Anxiety Therapy for Children & Teens
When anxiety starts taking over your child's life. Long Beach, CA & Online
YOU ARE NOT ALONE
When anxiety makes your child's world smaller.
When anxiety starts taking over your child's life, it can feel like their world and your family's world is slowly getting smaller.
You may notice your child constantly worrying, avoiding situations that feel overwhelming, seeking reassurance, struggling with school, or becoming upset when things don't go as expected.
As a parent, you may find yourself changing routines, providing repeated reassurance, avoiding certain situations, or making accommodations just to help your child get through the day.
Over time, these patterns can leave your child feeling less confident and your family feeling increasingly limited by anxiety.
What you may notice in your child
What parents may find themselves doing
ANXIETY SYMPTOMS & COMMON CONCERNS
Anxiety can look different in every child.
Anxiety can look different depending on your child's age, developmental stage, and personality. Common anxiety concerns include:
Generalized Anxiety
Excessive worry about school, friendships, family, health, everyday responsibilities, or the future
Social Anxiety
Fear of being judged, embarrassed, rejected, or negatively evaluated by others
Separation Anxiety
Intense worry about being away from parents, caregivers, or loved ones
Panic & Panic Attacks
Sudden episodes of intense fear or frightening physical sensations
Specific Phobias
Intense fear of particular situations, animals, objects, or experiences, such as vomiting (emetophobia), needles, flying, heights, animals, or medical procedures
School Anxiety & School Avoidance
Anxiety that interferes with attending school, participating in class, completing assignments, or separating from caregivers
Performance Anxiety
Fear related to tests, sports, presentations, performances, or other situations involving evaluation
Health Anxiety
Persistent worry about illness, physical symptoms, or personal health
Perfectionism
Fear of making mistakes, disappointing others, or not meeting expectations
Worry About Uncertainty
Difficulty tolerating unexpected changes, not knowing what will happen, or moving forward without reassurance
This is not a comprehensive list. Anxiety may also appear in ways that don't look like worry at first.
Physical signs
Emotional & behavioral signs
Related areas I also treat
Anxiety can attach itself to many areas of a child's life, and the things that trigger anxiety may change as they grow.
TREATMENT THAT HELPS
Anxiety is highly treatable.
I have successfully helped children and teens manage anxiety, build confidence, develop independence, and experience greater freedom to participate in the activities and experiences that matter to them.
Treatment is tailored to your child's developmental level, personality, interests, needs, and goals, rather than relying on a one-size-fits-all approach. I incorporate practical, engaging, and creative strategies into treatment. When appropriate, I bring fun and play into sessions, using your child's interests and motivations to make therapy more approachable and meaningful.
The Transformative Path
A three-step approach to anxiety treatment.
Following a full assessment, I use evidence-based approaches to help your child understand anxiety, learn new ways to respond, and take meaningful steps toward greater confidence, independence, and a life that feels bigger than anxiety.
Understand
We begin by understanding how anxiety is showing up in your child's life and what may be maintaining it. I'll provide age-appropriate education about anxiety and explain the rationale behind treatment so your child—and you as their parent—can understand why we're taking each step.
Together, we'll identify patterns such as avoidance, reassurance seeking, perfectionism, overthinking, and other safety behaviors that may be keeping the anxiety cycle going, and develop a treatment plan based on your child's needs, goals, and the activities and experiences they want to feel more comfortable participating in.
Respond Differently
Your child will learn practical ways to respond differently to anxiety rather than automatically avoiding, escaping, seeking reassurance, or trying to control uncertainty.
Depending on your child's needs, treatment may include CBT, ERP, ACT, Metacognitive Therapy, and gradually facing feared situations through exposure while reducing the safety behaviors that maintain the anxiety cycle. The goal is to help anxiety have less power over their choices and everyday experiences.
Move Forward
Change happens step by step. Through practice and new learning, anxiety can become less intense, less controlling, and easier to manage.
As confidence grows, your child can begin participating more fully in school, friendships, family activities, extracurricular interests, and experiences they may have previously avoided.
Each step moves your child along a transformative path toward greater confidence, independence, freedom, and a life that feels bigger than anxiety.
FAMILY SUPPORT
Parents are part of the team.
Parents are often an important part of the treatment process.
Together, we'll identify ways to support your child's progress while reducing patterns that may unintentionally maintain anxiety, such as excessive reassurance, avoidance, or accommodation
Parents may also learn new ways to respond to their child's anxiety that promote confidence, independence, and resilience.
When your child or teen isn't ready for therapy
Not every child or teen is ready to participate in therapy. Sometimes a child may be reluctant to attend sessions, or previous treatment may not have produced the progress your family hoped for.
SPACE (Supportive Parenting for Anxious Childhood Emotions) is a parent-based, evidence-based approach that helps parents respond to anxiety in supportive ways while reducing patterns of accommodation that may unintentionally maintain it.
Through changes in how parents respond, children can develop greater confidence in their ability to manage distress and face challenges.
Learn more about SPACE therapy →ELEMENTARY · MIDDLE · HIGH SCHOOL
A bigger, more confident life.
The goal isn't to eliminate every anxious feeling or prevent your child from experiencing discomfort.
It's to help anxiety take up less space so your child has more freedom to grow, explore, connect, and participate in life.
For families, this can also mean spending less time organizing routines around anxiety and more time enjoying life together.
More freedom for
Less time organized around
NEXT STEPS
The goal is meaningful symptom relief and a childhood that feels bigger than anxiety.
With the right support, your child can build confidence, develop greater independence, and reclaim opportunities that anxiety has made difficult creating a life that feels bigger, freer, and more fully their own.
START YOUR CHILD'S PATH FORWARD
If anxiety is getting in the way of your child's life, you don't have to figure it out alone. Let's talk about what's happening and whether specialized anxiety therapy could be a good fit for your child.
Commonly Asked Questions
FAQ’s
Does exposure therapy mean forcing my child to face their fears?
No. Exposure is done gradually and collaboratively, never by forcing or surprising your child. Together, we create a step-by-step plan that starts with challenges that feel manageable and slowly builds toward harder ones. Your child has a voice in each step, and we move at a pace that builds confidence rather than overwhelm. Over time, facing fears in small, supported steps helps your child learn that they can handle discomfort and uncertainty, and anxiety begins to lose its power.
How long does anxiety treatment take for children and teens?
Treatment varies from child to child, but many children begin to see meaningful improvement within a few months of weekly sessions. A typical course of treatment may involve 12–20 sessions, though children with more severe anxiety or co-occurring concerns may benefit from additional support. Progress also depends on practicing skills between sessions and how anxiety is responded to at home, which is why parent involvement is an important part of treatment. We’ll check in regularly to review progress and adjust the approach as needed.
Will my child need medication for anxiety?
Many children and teens make significant progress with therapy alone, especially with evidence-based approaches like CBT and exposure. For some children, particularly when anxiety is severe or significantly interfering with daily life, medication may be a helpful addition. I don’t prescribe medication, but I can discuss whether a medication evaluation might be helpful, provide referrals, and collaborate with your child’s pediatrician or psychiatrist to support coordinated care.