Children that learn self regulation skills can be successful in life. Helping children understand their frustrations and triggers to behaviors and giving them tools to gain self control and manage how they think and behave in different situations is vital. I wok with children with: ADHD, Autism, ASD, Bipolar, Depression, Anxiety, and many other disorders and teach them skills to manage their mood and behaviors.

Many children have challenges sitting still, listening in class, staying focused, playing with friends , making new friends, healthy communication skills; behavioral challenges, self harm , aggression and being aggressive, children with sleep problems that impact their mood, and more. Finding a balance and being able to self regulate and find a balance in their lives is vital for mental health, physical health, emotional health, and success in life.

Children lack the skills to self regulate and this is manifested in behavioral issues at school: not listening, getting out of their seat, being aggressive, hitting, and more behavioral issues. We must understand that these children do not wake up with a pre conceived plan to get in trouble at school with children and teachers. These children do not plan on being aggressive at school these children do not plan on having conflict with teachers or authority. However they do the lack the skills to self regulate their emotions and feelings and thoughts that impact their behaviors.

Children can learn : problem solving, anger management, tolerance, flexibility, how to handle impulsive thoughts and more through counseling with someone who has expertise with children and families. If a child does not learn these skills they will be more likely to fail in academics, show angry and violent behaviors, abuse drugs or alcohol, engage in high risk behaviors, and have a negative experience with life and life events in the future.

Teaching children the skills to maintain emotional control is vital for behavioral success at school and at home. Contact David at Lifeworksaz.com to set up and appointment for child counseling services.

Children with ADHD symptoms can manage their ADHD symptoms through behavior modification.

Parents can learn to create a system at home that will work with each individual child. Having a plan that is written and clear and consistent is very important for the ADHD child. Parents play a big role in implementing the behavior modification plan. A reward based system is a positive based system when desired behaviors are not accomplished rewards are not available .

It is very important for parents to track the daily behaviors so each parent can be consistent. Rewarding the child for good behaviors and taking away rewards for poor behaviors must be done daily to create new and healthy behaviors for your child. You may have tried a system before however it is helpful to get advise from an expert in child ADHD behaviors that is objective and they can help modify and or create a new plan for success in the future.

Losing a reward when the negative behavior happens is best to re- solidify that behavior X is not ok and connecting it to a loss of a reward.

It is very important to be specific about changing or modifying a behavior. Telling your child he is being disrespectful does not really communicate what specific behavior is not ok. Telling your child that screaming is not ok is specific. Telling your child calling me a “jerk” is not allowed. Telling your child I asked you to come to the dinner table now and you waited ten minutes before you came is not an ok behavior.

Loss of rewards must be important to your child. If he has five games he places with and you take away the TV that is not a motivating consequence since he or she can play video games, use their smart phone, text, Play on the computer, watch a movie on Netflix via the computer etc.

Parents can learn strategies at LifeworksAZ.com to manage ADHD symptoms. Having both parents on the same page and enforcing the consequences and rewards daily is very important for behavior modification change.

At LifeworksAZ.com David Abrams MAPC not only helps parents with the behavior modification program for ADHD he gives parents tips and advise on how to create the best relationship with each individual child and create emotional, behavioral, and academic success.

David has been working with youth and families for over 15 years. He helps the child learn tools to modify behavior and manage mood. Teaching children skills and tools to manage emotions, behaviors, school, and relationships.

Anxiety and stress can be simple and it can be complex. Research at Stanford state deep breathing triggers neurons in the brain which tell the body it is time to relax. There are 175 neurons which tell the brain whats going on and the neurons link breathing to : relaxation, attention and excitement and anxiety located deep in the brain stem. There are many methods to assits with anxiety and stress reduction some are : CBT, DBT, Visual Behavioral methods, and more. Many children and teens have anxiety that is not diagnosed.

Child anxiety is stressful and painful for families. Activities that once were enjoyable are avoided and parents hear complaints of stomach problems, and various aches and pains, headaches and more. Learning ways to cope with anxiety is important. It is a fine balancing act however avoiding school and avoiding sleeping alone and avoiding new things is not creating a balance for your child or teenager. Forcing a child may be overwhelming and can be a failed approach as well. It is important that parents understand that anxiety can be debilitating and your child may no be manipulating and may not be lazy.https://www.lifeworksaz.com/treatment-child-anxiety.html

Many children that have behavioral issues like oppositional defiance or conduct disorders also have underlying anxiety that they do not know how to handle or identify. Learning skills to manage anxiety is vital to you child’s success socially as well as academically and behaviorally and emotionally. Most children can not articulate what is going on inside their bodies and minds. They must learn skills and tools to address their anxiety.

Some children can manifest itself in different ways. One way might be to avoid situations that are uncomfortable. Another way might be to escape the situation and this can be seen or perceived as oppositional or defiant when it is really fear based. Behavioral dysregulation is common with children and teens that have anxiety disorders: panic attacks, phobia, social anxiety, PTSD, Post traumatic stress disorder, generalized anxiety disorders , obsessive compulsive disorder and other anxiety disorders.

Children that display temper tantrums, behavioral problems at school, throw things at school, throw themselves down and cry and have full blown outburst may have a profound anxiety disorder however this needs to be assessed by a professional. Anxiety disorders need to be assessed and treated by a professional in mental health care.

Academic pressure and demands in the classroom can trigger anxiety and this will look like disruptive behaviors. The child may feel overwhelmed and anxious and not be able to cope with the teachers request or the assignment. The child might be intelligent however he or she may have a learning challenge or trouble with the task and feel overwhelmed hence unable to do the task and act out behaviorally.

Most teachers are not trained in identifying anxiety disorders and a child or teenager typically will end up in suspension or in the Principals office being punished. This does not address the underlying issue that may be an anxiety disorder.

A child that is diagnosed with ADHD may have an anxiety disorder instead that looks like: impulsivity, hyperactivity, and inattention however this needs to be evaluated by a professional. A lot of times individuals jump to ADHD diagnosis when really the child or teen is suffering with an anxiety disorder. An anxiety disorder may be primary and for example ADHD is secondary or it may be the other way around. There are a number of other diagnosis as well that may be co-occuring with a child or teens anxiety.

There are many factors that can contribute to anxiety or anxiety disorders: obsessive compulsive disorders, Panic disorders, social anxiety, Phobias, general anxiety, Panic attacks, PTSD Post traumatic stress disorders and more.

It is important to look at many elements in an individuals life: medications, factors during inception and birth, environmental factors, Drugs, marijuana, alcohol, Stressors, Trauma from the past ( emotional, physical, mental), sleep, diet, daily habits, negative cognitions daily, genetics in the family from Mom and Dad as well as other family members and their traumas as well.

Many practitioners give meds without addressing the root causes of the anxiety. It is important to look at all the above and more in order to create the best plan to reduce anxiety. I have worked with anxiety disorders for over 15 years and have seen a combination of many elements that exacerbate anxiety disorders. It is vital to look at all the above areas in order to really manage your child’s anxiety or your anxiety as best as possible. Not looking at sleep for example and treating the disorder without a change in sleep will most likely not be very successful since sleep is an important element in mood disorders.

Brain experts believe a diet that is heavy in inflammation food consumption and low in healthy fats affects the risk of obtaining anxiety or anxiety disorders. Anxiety is extremely high in those with high sensitivity to gluten.

Medication is used to treat ADHD , however, research shows that it also leads to anxiety disorders, as well as other symptoms including but not limited to addiction.

There are many tools an anxiety client can learn in order to manage an anxiety disorder be it panic attacks, phobias, generalized anxiety, PTSD, etc.

Some tools include: Cognitive behavioral therapy, Visual behavioral tools, Deep breathing, DBT and more.

