Children and Adolescent Programs at NECBT

The 2014-15 school year has begun. At this time of year, children and teens may find themselves feeling anxious or depressed, either from the new added stressors from school, or even from social situations in which they feel uncomfortable. In some cases, families may be discovering for the first time that a child has symptoms associated with ADHD. Others may simply need help learning how to better manage their stress. At NECBT, we can help children, teens, and their families get on the right track this school year.

Treating children can be challenging. In fact, a child’s brain is not fully developed until his or her mid-twenties. At New EnglandCenter for Cognitive Behavioral Therapy our philosophy for treating children and adolescents is to highly involve the parents and/or guardians. We have had a lot of success with this approach to children’s therapy. Parents are taught the same I-CBT used in individual session as well as how to use evidence based reinforcement techniques to encourage preferable behaviors.  Parents are then better equipped to handle their child’s behaviors outside the office setting. 

For more about I-CBT, a hybrid of Cognitive Behavioral Therapy and Emotional Intelligence developed by American Psychotherapist Thomas A. Cordier, please see last week’s post here.

At New England Center for Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, our approach to Child and Adolescent Therapy is three-tiered:

• First, we teach the child or adolescent the basics of Interpersonal Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (I-CBT) in weekly individual sessions.

• To further enforce the skills that children and adolescents learn in one-on-one therapy, they also participate in Group Therapy. Group Therapy allows multiple participants to engage in discussion and group activities in order to increase their understanding, knowledge, and skills of a specific topic. It also provides an opportunity for participants to experience supportive feedback in a safe social environment. In addition, we offer Art Therapy and Yoga, programs designed to help children and adolescents take control of their anxiety and depression while building self esteem, self confidence, and social skills.

• Lastly, we require parents of patients aged 17 and under to attend our Behavioral Parent Training classes. Behavioral Parent Training is designed to teach parents strategies to help improve their children’s behavior at home and in social settings, as well as support and reinforce what their children are learning in individual and group sessions.

Our Children and Adolescent Programs are primarily designed to treat:

·         Anxiety

·         Depression

·         Anger Management

·         Trauma

·         ADHD/ADD

but have helped children and adolescents suffering from a variety of different disorders.

While we are primarily a therapy focused practice, we do offer medication management when determined clinically necessary.

For more information or to schedule an appointment, please call (860) 430-5515.