What is the professional treatment for a child with phobias and anxieties?
The treatment for a child with phobias or anxieties is to firstly identify it; notice where it's happening. And when you go in, if you want to get treatment, go to your primary care provider for a referral. Be able to give them as many specifics as you can. The phobia or anxiety happens then, it happens now, this is what I see triggers the phobia or anxiety. And all of that information allows them to be better able to diagnose it for you. Then they will give you a treatment plan for the phobia or anxiety. The treatment plan may be just some simple changes to the family dynamics, transition times. Make sure you give Johnny ten minutes before we're going to eat, five minutes before we're going to eat, three minutes before we're going to eat, it's time to clean up. Whatever will give them control and the knowledge to know that their life ahead is planned, and they know it. That empowerment will allow them to go. That's usually the kinds of treatment we look at, unless we're looking at a medical piece, which is the medications because the symptoms are really inhibiting their ability to function. That's not often that we do that. Mostly we don't have to go to that extreme, we just usually do the behavioral stuff and the education for the parents, and the empowerment of their child.