Child and teenage Anxiety often manifests as a physical symptom like pain, fatigue, or inability to sleep. 30 percent of patients seen by primary care practitioners have at least one ANXIETY disorder.

Having a children follow healthy lifestyle behaviors may be an effective intervention either alongside or in the place of traditional ADHD medications.

Some of the research based tools in counseling psychology to manage anxiety are: EMDR, DBT, Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, Progressive Relaxation, VMBR, Exposure therapy, and mindfulness.

Child anxiety is stressful and painful for families. Activities that once were enjoyable are avoided and parents hear complaints of stomach problems, and various aches and pains, headaches and more. Learning ways to cope with anxiety is important. It is a fine balancing act however avoiding school and avoiding sleeping alone and avoiding new things is not creating a balance for your child or teenager. Forcing a child may be overwhelming and can be a failed approach as well. It is important that parents understand that anxiety can be debilitating and your child may no be manipulating and may not be lazy.

Many children that have behavioral issues like oppositional defiance or conduct disorders also have underlying anxiety that they do not know how to handle or identify. Learning skills to manage anxiety is vital to you child’s success socially as well as academically and behaviorally and emotionally. Most children can not articulate what is going on inside their bodies and minds. They must learn skills and tools to address their anxiety.

Some children can manifest itself in different ways. One way might be to avoid situations that are uncomfortable. Another way might be to escape the situation and this can be seen or perceived as oppositional or defiant when it is really fear based. Behavioral dysregulation is common with children and teens that have anxiety disorders: panic attacks, phobia, social anxiety, PTSD, Post traumatic stress disorder, generalized anxiety disorders , obsessive compulsive disorder and other anxiety disorders.

Children that display temper tantrums, behavioral problems at school, throw things at school, throw themselves down and cry and have full blown outburst may have a profound anxiety disorder however this needs to be assessed by a professional. Anxiety disorders need to be assessed and treated by a professional in mental health care.

Academic pressure and demands in the classroom can trigger anxiety and this will look like disruptive behaviors. The child may feel overwhelmed and anxious and not be able to cope with the teachers request or the assignment. The child might be intelligent however he or she may have a learning challenge or trouble with the task and feel overwhelmed hence unable to do the task and act out behaviorally.

Most teachers are not trained in identifying anxiety disorders and a child or teenager typically will end up in suspension or in the Principals office being punished. This does not address the underlying issue that may be an anxiety disorder.

A child that is diagnosed with ADHD may have an anxiety disorder instead that looks like: impulsivity, hyperactivity, and inattention however this needs to be evaluated by a professional. A lot of times individuals jump to ADHD diagnosis when really the child or teen is suffering with an anxiety disorder. An anxiety disorder may be primary and for example ADHD is secondary or it may be the other way around. There are a number of other diagnosis as well that may be co-occuring with a child or teens anxiety.

It is important to find a professional that has daily experience working with children and teens . Children and teens can learn tools and skills to manage and cope with anxiety and other disorders. Parents can learn skills as well to help create success and balance in your child’s life. David Abrams MAPC, LPC, CAGS has over 15 years experience working with families and youth treating anxiety disorders. Lifeworksaz.com has testimonials and more information.

Receiving input form parents on daily and weekly behaviors and working together to modify unhealthy habits and routines as well as setting up a system that is reward based for positive behaviors is vital in creating balance and success for your Child and Teen. Lifeworksaz.com works with your child as well as with parents to create a system of change and balance in your child’s life. David Abrams MAPC, LPC Counseling anxiety can be reached at his web site phone number or email from his web site at Lifeworksaz.com

Parents can recoginize anxious symptoms: repetitive worrying, change in appetite, difficulty with sleep, rapid speech that is unfocused, rapid breathing, panic irritability. There are many tips parents can learn to help your child stay calm and tranquil and help manage stress and anxiety. Parents can work with a therapist or counselor helping a child cope as well as exploring the roots of the anxiety and inner conflicts.

Many children report high levels of anxiety at school. Children as young as five self harm due to anxiety and stress related to school and academics. Many children do not know how to express their feelings and emotions end up turning into aggression, sadness, anger, tantrums, crying etc. It is vital to teach children to express emotions at a young age before it oozes into an imbalance.

There are many factors that can contribute to anxiety or anxiety disorders: obsessive compulsive disorders, Panic disorders, social anxiety, Phobias, general anxiety, Panic attacks, PTSD Post traumatic stress disorders and more.

It is important to look at many elements in an individuals life: medications, factors during inception and birth, environmental factors, Drugs, marijuana, alcohol, Stressors, Trauma from the past ( emotional, physical, mental), sleep, diet, daily habits, negative cognitions daily, genetics in the family from Mom and Dad as well as other family members and their traumas as well.

Many practitioners give meds without addressing the root causes of the anxiety. It is important to look at all the above and more in order to create the best plan to reduce anxiety. I have worked with anxiety disorders for over 15 years and have seen a combination of many elements that exacerbate anxiety disorders. It is vital to look at all the above areas in order to really manage your child’s anxiety or your anxiety as best as possible. Not looking at sleep for example and treating the disorder without a change in sleep will most likely not be very successful since sleep is an important element in mood disorders.

Brain experts believe a diet that is heavy in inflammation food consumption and low in healthy fats affects the risk of obtaining anxiety or anxiety disorders. Anxiety is extremely high in those with high sensitivity to gluten.

Medication is used to treat ADHD , however, research shows that it also leads to anxiety disorders, as well as other symptoms including but not limited to addiction.

There are many tools an anxiety client can learn in order to manage an anxiety disorder be it panic attacks, phobias, generalized anxiety, PTSD, etc.

Some of the research based tools in counseling psychology to manage anxiety are: EMDR, DBT, Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, Progressive Relaxation, VMBR, Exposure therapy, and mindfulness.

Child anxiety is stressful and painful for families. Activities that once were enjoyable are avoided and parents hear complaints of stomach problems, and various aches and pains, headaches and more. Learning ways to cope with anxiety is important. It is a fine balancing act however avoiding school and avoiding sleeping alone and avoiding new things is not creating a balance for your child or teenager. Forcing a child may be overwhelming and can be a failed approach as well. It is important that parents understand that anxiety can be debilitating and your child may no be manipulating and may not be lazy.

Many children that have behavioral issues like oppositional defiance or conduct disorders also have underlying anxiety that they do not know how to handle or identify. Learning skills to manage anxiety is vital to you child’s success socially as well as academically and behaviorally and emotionally. Most children can not articulate what is going on inside their bodies and minds. They must learn skills and tools to address their anxiety.

Some children can manifest itself in different ways. One way might be to avoid situations that are uncomfortable. Another way might be to escape the situation and this can be seen or perceived as oppositional or defiant when it is really fear based. Behavioral dysregulation is common with children and teens that have anxiety disorders: panic attacks, phobia, social anxiety, PTSD, Post traumatic stress disorder, generalized anxiety disorders , obsessive compulsive disorder and other anxiety disorders.

Children that display temper tantrums, behavioral problems at school, throw things at school, throw themselves down and cry and have full blown outburst may have a profound anxiety disorder however this needs to be assessed by a professional. Anxiety disorders need to be assessed and treated by a professional in mental health care.

Academic pressure and demands in the classroom can trigger anxiety and this will look like disruptive behaviors. The child may feel overwhelmed and anxious and not be able to cope with the teachers request or the assignment. The child might be intelligent however he or she may have a learning challenge or trouble with the task and feel overwhelmed hence unable to do the task and act out behaviorally.

Most teachers are not trained in identifying anxiety disorders and a child or teenager typically will end up in suspension or in the Principals office being punished. This does not address the underlying issue that may be an anxiety disorder.

