CATES:
at the
Texas Child Study Center
Austin, TX
Child Anxiety Treatment Enhancement Study
Frequently Asked Questions
01
What is anxiety?
Anxiety is a normal reaction to stress and can actually be beneficial in some situations. For some people, however, anxiety can become excessive. While the person suffering may realize their anxiety is too much, they may also have difficulty controlling it and it may negatively affect their day-to-day living. There are a wide variety of anxiety disorders in children, including seperation anxiety, generalized anxiety, obsessive-compulsive disorder, and panic disorder to name a few. Collectively, they are among the most common mental disorders experienced by Americans.
Anxiety disorders affect about 40 million American adults age 18 years and older (about 18%) in a given year, causing them to be filled with fearfulness and uncertainty. A large, national survey of adolescent mental health reported that about 8% of teens ages 13–18 have an anxiety disorder, with symptoms commonly emerging around age 6. However, of these teens, only 18% received mental health care (NIMH, 2014).
02
How will you help my my child's anxiety?
Your child's treatment will have two phases, one in which he learns to recognize and cope with his worries, and another where we help your child to gradually face his fears one by one.
The way we apprach treating anxiety disorders in our study is by using Cognitive Behavioral Thearpy (CBT), which is considered the gold-standard for treating anxiety in children. The cognitive part helps children change the thinking patterns that support their fears, and the behavioral part helps children change the way they react to anxiety-provoking situations.
03
What is treatment in the anxiety study like?
The study usually consists of 12 once-per-week sessions held at our clinic at convenient times for your family. You will be randomly placed in one of two conditions upon starting the study, either the child-only or the child-and-parent conditions. In both conditions, your child receives the exact same treatment, the only difference is how many sessions the parents are also working in.
We look forward to explaining more about how the study works in person. For those who qualify for the child-and-parent condition, you can get all your questions answered at your parent-only pre-orientation session. For those in the child-only condition, we will answer all your questions about this topic at your first parent meeting, which usually occurs after your child's second session.
04
When do we come to the clinic for treatment?
Generally, families are asked to come in once a week for a 45-50-minute session. These weekly sessions occur for 12 weeks, with additional support as needed. We will also ask you to participate in a few follow-up sessions up to a year after you finish the 12-week program.
05
What should I expect for the first appointment? Do we need to bring anything with us?
The initial screening appointment will involve a structured diagnostic assessment which is used to identify exactly what type of anxiety your child is dealing with. This assessment typically takes up to 2-3 hours and will be conducted with both the parent(s) and child seperately. The information gathered from this assessment helps us understand if we are the best fit for your child's needs.
Once you complete our short screening survey on the phone, our team will contact you to give you the intake paperwork, or you can download it here. We ask that you also bring in any previous psychiatric or psychological assessments, as well as any school paperwork including IEPs, BIPs, other Special Education documents, and/or 504 Plans.
We will review the consent process and any additional paperwork with you at the initial appointment.
06
How important is it that the parent(s) is involved?
This is exactly what we are trying to find out in our study!
If you were randomized into the child-and-parent condition, the only way for your child to receive treatment is if you also agree to participate in weekly meetings. However, if you are in the child-only condition, don't worry! Child-only CBT is the current gold-standard for treating anxiety disorders with success rates that average between 65-80% (NIH, 2014). In the child-only condition, your child's therapist will include two parent-only sessions during the treatment process, and will also want to check in to keep you informed for a few minutes before or after every session.
07
My child's anxiety often happens at school. Will there be someone available to consult with his/her school?
Absolutely! As a School Psychology Doctorate Training Program, this is our specialty! Please make sure to let us know if you would like to discuss this more.
08
Will we be prescribed medication for my child's anxiety?
We are a psychology study only, and therefore will only discuss the therapy aspects of treatment. If you are interested in learning more about medication for child anxiety, please let us know and we can suggest a few great psychiatrists in the Austin area.
If you have already talked to your primary care physician or a psychiatrist about this and are planning to start your child on medication for his/her anxiety, we prefer for you to do so before the study begins or to wait until the study is completed.
09
Who will be treating my child?
As a graduate training program for the University of Texas at Austin, you and your child will be receiving services from a doctoral student in School Psychology who is specifically trained in CBT to treat children with anxiety. All student therapists are individually supervised by Dr. Kevin Stark, PhD. Student Therapists are selected for cases on a rotating basis, however we do try to place you and your child with a therapist who's experience matches your unique history, when needed.
Please check out our Graduate Team page to learn more about the student therapists involved in the study.
10
How much do we pay for treatment and/or do we need insurance?
Due to the generosity of Dell Children's Hospital and several local donors, as well as our student-lead services, we are able to provide services completely free of charge to families with or without insurance! Therefore, services received in the study do not require insurance or payment of any sort.
11
Do you offer treatment in Spanish?
Unfortunately, we do not have Spanish-speaking therapy sessions at this time. Children must be English-speaking to participate in the study, as well as parents involved in the child-and-parent condition. However, Spanish-speaking parents with English-speaking children can still qualify for the child-only condition.
12
How do we find out if we qualify? What if we don't qualify?
Click here to learn more about getting started in the study, email us, or give us a call at (512) 829-1484.
Children who qualify for the study in the study must require treatment for a primary anxiety concern. There are a few reasons why we can't accept children dealing with other primary concerns, and we will explain those to you in the initial screening process.
If you don't meet criteria to participate in the study, we will offer you a report-session to discuss why we did not believe we would be the best fit for you and your family and will offer our recommendations for futher treatment. We can also give you a list of recommended mental-health professionals that we believe will be a better fit for you and your child.
Don't see your questions here? Contact us now!