Getting Started: How to Optimize the Early CBT SessionsPrinciples of CBT – Establish roles and goalsHow to socialize your client to the CBT Session structureGet your client to do homeworkWhat not to do (reassurance, rabbit hole)Tools for goal settingBegin with the end in mind: Termination considerationsAssessment and Treatment Planning: Set the Stage for Successful TreatmentDiagnosis – why it’s importantKey questions to ask at intakeAssessment forms – where to find themTeach your clients to use a notebookUsing a SUDS scaleAnxiety and the Brain: What Every Client Needs to KnowWhy this is a pivotal point of treatmentSimple ways to teach clients about anxiety and the brainThe role of avoidance and safety behavioursMedication-what is helpful and what is notThe Art of Exposure and Response Prevention (ERP)The role of the clinicianTeach clients to ride the wave of anxietyCreate a fear hierarchy using SUD scalesHow to set up an exposureWorking with resistance to exposureWhat NOT to do and whyCognitive Therapy: Change the Way Clients Think about ThinkingEmpower clients to choose how to interpret their thoughtsUtilize values clarification to motivate changeChallenge distortions and core beliefs that get in the way of changeThe role of mindfulness in anxiety treatmentFamily Involvement: Teach Loved Ones to be a Part of the SolutionHelp families learn healthier ways to talk back to anxietyTeach how to respond without reassuringChallenge loved ones to face their own fearsPhobias and OCD: Exposure and Response Prevention in ActionIdentify OCD’s tricksStrategies for the most common phobias (heights, spiders, small spaces and more!)How to get comfortable with extreme exposuresVomit phobia, fear of harm, contamination, obsessive thoughts, sexual obsessionIdentify your own obstacles to successful ERPGet out of the office!Using scriptsDemonstrations and practicePanic Disorder: Interoceptive Exposure Techniques That WorkWhy deep breaths aren’t enoughPractice breathing to increase CO2Identify the fear in panicHow to induce symptoms of panic to build tolerance of discomfortStrategies for choosing a panic behaviour to replicateSocial Anxiety: Paradoxical Treatment Interventions that Get ResultsGoing after embarrassmentTools to practice mindfulness during conversationsBuild clients’ “I can handle it” muscleHelp clients improve insight about their fearsHow to remove safety behaviours in social situationsGeneralized Anxiety Disorder (GAD) and Worry: Helping Our Clients Live in the PresentOvercoming the fear that “I won’t be able to handle it”Tools that teach clients how to handle distressing thoughts/feelingsUtilize mindfulness/living in the presentWrite worry scripts, assign time for worry, chase after worryKids with Anxiety: Playing with FearSpecial considerations when working with childrenSchool refusal, contamination, bad thoughts, PANS/PANDASAdd play to your treatment planStrategies for age appropriate interventionsTeach kids to talk back to their fearsHow to handle parent resistance/therapy interferenceTermination and Relapse PreventionDevelop a client wellness plan that sticksHelp clients identify red flagsTeach clients to do ongoing exposuresEstablish a plan for when to return to therapyRisks and limitations of the research