Engaging parents in cognitive behavioral treatment for children with anxiety disorders

Abstract

The involvement of parents in individual child-focused treatment is a complex issue that needs to be treated as a therapeutic target in its own right. A number of manuals and protocols articulate interventions with parents, but do not describe how to implement them or what to do when parents do not comply. This paper provides a rationale for the inclusion of parents into the treatment of childhood anxiety disorders and describes approaches to engage parents. Discussion is organized around the assessment and intervention in three domains of functioning that might impede progress in individual child cognitive behavioral treatment: parents' beliefs about parenting and their role as parents, family dynamics or interactional styles, and parental psychopathology. This article identifies some of the difficulties inherent in involving parents and offers some treatment goals and procedures, illustrated through clinical vignettes, for involving parents.