A child that is diagnosed with ADHD may have an anxiety disorder instead that looks like: impulsivity, hyperactivity, and inattention however this needs to be evaluated by a professional. A lot of times individuals jump to ADHD diagnosis when really the child or teen is suffering with an anxiety disorder. An anxiety disorder may be primary and for example ADHD is secondary or it may be the other way around. There are a number of other diagnosis as well that may be co-occuring with a child or teens anxiety.

Many adolescent teens are feeling worthless, unhappy, inability to focus or concentrate.

Teens are reporting more problems sleeping and are not receiving adequate sleep.

Children and teens are slow to talk about their distress to parents and parents tend to be slow to respond once finding out their child or teen is suffering.

Parents are not to blame for a child’s mental health issues. Children can have excellent parenting and still suffer from mental health issues.

In colleges and universities throughout the United States the following research was done and this was the mental health results :

The American College Health Association surveyed 100,000 college students at 53 US campuses and found that 84 per cent of US students feel unable to cope, 79 per cent are exhausted, 60 per cent feel very sad and more than half are experiencing overwhelming anxiety.

Obviously teens and college students need to learn coping and stress management tools to address : school, peers, family, work, grades, social situations and much more.

Many teenagers and adolescents as well as college students fear failure and are fearful of their future and need a direction and support to reach their goals. Children as young as 10 are worried about finding a job in many homes and are stressed and anxious.

Cyberbullying and social media can be a stressor and many teens are concerned about their body image with such a huge emphasis on waif models being the norm when most adults know this is not reality. Technology does not create the bully or the poor body image it may magnify the problem. Removing all media may not solve the issue because it is the negative distorted and unhealthy thoughts inside your child or adolescents head that is feeding the negative behaviors and mood. Media can affect our moods however it is up to parents and children and teens to set limits on use and be able to turn it off and find a balance in other activities above and beyond social media and or video games and technology.

Child anxiety is simply a form of stress. It is an alarm system for all human beings. Everyone experiences anxiety. Children may feel it if they have a presentation at school or when life gets difficult. Children can face anxiety when taking tests, switching schools, moving to a new house, moving to a new city. Certain levels of stress and anxiety are normal. However when impacts getting things done, not going to school, not participating in school or social events, avoiding activities and makes life less enjoyable it is time to get an assessment from a counselor or therapist that is trained in working with children.

There are many types of anxiety disorders: Phobias, social phobia, panic attacks, PTSD, Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, Obsessive compulsive disorder, and more. There are two ways to deal with anxiety disorders. Learn tools via counseling and empower oneself to manage the stress or some people medicate themselves. Research shows that if one chooses medication that counseling is needed for best results. No medication can change your child’s thought process.

Some but not all symptoms of anxiety are: excessive worrying, trouble focusing, fatigue and being tired during the day, difficulty sleeping at night, a lot of worry that lasts days or more. Many children do not express their feelings about what is going on however if the above is happening you can deduce what most likely is going on. Many children express physical symptoms like: headaches, stomach aches, not feeling well etc.

Child and teenage Anxiety often manifests as a physical symptom like pain, fatigue, or inability to sleep. 30 percent of patients seen by primary care practitioners have at least one ANXIETY disorder.

Children and teenagers with anxiety disorders typically experience intense fear, worry and discomfort that last for a long time and significantly impact an adolescent or child and families lives.

Anxiety Disorders can lead to school problems , social issues, academic problems, alcohol and drug use, anxiety issues as an adult.

Anxiety Disorders can impact obtaining employment and can create frustration and anger issues when goals are not reached and the anxiety continues to impede progress.

The great news is psychotherapy and counseling can alleviate your anxiety and stress and their are also medications that a physician would give if needed.

Depressed teenagers who received cognitive behavioral therapy also known as CBT in their recovered faster, and were also more likely to recover, than children and teens who did not receive counseling and psychotherapy services, this study was published in a pediatric journal recently in 2015.

Self-reported child and adolescent sleep across the last twenty fiver years are concerning and suggest that there is potentially a significant public health concern that warrants education for parents and counseling education for youth and teens in the USA.

There is a connection and awareness among the scientific community that insomnia, depression and anxiety disorders are linked with each other. The risks are psychological, emotional, social, and more and must be addressed as a system.

Having insomnia in addition to anxiety or depression can further intensify the problems being experienced with each individual disorder. It can lead to such problems as alcohol and drug misuse during adolescence.

.

Children and teenagers can experience stressors which can interfere with sleep. Consumption of energy drinks – which contain caffeine – is also known to disrupt sleep, as is use of certain medications: aniti-depressants etc. A majority of children and teens are spending 40-50 hours more than they should each week playing or involved w electronics: video games, you tube, TV, Snap Chat, Instagram, Facebook, Texting, gaming, and more on the internet. Research shows that this also is impacting sleep which is connected with motivation, mood, anxiety, depression and more. It may exacerbate symptoms or create mood disorders.

Diet is one huge component that creates anxious symptoms. Caffeine creates an artificial and temporary lift for people who are stressed out and tired. It is different than a lift you get from good food and exercise .

Here is a list of possible side effects from caffeine : restlessness , nervousness , irritability , shaking , sleeplessness , sweaty hands, irregular heart beat , nervous or upset stomach , panic attacks and more .

Counseling can teach you healthy ways to manage anxiety and stress and create calm and balance in your life .

Many children that are quiet or shy meet the criteria for social phobia or generalized anxiety disorder .

Children affected with social phobia display greater impairment socially and are more likely to experience anxiety, mood disorders, depression, behavior disorders, substance use and more. The intense fear can be crippling with regard to social interactions.

A large percentage of teens with social phobia fail to seek

professional treatment for anxiety.

Psychotherapy and counseling can help children manage their anxiety and phobia so they can interact with those they hope to connect with.

The use of certain psychiatric medications during pregnancy can result in children born with depression by early teens and adolescence. A great deal of research from Finland, and other countries have found found that children exposed to selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) during gestation had more chance of being diagnosed with depression after age 12.

What is best for your child? Working with an expert in counseling that can treat children and teens and families. One type of therapy is not the only technique to create change. A wide array of therapies can help a child manage his mood, behaviors, anxiety and depression. A holistic and a multi systemic approach is the best prevention and the best way to facilitate desired changes for your child and teenager.

Receiving input form parents on daily and weekly behaviors and working together to modify unhealthy habits and routines as well as setting up a system that is reward based for positive behaviors is vital in creating balance and success for your child.

Children and adolescents suffer from anxiety. Some of the most common types of anxiety are : panic , phobias, generalized anxiety ,PTSD, and separation anxiety. Obsessive compulsive behavior is also a part of anxiety disorders .

Psychotherapy and counseling can be extremely helpful in learning ways to overcome anxiety ridden thinking and anxiety due to physiological responses.

There are many things children and parents can do to create health and balance for their child and teen or college student. Finding a healthy balance is key to your youths success. Lifeworks AZ has worked with youth and families over fifteen years in: building self esteem, parenting tips, mood regulation, goal setting, anger management, healthy social skills, reaching goals, behavior modification for youth, autistic youth, highly gifted, learning disabled children and more.

It is important to find a professional that has daily experience working with children and teens . and Families…Children and teens can learn tools and skills to manage and cope with anxiety and other disorders. Parents can learn skills as well to help create success and balance in your child’s life. David Abrams MAPC, LPC, CAGS has over 15 years experience working with families and youth treating anxiety disorders. Lifeworksaz.com has testimonials and more information

Child and teenage Anxiety often manifests as a physical symptom like pain, fatigue, or inability to sleep. 30 percent of patients seen by primary care practitioners have at least one ANXIETY disorder.

