Date of Award

Spring 5-12-2023

Document Type

Project (696 or 796 registration)

Degree Name

Master of Science in Counseling

Department

Graduate Studies

Committee Chair

Taryn Akgul

Keywords

Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, Anxiety Disorders, Multicultural

Abstract

Anxiety disorders are the most common disorder found among all school-aged children. Adults working in the education field need to be made aware of symptoms and treatments for their students when they’re having these heightened feelings of anxiety. According to Hirshfeld-Becker et al. (2010), research has shown that cognitive behavioral therapy is the most commonly implemented and effective source of therapy. It has also been shown to be the most clinically effective way to intervene and decrease anxiety disorders among children as young as four (Hirshfeld-Becker et al., 2010). This literature review examines the prevalence of anxiety among school-aged children and the most effective way to treat anxiety disorders within a school-based setting. In doing so, we are investigating the effectiveness of cognitive behavioral therapy intervention and prevention programs and their effectiveness in schools to treat elevated levels of anxiety disorders among school-aged students. Another aspect of research conducted by Haugland et al. (2017), shows certain barriers seen when implementing cognitive behavioral therapy in schools and the importance of multicultural considerations. With all the information considered, this literature review also develops a group manual, which will be used with Elementary and early Middle school-aged students (8-12 years old) experiencing anxiety. The group manual is called “My Worries Workshop” and it is an 8-week school-based Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) program designed to help students overcome their anxiety. Through a multitude of group discussions, activities, and homework, this group manual will help these students process their anxiety and change the way they think about it through a process called cognitive restructuring.

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