What is anxiety?
When worry takes up too much space in your child’s life, it can affect sleep, school, and friendships. When it comes to helping them, you may not know where to start — but by being here, you’re already on the right path.
Understanding your child’s worries is the first step to helping them build bravery, know themselves, and feel stronger. Our compassionate care combines with exposure and growth to help your child or teen understand what might be contributing to the cycle and how to find more balance.
We offer treatment for separation, social, and general anxiety, specific phobias, panic disorder, and selective mutism.
What does anxiety look like in kids and teens?
Anxiety can show up emotionally, through behaviors, and in physical symptoms. You might see your child avoiding things they used to enjoy, hear them complain about a recurring upset stomach, or encounter more irritation and anger from them than before.
If you’re seeing some patterns of physical or emotional symptoms that are getting in the way of daily life for your child, it could be time to address them.
How do you care for kids with anxiety?
Care starts with a thoughtful, three-part evaluation that builds trust and the foundation for care, one personalized step at a time. These first appointments at Brightline help us evaluate what your child is experiencing, your concerns, and what treatment path is going to help your whole family feel some relief.
The first one is for parents. It’s your chance to share your unique and intimate view of your child’s changes and challenges, along with their full medical, psychological, and family history — all factors that we weave into their full clinical picture.
The second one is for your child (with your presence as needed). Their perspective on what they go through on a daily basis teaches us about potential barriers and motivations, and helps your child begin to find their voice with us. If your child is younger, we might spend this time focusing more on observing how your child interacts with you and the world around them, rather than asking them lots of detailed questions.
The third one in the series is where we build a plan — together. This is a highly interactive and collaborative opportunity to share our impressions and discuss treatment options.
How does Brightline diagnose anxiety?
At the end of the first three appointments, you and your child will come away with a diagnosis — a name for the patterns of symptoms you’re seeing in your child’s behaviors and thoughts.
For some, the diagnosis comes as a relief. It clears the fog and gives more specificity to what your child has been experiencing. That knowledge can be a powerful platform for growth.
For others, even when answers are welcome, a diagnosis can feel scary. It’s important to recognize that it’s just a description of a pattern, not a lifetime sentence. Most mental health concerns are treatable. Once you know what your child is struggling with, the treatment can begin.
The criteria that needs to be present is different for every diagnosis. At Brightline, we take diagnoses seriously and arrive at conclusions after carefully and thoughtfully considering the information discussed and gathered in your first three appointments.
We look at things like distress and impairment, consider whether it’s more or less than we would expect at their age, any effect on siblings and other family members, and how much accommodation has been taking place.