Having their children follow healthy lifestyle behaviors may be an effective intervention either alongside or in the place of traditional ADHD medications.

Depressed teenagers who received cognitive behavioral therapy also known as CBT in their recovered faster, and were also more likely to recover, than children and teens who did not receive counseling and psychotherapy services, this study was published in a pediatric journal recently in 2015.

Self-reported child and adolescent sleep across the last twenty fiver years are concerning and suggest that there is potentially a significant public health concern that warrants education for parents and counseling education for youth and teens in the USA.

There is a connection and awareness among the scientific community that insomnia, depression and anxiety disorders are linked with each other. The risks are psychological, emotional, social, and more and must be addressed as a system.

Having insomnia in addition to anxiety or depression can further intensify the problems being experienced with each individual disorder. It can lead to such problems as alcohol and drug misuse during adolescence.

.

Children and teenagers can experience stressors which can interfere with sleep. Consumption of energy drinks – which contain caffeine – is also known to disrupt sleep, as is use of certain medications: aniti-depressants etc. A majority of children and teens are spending 40-50 hours more than they should each week playing or involved w electronics: video games, you tube, TV, Snap Chat, Instagram, Facebook, Texting, gaming, and more on the internet. Research shows that this also is impacting sleep which is connected with motivation, mood, anxiety, depression and more. It may exacerbate symptoms or create mood disorders.

The use of certain psychiatric medications during pregnancy can result in children born with depression by early teens and adolescence. A great deal of research from Finland, and other countries have found found that children exposed to selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) during gestation had more chance of being diagnosed with depression after age 12.

What is best for your child? Working with an expert in counseling that can treat children and teens and families. One type of therapy is not the only technique to create change. A wide array of therapies can help a child manage his mood, behaviors, anxiety and depression. A holistic and a multi systemic approach is the best prevention and the best way to facilitate desired changes for your child and teenager.

Receiving input form parents on daily and weekly behaviors and working together to modify unhealthy habits and routines as well as setting up a system that is reward based for positive behaviors is vital in creating balance and success for your

There are many factors that can contribute to anxiety or anxiety disorders: obsessive compulsive disorders, Panic disorders, social anxiety, Phobias, general anxiety, Panic attacks, PTSD Post traumatic stress disorders and more.

It is important to look at many elements in an individuals life: medications, factors during inception and birth, environmental factors, Drugs, marijuana, alcohol, Stressors, Trauma from the past ( emotional, physical, mental), sleep, diet, daily habits, negative cognitions daily, genetics in the family from Mom and Dad as well as other family members and their traumas as well.

Many practitioners give meds without addressing the root causes of the anxiety. It is important to look at all the above and more in order to create the best plan to reduce anxiety. I have worked with anxiety disorders for over 15 years and have seen a combination of many elements that exacerbate anxiety disorders. It is vital to look at all the above areas in order to really manage your child’s anxiety or your anxiety as best as possible. Not looking at sleep for example and treating the disorder without a change in sleep will most likely not be very successful since sleep is an important element in mood disorders.

Brain experts believe a diet that is heavy in inflammation food consumption and low in healthy fats affects the risk of obtaining anxiety or anxiety disorders. Anxiety is extremely high in those with high sensitivity to gluten.

Medication is used to treat ADHD , however, research shows that it also leads to anxiety disorders, as well as other symptoms including but not limited to addiction.

There are many tools an anxiety client can learn in order to manage an anxiety disorder be it panic attacks, phobias, generalized anxiety, PTSD, etc.

Some of the research based tools in counseling psychology to manage anxiety are: EMDR, DBT, Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, Progressive Relaxation, VMBR, Exposure therapy, and mindfulness.

Child anxiety is stressful and painful for families. Activities that once were enjoyable are avoided and parents hear complaints of stomach problems, and various aches and pains, headaches and more. Learning ways to cope with anxiety is important. It is a fine balancing act however avoiding school and avoiding sleeping alone and avoiding new things is not creating a balance for your child or teenager. Forcing a child may be overwhelming and can be a failed approach as well. It is important that parents understand that anxiety can be debilitating and your child may no be manipulating and may not be lazy.

Many children that have behavioral issues like oppositional defiance or conduct disorders also have underlying anxiety that they do not know how to handle or identify. Learning skills to manage anxiety is vital to you child’s success socially as well as academically and behaviorally and emotionally. Most children can not articulate what is going on inside their bodies and minds. They must learn skills and tools to address their anxiety.

Some children can manifest itself in different ways. One way might be to avoid situations that are uncomfortable. Another way might be to escape the situation and this can be seen or perceived as oppositional or defiant when it is really fear based. Behavioral dysregulation is common with children and teens that have anxiety disorders: panic attacks, phobia, social anxiety, PTSD, Post traumatic stress disorder, generalized anxiety disorders , obsessive compulsive disorder and other anxiety disorders.

Children that display temper tantrums, behavioral problems at school, throw things at school, throw themselves down and cry and have full blown outburst may have a profound anxiety disorder however this needs to be assessed by a professional. Anxiety disorders need to be assessed and treated by a professional in mental health care.

Academic pressure and demands in the classroom can trigger anxiety and this will look like disruptive behaviors. The child may feel overwhelmed and anxious and not be able to cope with the teachers request or the assignment. The child might be intelligent however he or she may have a learning challenge or trouble with the task and feel overwhelmed hence unable to do the task and act out behaviorally.

Most teachers are not trained in identifying anxiety disorders and a child or teenager typically will end up in suspension or in the Principals office being punished. This does not address the underlying issue that may be an anxiety disorder.

A child that is diagnosed with ADHD may have an anxiety disorder instead that looks like: impulsivity, hyperactivity, and inattention however this needs to be evaluated by a professional. A lot of times individuals jump to ADHD diagnosis when really the child or teen is suffering with an anxiety disorder. An anxiety disorder may be primary and for example ADHD is secondary or it may be the other way around. There are a number of other diagnosis as well that may be co-occuring with a child or teens anxiety.

It is important to find a professional that has daily experience working with children and teens . Children and teens can learn tools and skills to manage and cope with anxiety and other disorders. Parents can learn skills as well to help create success and balance in your child’s life. David Abrams MAPC, LPC, CAGS has over 15 years experience working with families and youth treating anxiety disorders. Lifeworksaz.com has testimonials and more information.

Child Counseling Therapy Anxiety .

There are a number of things that can contribute to your child or teen’s anxiety. It is important to look at a number of items: How much deep sleep is your child receiving? How much screen time, electronics, PC, texting, Netflix, TV time is going on per day? What is your child eating and drinking daily? What thoughts and cognitions are creating the anxiety? Social? Performance? Phobia? PTSD?Generalized anxiety? Bullying? Social? Academics stress? Family stressors? Divorce and much more. Lifeworks az provides an assessment to get to the roots of the anxiety and uses various treatments including research based treatments to create desired change and manage or eliminate the road blocks to happiness and success.

Stress and anxiety in Scottsdale, Arizona are on the rise due to many things. Both parents are working and busy. Children and Teens have infinite distractions with: Facebook, instagram, texting, video games, I pad, smart Phones, Net Flix, and more. These distractions can impact : sleep, mood, behavior and motivation in relation to academics and family life.  There are a number of things that must happen to address anxiety and the more pieces addressed the quicker balance will occur in your child or teen.

Children as young as five are being referred for treatment for depression and anxiety in the United States of America.Figures showed mental health teams are working with more than 1,000 children and young people who were referred for therapy.

Research shows that family stress, financial issues, unemployment, and substance use or abuse is connected with child depression and child anxiety.

Twenty percent of children between ages 10-16 will be diagnosed with some type of mental health diagnosis. It could be ADHD, Anxiety, Depression, Autism, Oppositional defiant disorder and more.

