-maintaining behaviour can sometimes make complete sense in context.
Importantly, this isn’t about blaming parents. Parenting a child with anxiety can be exhausting, and there is no perfect response. It is already hard enough without feeling judged on top. My starting point is that you’re doing your best with the tools you have - and we’re here to work out together what may help.