Therapy & Counseling for Children

David Anderson, founder of Wichita OCD Center, is a child therapist providing therapy and counseling for children in Wichita, Kansas. Children may be treated individually or with their parent(s), stepparent(s) and sibling(s) through family therapy. Techniques include play therapy, Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT), Exposure and Response Prevention (ERP), Comprehensive Behavioral Intervention for Tics (CBIT), and other techniques for the treatment of Tourette’s, Tics, OCD and other child mental health issues.

Child Therapy Treatment Areas

There are a wide range of reasons parents or other caregivers seek counseling for a child, such as a traumatic event, a mental health condition diagnosis, or even behavior concerns.

OCD

Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) involves having repeated thoughts, or obsessions, and corresponding behaviors, or compulsions. Thoughts are considered obsessive when they become intrusive and trigger unwanted urges. These obsessive thoughts and feelings cause anxiety. Compulsion comes into play in the form of actions taken to get rid of these anxious feelings.

Repetitive actions and rituals can consume significant portions of a child’s day who is suffering from OCD. Professional help is needed with OCD becomes disruptive and interferes with a child’s ability to function at school or at home. By addressing the root causes of the uncomfortable OCD cycles, therapy can bring children lasting relief.

PANIC ATTACKS

Panic attacks can seemingly come out of nowhere with no apparent warning or triggering event. This makes them both frightening and emotionally depleting, especially for children. Physical symptoms of panic attacks can include sweating, shaking, difficulty breathing, heart palpitations, dizziness, tingling, numbness, nausea, and fear of dying. Although they usually only last a few minutes, panic attacks feel so intense that it can take some time to physically and mentally recover from them. Afterward, many children fear having one again.

A trained therapist can work with a child and help them get to the root cause of the panic attacks. Through therapy, children can explore practical ways to cope with symptoms and even prevent panic attacks.

ANXIETY

Anxiety is one of the most common reasons people seek therapy, and it’s something even children experience. Anxiety centered around a situational outcome, such as the first day of school or an important exam, is normal. Once the event has taken place, the anxious feelings dissipate.

In cases where anxiety is always present and it starts to interfere with school and relationships for more than a few months, it’s time to elicit help from a professional. General panic disorder, social anxiety and panic attacks can present varying degrees of physical symptoms such as headaches, insomnia, fatigue, racing heart, digestion changes, feelings of overwhelm and restlessness. Child therapy can help a young person begin to externalize the feelings and thoughts that are causing their anxiety. This then calms the physical symptoms of hypervigilance.

Request a Child Therapy or Counseling Appointment

You can submit your request for a child therapy or counseling appointment with David Anderson online. We’ll contact you as soon as possible to schedule.