Anxiety Therapy for Children & Teens

Worry is a normal part of growing up. We become more concerned when anxiety is persistent, out of proportion to the situation, causes real distress, or repeatedly keeps your child from everyday, age-appropriate things — school, sleep, friends, family life. If it’s steadily shrinking their world, it’s worth a conversation.

Reassurance does work, but only for a few minutes. Because it drops the distress instantly, children come back for it again and again, and the brain quietly learns it can’t cope without constant certainty. We help you offer connection and confidence without becoming responsible for erasing every “what if?”

Often, yes. Morning stomachaches and headaches are common signs of an activated nervous system, and school avoidance usually makes sense once we understand what’s driving it — anxiety, learning differences, sensory overwhelm, social worries, or low mood. We start by figuring out the function of the avoidance, then rebuild attendance in manageable steps.

Yes. We help your child gradually build tolerance for being apart from you, while coaching you on calm, consistent routines that replace bedtime panic with a felt sense of safety. The aim is steady, workable independence — not going cold turkey.

Perfectionism is often a way to manage uncertainty and avoid criticism, so it tends to travel with anxiety. We help children loosen the grip of “it has to be perfect,” tolerate mistakes and “good enough,” and reduce the over-checking and redoing that quietly fuels the fear.

Yes. Children and teens can learn what panic sensations actually are, become less frightened of the physical feelings, and gradually return to the situations they’ve started avoiding. Understanding the alarm takes a lot of its power away.

For younger children especially, parent involvement is one of the most powerful parts of treatment. We coach you on responding to reassurance-seeking, avoidance, and meltdowns in ways that build courage rather than feed the cycle. The exact level depends on your child’s age, goals, and needs.

Teens need appropriate privacy and a sense of ownership over their own therapy. Your psychologist will explain confidentiality and its limits, and find ways for you to support progress without undermining your teen’s trust in the process.

When it’s clinically helpful and you’ve given written consent, we’re glad to work with teachers and school counsellors. School coordination helps the skills your child builds with us carry into the classroom, where a lot of the anxiety actually happens.

Not every child does. Psychological therapy can be effective on its own, and for some young people medication is a helpful addition — a conversation for your physician or another authorized prescriber. We’re happy to work alongside your medical team either way.

Many extended health plans cover some psychology services, though eligible providers and annual limits vary — it’s worth checking your specific plan. Reach out and our team will walk you through fees, receipts for reimbursement, and direct billing where it’s available.