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Adapting CBT for children and adolescents can be a creative challenge, especially for youth who have attentional or emotional regulation difficulties, complex problems, co-morbidity, histories of trauma, and pervasive developmental disorders. They may have more limited communication skills, lacking an emotional vocabulary or difficulty verbalizing their experiences. They may be highly anxious about treatment, mistrust the therapist, feel coerced into attending therapy, or feel hopeless that anyone can help improve their lives.
Particular challenges for the cognitive behavior therapist who treats youth include engaging the child or adolescent in treatment, explaining CBT concepts in language and pictures or drawings the child can comprehend, ensuring that treatment sessions are lively and interesting, facilitating the completion of therapy homework, and working with parents, other family members, or caretakers, in addition to ongoing communication with the child's school, health care providers, and other professionals involved in their care. Relapse prevention is a key part of treatment.
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