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Children’s Mental Health

ABCT Resources for Children

Fact Sheets and other resources developed by ABCT related to adolescents and children under the age of 12.

ABCT Condemns the Florida Legislature’s Attack on LGBTQ+ Youth - ABCT Sexual and Gender Minority SIG Condemns Florida Attack on LGBTQ+ Youth

Adolescent and Young Adults With Cancer - The effects of a cancer diagnosis and treatment may be especially upsetting for people diagnosed as adolescents and young adults.

Adolescent Suicide - Suicide the third leading cause of death for adolescents. Out of every 100 attempts, 1 adolescent will succeed in committing suicide.

Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) - People with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) have difficulties in sustaining attention to tasks, particularly if they demand more effort than usual.

Bed-Wetting - About 15% of all elementary-school-age children wet the bed, and continued bed-wetting beyond the age of 5 is a problem that should be treated.

Children’s Mental Health - ABCT offers information from other groups detailing evidence-based treatments and cognitive behavior therapy.

Ending Conversion Therapy - ABCT applauds Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer for signing an executive directive to stop the use of state or federal funds for conversion therapy on minors.

Gun Violence Briefing Book - Gun Violence: a briefing book for journalists to help put guns and violence in context and provide an overview of how CBT might help to combat those elements that promote violence and sooth the effects of the trauma witnessed upon others.

Helping Children Cope With Divorce - There is a 50/50 chance that couples who marry today will divorce, and almost half of all children now growing up in the United States have seen or will see their parents’ marriage end.

Louisa Sylvia is an associate director at the Dauten Family Center for Bipolar Treatment Innovation at Massachusetts General Hospital. - Louisa Sylvia is an associate director at the Dauten Family Center for Bipolar Treatment Innovation at Massachusetts General Hospital.

Maltreatment and Suicide - ABCT member Mitch Prinstein comments on the following article related to the link between childhood abuse and adult suicide.

Reducing Teen Social Media Use with CBT - reducing screen time reduces its negative effects

Selective Mutism - Selective Mutism (SM) is an anxiety disorder in which a child or adolescent fails to speak in specific social situations or to specific people (e.g., school, birthday parties, or to familiar adults), despite being able to speak in other situations and to other people (e.g., home, parents, or to peers).

Statement From the ABCT Board of Directors Regarding Texas Governor’s Order to Investigate Gender-Affirming Care as Child Abuse - ABCT supports Gender-Affirming treatment for adolescents

Suicide Briefing Book - Suicide Briefing Book: A resource for the media and lay people looking to better understand, write about, or talk about suicide.

Suicidio Adolescente - En las encuestas a estudiantes de la escuela secundaria, 8% a 10% reportan haber hecho un intento de suicidio.

The ADDRESS Mental Health Laboratory, in the Department of Psychology at Palo Alto University, is directed by Alayna Park, Ph.D. - Alayna Park directs the ADDRESS Mental Health Laboratory, in the Department of Psychology at Palo Alto University

The Advancing Care through Community Engagement, Services, and Outcome Research (ACCESO) Laboratory, located in the Clinical Child Psychology Program at the University of Kansas, is directed by Omar Gudiño, Ph.D., ABPP. - Omar Gudiño, Ph.D., ABPP. directs the Advancing Care through Community Engagement, Services, and Outcome Research (ACCESO) Laboratory, located in the Clinical Child Psychology Program at the University of Kansas

Time Out - Written by ABCT members Camilo Ortiz, Anne Marie Albano, Mitch Prinstein, Regine Galanti, Dan Hoffman, Tim Cavell, and Hillary Vidair, it dispels several myths about effective, evidence based discipline.

Trastorno Límite de la Personalidad - El trastorno límite de la personalidad (TLP) es un desorden psicológico que afecta aproximadamente entre el 1% y 2% de la población.

Third-Party Links for Children’s Mental Health

Society of Clinical Child and Adolescent Psychology

Suggested Resources

What Is Cognitive Behavior Therapy?

Cognitive Behavioral Therapy is a type of treatment that is based firmly on research findings. It places emphasis on changing your cognitions (thoughts) or behaviors (actions) in order to effect change in how you feel. These approaches help people in achieving specific changes or goals.

Changes or goals might involve:

A way of acting: like smoking less or being more outgoing;
A way of feeling: like helping a person to be less scared, less depressed, or less anxious;
A way of thinking: like learning to problem-solve or get rid of self-defeating thoughts;
A way of dealing with physical or medical problems: like reducing back pain or helping a person stick to a doctor’s suggestions.

Cognitive behavioral therapists usually focus more on the current situation and its solution, rather than the past. They concentrate on a person’s views and beliefs about their life. CBT is an effective treatment for individuals, parents, children, couples, and families. The goal of CBT is to help people improve and gain more control over their lives by changing behaviors that don’t work well to ones that do.

How to Get Help

If you are looking for help, either for yourself or someone else, you may be tempted to call someone who advertises in a local publication or who comes up from a search of the Internet. You may, or may not, find a competent therapist in this manner. It is wise to check on the credentials of a psychotherapist. It is expected that competent therapists hold advanced academic degrees. They should be listed as members of professional organizations, such as the Association for Behavioral and Cognitive Therapies or the American Psychological Association. Of course, they should be licensed to practice in your state. You can find competent specialists who are affiliated with local universities or mental health facilities or who are listed on the websites of professional organizations. You may, of course, visit our website (www.abct.org) and click on “Find a CBT Therapist”

The Association for Behavioral and Cognitive Therapies (ABCT) is an interdisciplinary organization committed to the advancement of a scientific approach to the understanding and amelioration of problems of the human condition. These aims are achieved through the investigation and application of behavioral, cognitive, and other evidence-based principles to assessment, prevention, and treatment.