Addressing Parental Accommodation When Treating Anxiety In Children ABCT

Anxiety disorders are among the most common mental health issues experienced by children. These disorders can have a significant impact on a child's daily life, affecting their ability to concentrate, engage in social activities, and achieve academic success. It is crucial for parents to recognize and address their child's anxiety to ensure their well-being and development.

Understanding Parental Accommodation

Parental accommodation refers to the actions parents take to alleviate their child's anxiety in the short term. These actions may include providing excessive reassurance, avoiding situations that trigger anxiety, completing tasks the child is hesitant to do, and making special accommodations to reduce their child's distress. While these actions may temporarily provide relief to the child, they can inadvertently reinforce their anxiety in the long term.

For example, if a child is afraid of dogs, a parent may avoid parks or other places where they may encounter dogs. Although this may prevent immediate distress for the child, it reinforces the idea that encountering dogs is dangerous, leading to a continued fear and avoidance of dogs. Over time, this accommodation can perpetuate and intensify the child's anxiety, making it increasingly difficult for them to overcome their fears.

Addressing Parental Accommodation When Treating Anxiety In Children (ABCT Clinical Practice Series)

by Eli R. Lebowitz (Illustrated Edition, Kindle Edition)

4.7 out of 5

Language	:	English
File size	:	1475 KB
Text-to-Speech	:	Enabled
Screen Reader	:	Supported
Enhanced typesetting	:	Enabled
Word Wise	:	Enabled
Print length	:	180 pages
Lending	:	Enabled

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The Negative Impact of Parental Accommodation

While the intentions behind parental accommodation are understandable, research suggests that it can have detrimental effects on a child's anxiety disorder. By constantly accommodating their child's fears and avoiding anxiety-provoking situations, parents inadvertently prevent their child from learning and developing effective coping strategies.

Parental accommodation can also lead to a cycle of dependency, where children come to rely on their parents to soothe their anxiety rather than developing the skills to manage it independently. This dependency can hinder a child's ability to foster resilience and adaptability, crucial qualities for navigating the challenges of daily life.

Encouraging Gradual Exposure

One of the most effective strategies in treating anxiety in children is gradual exposure therapy. This approach involves systematically exposing the child to feared situations or stimuli in a safe and controlled manner. Through repeated exposure, the child learns that their feared outcomes are unlikely to occur, gradually reducing their anxiety over time.

However, parental accommodation can impede the success of exposure therapy. With parents continuously stepping in to alleviate their child's anxiety, the child may be less motivated to confront their fears and engage in exposure exercises. Therefore, it is crucial for parents to understand the importance of not accommodating their child's anxiety and actively participate in the child's exposure-based treatment plan.

The Role of Parental Support

Addressing parental accommodation does not mean completely withdrawing parental support. On the contrary, parents play a vital role in supporting their child through the treatment process. However, the support should be focused on empowering the child to face their fears, rather than reinforcing their anxieties.

Parents can provide emotional support, encouragement, and praise during exposure exercises. They can help their child identify and challenge anxious thoughts or beliefs that may arise during these activities. Additionally, parents can collaborate with mental health professionals to learn specific strategies to support their child's exposure therapy.

Seeking Professional Help

Addressing parental accommodation can be a challenging task, especially without professional guidance. Parents are encouraged to seek assistance from mental health professionals who specialize in working with children and anxiety disorders. These professionals can provide parents with valuable insights, strategies, and support to address parental accommodation effectively.

Additionally, family therapy can be beneficial in addressing the dynamics between parents and children when it comes to anxiety. Family therapists can help parents gain a deeper understanding of their child's anxiety disorder and facilitate open communication within the family, fostering an environment conducive to the child's recovery.

Addressing parental accommodation is pivotal in the successful treatment of anxiety in children. By understanding the negative impact of accommodation, parents can take proactive steps to support their child's treatment and recovery. Through gradual exposure and parental support, children can learn effective coping strategies and develop resilience to navigate their anxiety. Seek professional help to ensure the most appropriate and effective approach to addressing parental accommodation.

Addressing Parental Accommodation When Treating Anxiety In Children (ABCT Clinical Practice Series)

by Eli R. Lebowitz (Illustrated Edition, Kindle Edition)

4.7 out of 5

Language	:	English
File size	:	1475 KB
Text-to-Speech	:	Enabled
Screen Reader	:	Supported
Enhanced typesetting	:	Enabled
Word Wise	:	Enabled
Print length	:	180 pages
Lending	:	Enabled

FREE

Changes that parents and other family members make to their own behaviors to help a child avoid or alleviate anxiety are known as accommodations. Parental accommodation is a key aspect of child anxiety, and has a major impact on course, severity of symptoms and impairment, family distress, and treatment outcomes. As such the careful, gradual removal of accommodation by parents and loved ones is an important target of anxiety treatment for children.

Addressing Parental Accommodation When Treating Anxiety in Children provides invaluable guidance to clinicians who wish to address accommodation within the context of a broader treatment strategy for anxious children, or as a stand-alone treatment. Clinicians will learn from this concise and easily accessible primer how to help parents identify and monitor accommodation, how to create treatment plans for reducing accommodation, and how to help parents communicate these plans to their children and implement them effectively. They will also learn how to help families cope with disruptive child responses to reduced accommodation, how to work with parents who struggle to cooperate, and what to do about a child's threats of self-harm. The book includes transcripts and rich clinical illustrations, as well as guidance on how to discuss accommodation with both parents and children-including a wealth of easily understood metaphors to aid in approaching the topic with empathy and without judgment. Addressing Parental Accommodation When Treating Anxiety in Children is an essential resource that will be of use to psychologists, counsellors, and clinical social workers who treat anxious children.