The tendency to develop depression and anxiety involves a complex mixture of factors, such as (genetic) factors and life-stressors.

Children and adolescents who get depressed have often had adverse experiences, such as, losing a parent or being abused as a child. Some have had struggles academically. Many children have been bullied or have been verbally abused and not accepted at their schools. Many struggle with social skills and communication skills. Many have very low self esteem.

Such early life experiences sets a person up for later depression and anxiety.

In addition recent events often precipitate an episode of depression or anxiety. A life event is simply a stressful occurrence. Friendship difficulties and disappointments are common triggers for depression and anxiety in children and adolescents.

Having a family history of depression can also put individuals more at risk as there is some genetic contribution to depression.

Although there is no evidence that family difficulties actually cause depression, when there is a lot of family conflict, this can interfere with a person’s recovery.The most important element in treating depression and anxiety is feeling safe and comfortable with one’s therapist and having someone with a great deal of experience working with youth. I see youth all day in my office and many only see one child per week so make sure you find someone who has rapport with parents as well as your child.

I provide: play, CBT therapy, DBT, Talk, Educational therapy

Sports games, Art therapy, to create a safe comfortable environment

For your child and this facilitates change. See parents testimonials.

The best studied of the psychological treatments for child and adolescent depression and anxiety. CBT aims to address the negative thinking that may maintain depression and anxiety.

CBT for children and adolescents is usually given in courses of 8 to 12 individual weekly sessions each lasting 50 minutes, including a final 10 minutes with parents. Mind-fullness training, progressive relaxation, Imagery, meditation, hypnosis, and exposure therapy can address anxiety and depressed moods., DBT therapy is used for treating anxiety and depression.

Most experts world wide, in  Scottsdale Arizona and in America state: Intervening early when a child or teenager or young person starts struggling to cope is proven to reduce the likelihood of that young person developing much more severe and entrenched mental health problems. Counseling and child and teen therapy is vital. Family counseling and parenting will help the child even more than just one on one child psychotherapy.

Many children stay up late in Scottsdale and valley widec; texting, talking on their phones, playing video games, surfing the net, Facebook, Instagram, twitter and more and these activities keep children up so that they do not receive adequate sleep, The lack of sleep and poor sleep from being interrupted with texts and more impact the adrenals and fatigue and this creates more anxiety.

Anxiety will increase exponentially with video game and TV usage. Many teens and children are using media 40-65 hours a week. This impacts the part of the brain that regulates anxiety and stress and the constant hijacking of the brain will increase stress and anxiety and will impact your child’s mood and his or her sleep. It will impact their: social, communication, and grades.

Most children and teens do not even exercise one time per week. Daily family and school stressors need to be flushed out of the body and cortisol must be balanced out through exercise at least 5 days out of the week . Scottsdale schools do not mandate exercise in many schools.

Half of children and teenagers experience episodes of fluctuating blood sugar..when the blood sugar levels become so low the brain begins to starve for food. Many children have experienced anxiety that goes a long with low blood sugar.

Avoiding sugars will help your child’s anxiety. To much can contribute to anxiety and panic attacks. Blood sugar, calcium, magnesium, zinc, and other minerals become imbalanced.

Many children and teens in the USA self medicate their stress and anxiety with alcohol and or marijuana. These drugs are extreme;y toxic to the central nervous system and will create even more anxiety down the road. Most teens do not know that the increase in anxiety is due to the marijuana so they continue to use and feel good for awhile and then feel increased anxiety and stress.

Surround yourself with uplifting positive people in your life. Look at things half full and stay positive.

Stress and anxiety takes many forms and can present itself in many different situations. It can impact social situations, friendships,academics and work. Anxiety can cause someone to avoid meeting new friends or moving into a new situation that is better for the individual however the anxiety is keeping the person stuck. Depression and anxiety are close relatives however you can see how not taking action on something you desire can impact your mood in a negative way. Children suffer from low self esteem when they can not perform in social situations or avoid joining new organizations and clubs due to stress or anxiety issues they are suffering from. Many children and teens become pre occupied with video games and avoid “real” social interactions as much as possible.

Many children and teens take medications however the medications do not help your child build skills and tools to manage anxiety, panic, social anxiety and more. Counseling at Lifeworks AZ will do this and when panic and anxiety arises your child will feel confident in their ability to move through the stressor and Reach their goals.

 and create life long success. Many children have issues at school, and avoid social situations, clubs, sports, and making new friends due to anxiety.

Anxiety can impact sleep and lack of sleep or interrupted sleep

will negatively impact mood, energy, performance and more. Anxiety is seen weekly in college football where great athletes get stressed out and : drop wide open passes, mishandle punts, miss field goals that are made in practice, throw interceptions, mis assignments,

miss standard tackles, make mental mistakes that impact the team in a negative manner.

Some common forms of anxiety: social anxiety, generalized anxiety,

separation anxiety, performance anxiety, panic attacks, phobias

and more. All of these can be managed through various tools that are

evidence based.

Lifeworksaz.com counseling and therapy teaches tools that will help

manage anxiety and stress. It is a collaborative effort to help

with each child or adults anxiety challenge. An initial assessment is

done to look at all aspects of ones life from birth till present:

including academics, development, parenting,self esteem, family,

medical, social, behavioral, emotional, mental, mood, stressors,

positive strengths of each individual and more.

After the assessment David will create unique service plan to address

areas of concern. There are many great research based tools

that are taught depending on the challenged areas. Some evidence based tools that have great success treating anxiety are:

cognitive behavioral therapy, EMDR, Progressive Relaxation Tools, CBT Mindfulness tools. David has a history of success using the above mentioned skills. David also has a history of success working with children and teens that have anxiety. David uses play therapy, ar

therapy, sports therapy games, talk therapy combined with CBT and moreto facilitate rapport and create desired change.

If you go to lifeworksaz.com you can read testimonials from parents and adults that suffered from anxiety as well as many

professionals and experts that have observed David and his work.

Children and teens have stress daily. Many children have anxiety and the real question is if your child is missing out on life’s opportunities due to one’s anxiety. Anxiety can be managed and there are many tools your child can learn to regulate stress, anxiety, as well as behaviors. There are a few causes of anxiety that we know: genetics are a big component, traumatic or upsetting events can trigger anxiety, how one was raised and past events that are impacting your child today.

One research and evidence based therapy I use that has great results is cognitive behavioral counseling or therapy. I work with each individual child and help them understand the connection between our thoughts, feelings, and our behavior that we act upon daily.Automatic unconscious thoughts that evolve can spark anxiety. Learning to become aware of unhealthy and twisted thoughts that do not have validity or truth is taught in a manner that is easy for your child to understand. As we learn to question these unhealthy thoughts we can then change them to healthy positive thoughts and overcome our anxiety.

There are two ways of looking at our thoughts. The first is to find out if our thoughts are accurate? The second way is to to see if the way we are thinking is leading us toward avoidance or toward a value system of ours. After your child learns to identify distorted thoughts he or she can learn alternative ways to help move through the anxiety and face the situation that is: scary, fearful etc.

There are a number of research based tools that I use including behavior modification, dot, EMDR, exposure therapy, imagery, mindfulness and more that each child can learn and can feel safe and secure and at peace when anxiety arises. These tools can be used for: panic, generalized anxiety, social anxiety, phobias and more.

Facing your child’s fear head on is vital to help him or her feel confident and master anxiety.Learning these skills and more will help build self esteem and will free our chip up to embrace his or her life and create a happy and healthy life.,

Children and teens with anxiety disorders experience excessive fear, worry, or discomfort that interferes with their daily lives.

