Family-Based Cognitive-behavioral Therapy for an Intelligent, Elementary School-Aged Child With Generalized Anxiety Disorder

This case study follows an 8-year-old Caucasian female who presented with symptoms of Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD). Given this child's age but advanced cognitive skills, careful selection of an appropriate treatment was made. In the current case study, a family-based cognitive-behavioral therapy intervention (Wood & McLeod, 2008) was implemented to treat this child's symptoms of GAD. Following completion of the intervention, the child demonstrated significant decreases in her symptoms. In addition, she demonstrated a thorough understanding of coping skills, successfully applied and generalized her skills to a variety of situations, and took pride in teaching her skills to others. This child showed quantitative improvements on objective self-report measures as well as qualitative improvements in her overall emotional and behavioral functioning. This case study suggested that cognitive-behavioral therapy interventions, particularly when used in a family-based approach, are effective for children with symptoms of GAD.