Anxiety Diosrders that are commonly recognized include: Phobias, Generalized Anxiety Disorders, Panic Disorders, Obsessive-Compulsive Disorders, and Post Traumatic Stress Disorder.

Cognitive behavioral therapy has been effective in treating anxiety disorders. Individuals learn to understand how their thinking patterns contribute to their symptoms and how to change their thoughts so that symptoms are less likely to occur.

Children and teens have stress daily. Many children have anxiety and the real question is if your child is missing out on life’s opportunities due to one’s anxiety. Anxiety can be managed and there are many tools your child can learn to regulate stress, anxiety, as well as behaviors. There are a few causes of anxiety that we know: genetics are a big component, traumatic or upsetting events can trigger anxiety, how one was raised and past events that are impacting your child today.

One research and evidence based therapy I use that has great results is cognitive behavioral counseling or therapy. I work with each individual child and help them understand the connection between our thoughts, feelings, and our behavior that we act upon daily.Automatic unconscious thoughts that evolve can spark anxiety. Learning to become aware of unhealthy and twisted thoughts that do not have validity or truth is taught in a manner that is easy for your child to understand. As we learn to question these unhealthy thoughts we can then change them to healthy positive thoughts and overcome our anxiety.

There are two ways  looking at our thoughts. The first is to find out if our thoughts are accurate? The second way is to to see if the way we are thinking is leading us toward avoidance or toward a value system of ours. After your child learns to identify distorted thoughts he or she can learn alternative ways to help move through the anxiety and face the situation that is: scary, fearful etc.

There are a number of research based tools that I use including behavior modification, dot, EMDR, exposure therapy, imagery, mindfulness and more that each child can learn and can feel safe and secure and at peace when anxiety arises. These tools can be used for: panic, generalized anxiety, social anxiety, phobias and more.

Facing your child’s fear head on is vital to help him or her feel confident and master anxiety.Learning these skills and more will help build self esteem and will free our chip up to embrace his or her life and create a happy and healthy life.,

Sexting and online bullying influenced by TV and internet and social media are fuelling a surge of anxiety disorders in teenagers, according to many mental health child and adolescent experts.

The problem is particularly severe for girls who fall victim to cruel remarks about their appearance and weight. Admission for anxiety disorders are up over fifty percent according to research studies.

Anxiety disorders are very common in children and teens. Anxiety Disorders include: Post Traumatic Stress Disorders PTSD, Generalized Anxiety Disorders, Phobias, Obsessive Compulsive Disorders, Social Anxiety, Panic Attacks, separation anxiety, and more.

Girls brains are being re-wired via internet advertising, TV advertising, social media advertising and a high frequency of being bombarded with unrealistic body shapes and sizes. Feelings of inadequacy, unattractiveness, and low self esteem are through comparing themselves to digitally enhanced models and women whom are under normal body weight and normal BMI that is thrown in girls faces day in and day out. Self loathing, shame, and self harm are on the rise do to internet cyber bullying, sexting and more.

Girls must find intrinsic value in themselves and set limits on how often and how frequent they watch media. Parents can empower their children and role model healthy media habits as well as develop their self esteem through: school clubs, activities, music, dance, gymnastics, sports, creativity, arts, healthy habits, healthy eating habits, philanthropy, community service, helping others and more and less focus on the physical body alone.

Research from national Mental Health statistics show that twenty percent of children, adolescent, teenagers and young adults suffered some degree of depression and anxiety last year.

Photos that are posted on social media: facebook, twitter, Instagram, snap chat, texting that not only go to one peer tend to go viral through schools and nationally as well as internationally. Teens can be extremely cruel making negative condescending comments on the photo which many times is devastating to the youth. Many youth have spiraled into depression and have severe anxiety about themselves and their body image. Many avoid attending school or come down with physical symptoms to avoid seeing peers at school. Photos sent around of peers are rated from 1-10 and this can have severe psychological impact on children and teens when a rating is less than favorable, There have been millions of cases where youth are bullied via texting or email and those youth that did not feel able to cope have committed suicide a horrible tragedy in our society.

But the photos can provoke extremely unkind comments, particularly if unflattering images of someone are sent round behind their backs.

There are many web sites where photos are posted with a question below. For example someone posts a photo and asks if this person is Beautiful or ugly? Imagine a young child or teen receiving a text that has thousands of people voting on them without your knowledge that has cruel and spiteful results. Cyber bullying is on the rise at it is pervasive. Teens hide behind their faux accounts to terrorize and victimize youth and peers. Parents must be monitoring these accounts to prevent becoming a victim or victimizing other teen girls.

Creating a balance and setting boundaries are vital in todays 24-7 smart phone, ipad, ipod, hand held, video game connected world.

Research shows mental health, sleep, and behavior are less than balanced when playing violent video games and too much of anything is unhealthy. Children are physically unhealthy, having increased anxiety, increased depression, increase in diabetes and sedentary behavior is a big big piece of this equation. Do you really want your child shooting and killing people in a video game all day long?

Millions of boys could be at increased risk of  mental illnesses in later life through playing action video games such as Call of Duty or Assassin’s Creed, according to new research.

Researchers say players navigate the screen using a key area of the brain called the caudate nucleus, which leads to loss of grey matter in the hippocampus.

The Canadian team said if action gamers have less grey matter, as people who rely on the caudate nucleus normally do, then they may be more prone to mental illness.

The bottom line regarding I-phone games, video games, and TV is that more than one hour-2hours per day is not healthy for your child. Research has correlated: aggression, Violence,, Insomnia, anxiety , and Depression connected to screen time. Poor academic outcomes and failing grades as well.

Children and teens are texting, sexting, instagraming, playing phone video games late into the morning when they should be sleeping. They are exhausted and their anxious and depressed mood is a result many times of lack of quality sleep. Youth are falling a sleep in class and can not focus and or learn new information.

This sets up a spiral of problems: anger and mood disorders toward parents, violence that is modeled through excess violent video games, in ability to sleep because screen time tricks the child’s brain to thinking it is day time and their mind does not set itself up to sleep.

Parents become frustrated with the child’s school performance and their behavior. Most children become “drunk” with power because they have infinite : social, texting, gaming, comedy, movies, entertainment with their I phones and screens.

Children and teens use snap chat to send inappropriate messages as well as x rated photos to peers and they disappear in ten seconds however obviously someone can get a copy of this inappropriate information.

There are many tools parents can use to modify behavior and change your child’s behavior, Grades, communication, and health.

Below is a research article I wrote on video games and violence it had over twenty five books used to cite it.

Most parents view video games as” entertainment.” their content is not taken as seriously as that of the passive act of watching TV. After all, most adults today grew up playing pong, pac man, asteroids, space invaders, or defender. Nevertheless, what many parents might not realize is that the challenge for many players today is to rack up points by killing prostitutes after having sex with them. Video games have not only become more violent, the characters have become more real, and the effects that they are having on society, specifically women is shocking. Video games have engaged the “once spectator” to actively participate in addictive violence. Recent studies have undoubtedly concluded that the violence and negative reinforcements in video games have not only successfully promoted violence against women by desensitization, but they have also increased aggressive behavior in children and teenagers to a level that has devastated the lives of many.

Many people are shocked to discover that the video game industry is larger than the film industry. The Interactive Digital Software Association reported that video games are “the fastest growing entertainment industry in America, surpassing books, records and movie box offices combined” (Berger 2002).The video game industry recently has generated 93 Billion dollars annually in 2013.In 1997 the video and computer game industry generated 16 Billion dollars in economic activity, this does not include computer and video game hardware sales. In the year 2000 it became a 20 billion dollar industry and is still growing considerably (Berger, 2002). IDSA also reported at the time sixty five percent of all Americans age six and older, or about 145 million people, play computer and video games (Berger 2002). The video game industry has increased exponentially since 2002. It is stated that video games, many times is the initial experience that children have with the computer/ technology world. So, if boys tend to be the primary target of the industry, which, they are, what effect does it have on girls.

If a child’s interest begins with games. most common computer games involve violence and aggressive themes have the effect of turning girls away from the computers in general. This is one way of keeping women out of power. After all, these are male dominated industries. Since computer literacy is essential in most jobs, people who are exposed to computers earlier in life have an obvious advantage. The boys who outnumber the girls in gaming, will be the men who out-number the women in the business world. This may lead to the girls becoming less interested in the world of computers as a career. Girls are not the only ones who are not enamored with video games. Parents are unaware of the violence that is being reinforced hundreds of thousands of times in their child’s brain.

Teenagers report that 95 percent of the time their parents do not check the ratings or the content of video games being purchased. Ninety percent of parents do not set limits on how much time their child can play video games.

We have seen an alarming increase in violence and school shooting. Shootings at Paucah, Kentucky, Jonesboro, Arkansas, and Littleton, Colorado were all cases where the shooters were students who habitually played violent video games. The bloody game Doom was Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold’s favorite game ( they wounded 23 and killed 13). Two studies examined violent video games effect on aggression related variables. The first study found that real-live violent video games are positively related to aggressive behavior and delinquency. the second study showed lab exposure to a violent video game increased aggressive thoughts and and behaviors. The results are in line with the General Affective Aggression Model, which predicts that exposure to violent video games will increase aggressive behavior in both the short term and the long term ( Calvert, Jordan, Cocking 2000)

A study of about 329 children and media violence was done over a 21 year period by L. Rowell Huesmann at the University of Michigan’s Institute for Social Research. Girls and boys participated. This was one of the few studies that followed children into adulthood, which enabled researchers to gauge the long term effects of televised violence. Men in the top twenty percent on childhood exposure to violence were twice as likely as adults to have pushed, grabbed or shoved their wives. The women who scored in the 20 percent were twice as likely to throw something at their husbands. the study concluded that both girls and boys exposed to a lot of televison violence have a greater risk of spousal abuse and criminal offenses, no matter what they were like as children( Ritter, M., 2003). This study was based specifically on violence, however, most video games today are also including very graphic sexually violent images, which are destroying women and the morality of society as a whole.

The effects of viewing sexually violent images was researched and discussed by Ed Donnerstein, Dean and Professor of Communications at the University of California, Santa Barbara.  In his study, young adults ages 18-20 were shown a one hour documentary on battered women. After watching the film, the viewers showed less empathy toward the victims. They lowered their evaluation on the level of injury that the women received. They also under estimated the level of pain that must have been experienced. Both men and women were more likely to display indifference toward the victims. many blamed the rape on the ladies and believed that the women brought it to themselves. It is clear that watching these images are negative, however, the video game industry uses reinforcement tactics to hook children, teens, and adults making the game, not just interactive but addictive. Violence in America and against women has increased since the rise of video games across the country. These games are highly addictive and use many psychological reinforcement principles to hook children to wanting to continue to play. Many youth are playing video games 40 hours a week.

Violence was declared the number one health problem for women in 1992, sadly, recent studies have concluded that the problem is not decreasing ( Violence, Women, and  the Media, 2000). For example , consider the following statistics: the single major cause of injury to American women is domestic violence, exceeding gang violence, muggings, murders, and accidents ( The Commonwealth Fund, 1993). In the US, one women is raped every two minutes (National Crime Victimization survey, 1996). One in every seven women has been raped in her life time (Daily News, November 18,1998). Also, In America a woman is physically abused every nine seconds ( The Commonwealth Fund, July 1993). In emergency rooms more than one third of American women have suffered physical or sexual abuse ( Sternberg S. 1999) And a staggering thirty percent of women murdered in the US are killed by their husbands, ex-husbands or boyfriends ( national Crime Victimization Survey,1996). Researchers have found that the way the media depicts women influences how women are viewed and treated in society( Violence, Women, and the Media, 2000). For example, many video games are very degrading and often depict women as victims of violence. Also many video games also portray women as sex objects.

In the year 2000 half of the top selling video games contained negative images about girls according to (Children, Now 2000). For example unrealistic body images, high pitched voices,fainting, violence, and provocative sexuality is promoted.

Twenty eight percent of games in a study show women as inferior and powerless. In games like Grand Theft Auto boys are taught women can be treated brutally and this is reinforced in the video game.

Players of Grand Theft Auto get rewarded if they kick and kill the prostitute to death after they have sex with her. Sounds shocking, but it is true and is one of the most popular video games among children and teenagers in the US. After playing for 4-8 hours a day, these acts of violence begin to seem normal.

In the recent shooting at UCSB the 22 year old male stated many phrases in his you tube video regarding slaughtering women and others. He also stated that video games were a way for him to avoid: rejection, loneliness, humiliation, depression, and pain from not having a girlfriend and not having what he wanted sexually and in  relationships. The UCSB shooter mimicked many specific phrases from the video game World Of War Craft relating to specific violence and rage. The UCSB shooter also played: Diablo, and Halo as well as many other video games.

Anders Breivik, the right-wing extremist who has confessed to killing 77 people during a murder spree in Norway last summer, played the violent computer game World of Warcraft nearly seven hours a day for several consecutive months before his attack, prosecutors say.

Breivik, 33, already known to have a long history with the online role-playing game, was particularly absorbed by it between November 2010 and February 2011, when he played for an average of 6 hours and 50 minutes per day, according to prosecutors.

Two decades of research had shown that repeated exposure to violence blunts emotional reactions and makes people less likely to help others in need ( Levine, 1996). Perfectly normal people no longer recognize violence because it is so prevalent in the media. People grow numb to violence with repeated exposure via media. People become less responsive to human pain and begin to lose awareness of what it means to be human.

Before the Vietnam War, fewer than 20 percent of soldiers on the front lines would actually fire at the enemy, however, with games such as Doom used as conditioning tools fdor the soldiers, the US military kill rate increased to (0 percent in Vietnam. With video games, our military scientifically overcame the soldier’s innate resistance to killing ( game Over, 2000) Violent video games are the mental equivalent of putting an assault rifle in the hands of every American child. By sitting mindlessly, killing countless thousands of fellow members of their own species without any ramifications or repercussions, operant conditioning concepts transfer immediately when the individual gets a real weapon in their hand and are being taught violence. The recent school shootings in 2008 and 2007 serve as an example of a link between video games and heightened aggressive behaviors.

For the video game child/ teenager or gamer, beating a previous high score, or winning a free game, or having sex with a prostitute is all part of Skinnerian reinforcement. behavior that is followed by reinforcement will increase in frequency. In short, video games that make a child or teen or adult feel good will be played again and again. A partial reinforcement schedule will lead to behavior that occurs more often with and is more resilient to extinction than does a continuous reinforcement schedule. These two effects of partial reinforcement produce what is considered addictive behavior. These irregular schedules of reinforcement are in part, what cause these video games to be so exciting and desirable. Tis kind of reinforcement, which causes addictive behaviors can explain why their is an increase in the video game industry as a whole.

The AMA states that anywhere in the world where TV appears, 15 years later the murder rate doubles. Ten thousand murders per year, 70,000 rapes, and 700,000 assaults. We must consider the impact of violent video games on the minds and behaviors of our society. The evidence is clear violence breeds more violence in the majority of situations.

Many children are having challenges sleeping at night and have great anxiety. The children report that their nightmares are specific to the video games they are playing. Research shows a lack of sleep impacts: mood, anger, depression, and behavior as well as performance.

The 93 Billion dollar Video game industry must be taken seriously. It must start with education and healthy parenting. It must come with boundaries and limitations. It must come with healthy communication and listening to children and teenagers. It must come from healthy role modeling from parents. The video game industry is no different than access to violence on TV or on the internet. Violence and abuse physically, mentally, emotionally, and sexually is not ok!

There are 100’s of violent video games out there one is: Call of Duty Black Ops:This gritty, extremely violent military first-person shooter (pictured above) involves constant killing using realistic weapons, with blood and gore pouring across the screen during more intense scenes. Cinematic sequences can be even more dramatic and graphic, with soldiers and civilians alike dying in horrible ways, including graphic melee kills, people burning to death, civilians killed in crossfire, torture, and a shipping container filled with rotting corpses. In one scene, the player steps into the shoes of a villain and goes on a murderous rampage against soldiers, the screen turning red with blood rage as he takes damage. This M-rated game also has frequent profanity, some sexual themes, and drug use.

Do you want your child assaulting woman? Killing prostitutes? Raping people? This is what is going on in many video games above and beyond brutal violence.

Do we really want your children actively involved and engaged in violent games daily; the same type of games that the US military uses to increase kill rates at war? Garbage in garbage out. We must find healthy activities that create health and balance for our youth and violent video games is not the solution.

Lifeworksaz counseling works with the parents as well as the child to modify unhealthy behaviors and create success at: school, socially,  build self esteem, manage anger, manage anxiety, succeed academically, health wise, and in all other aspects of life.

Anxiety, depression,Social skills, low self esteem, failing grades, entitlement:, and mood disorders are on the rise in exponential ways in Scottsdale, Phoenix, Chandler, Goodyear, Tempe Arizona and throughout the USA via research studies.

Experts on adolescent media addiction, says research shows that people who game an average of 25 or more hours per week show signs of addiction, such as loss of awareness of time spent, persistence despite harm to social, family, or academic pursuits, tolerance, increased cravings, withdrawal, and loss of impulse control. The bigger problem is that it is impacting their: mood including anxiety, depression, and anger as well as behavior and cognition. Social skills, self esteem and mood disorders are on the rise in exponential ways.

Many parents are afraid to set boundaries with their children. The lack of boundaries impact a child’s mood( anxious, angry, depressed) as well as unhealthy behavior daily.

Many of today’s parents don’t want to see their children unhappy, and therefore are creating a “monster’s” behaviorally. A lack of boundaries is very often what leads to behavior that is seen as disrespectful. Setting boundaries with empathy and respect doesn’t lead to an entitled child. Teaching boundaries empowers your teen or child to make mature decisions and teaches respect and healthy behaviors for life. Teaching your children about; respect, accountability, healthy behaviors, and setting limits that are firm and with love is vital for your child’s mental and physical health.

Children and teens come into my office and are playing video games, playing you tube, watching Netflix, playing on their smart phones, texting, snap chatting, instagramming watching tv, gaming on i-phone, you tubing a majority of their day.

The problem that parents convey is that their child is not doing homework. Their child is not performing well in school. I have many children and teens that average 25 hours plus a week of media and gaming. The child or teen has very poor social skills and poor interpersonal relationships. The adolescent is not developing his social skills and they are important for life: relationships, family, jobs, careers, and more. Research shows that social skills is vital for career success as well as happiness in adults lives.

Furthermore most children and adolescents are either overweight and obese or do not participate in physical exercise. Physical exercise is vital for mental health: depression, anxiety, mood disorders and more. Your child should be exercising at least 1.5 hours 5 days a week. Experts show that physical exercise helps manage mental health disorders; bipolar, depression, anxiety, anger and more.

Adolescents and children are also having challenges sleeping do to insomnia that is infused through electronics. Your child’s brain can not shut off because the light emission from the: smart phone, tv, computer, video games, etc tricks your child’s brain and the brain things it is daylight and we should be up in the day and obviously sleep at night. Sleep experts show a lot of research to support this fact.

A combination of child and teen counseling with parenting and family counseling is an evidence based approach to make desired changes emotionally and behaviorally and to increase healthy dynamics, healthy life skills, improve social skills, boost academics, and create balance and health for your family and child.

Children as young as five are being referred for treatment for depression and anxiety in the United States of America.Figures showed mental health teams are working with more than 1,000 children and young people who were referred for therapy.

Research shows that family stress, financial issues, unemployment, and substance use or abuse is connected with child depression and child anxiety.

Twenty percent of children between ages 10-16 will be diagnosed with some type of mental health diagnosis. It could be ADHD, Anxiety, Depression, Autism, Oppositional defiant disorder and more.

The tendency to develop depression and anxiety involves a complex mixture of factors, such as (genetic) factors and life-stressors.

Children and adolescents who get depressed have often had adverse experiences, such as, losing a parent or being abused as a child. Some have had struggles academically. Many children have been bullied or have been verbally abused and not accepted at their schools. Many struggle with social skills and communication skills. Many have very low self esteem.

Such early life experiences sets a person up for later depression and anxiety.

In addition recent events often precipitate an episode of depression or anxiety. A life event is simply a stressful occurrence. Friendship difficulties and disappointments are common triggers for depression and anxiety in children and adolescents.

Having a family history of depression can also put individuals more at risk as there is some genetic contribution to depression.

Although there is no evidence that family difficulties actually cause depression, when there is a lot of family conflict, this can interfere with a person’s recovery.The most important element in treating depression and anxiety is feeling safe and comfortable with one’s therapist and having someone with a great deal of experience working with youth. I see youth all day in my office and many only see one child per week so make sure you find someone who has rapport with parents as well as your child.

I provide: play, CBT therapy, DBT, Talk, Educational therapy

Sports games, Art therapy, to create a safe comfortable environment

For your child and this facilitates change. See parents testimonials.

The best studied of the psychological treatments for child and adolescent depression and anxiety. CBT aims to address the negative thinking that may maintain depression and axniety.

CBT for children and adolescents is usually given in courses of 8 to 12 individual weekly sessions each lasting 50 minutes, including a final 10 minutes with parents. Mind-fullness training, progressive relaxation, Imagery, meditation, hypnosis, and exposure therapy can address anxiety and depressed moods., DBT therapy is used for treating anxiety and depression.

Most experts world wide, in Phoenix, Scottsdale Arizona and in America state: Intervening early when a child or teenager or young person starts struggling to cope is proven to reduce the likelihood of that young person developing much more severe and entrenched mental health problems. Counseling and child and teen therapy is vital. Family counseling and parenting will help the child even more than just one on one child psychotherapy.

Children and teens have stress daily. Many children have anxiety and the real question is if your child is missing out on life’s opportunities due to one’s anxiety. Anxiety can be managed and there are many tools your child can learn to regulate stress, anxiety, as well as behaviors. There are a few causes of anxiety that we know: genetics are a big component, traumatic or upsetting events can trigger anxiety, how one was raised and past events that are impacting your child today.

One research and evidence based therapy I use that has great results is cognitive behavioral counseling or therapy. I work with each individual child and help them understand the connection between our thoughts, feelings, and our behavior that we act upon daily.Automatic unconscious thoughts that evolve can spark anxiety. Learning to become aware of unhealthy and twisted thoughts that do not have validity or truth is taught in a manner that is easy for your child to understand. As we learn to question these unhealthy thoughts we can then change them to healthy positive thoughts and overcome our anxiety.

There are two ways of looking at our thoughts. The first is to find out if our thoughts are accurate? The second way is to to see if the way we are thinking is leading us toward avoidance or toward a value system of ours. After your child learns to identify distorted thoughts he or she can learn alternative ways to help move through the anxiety and face the situation that is: scary, fearful etc.

There are a number of research based tools that I use including behavior modification, dot, EMDR, exposure therapy, imagery, mindfulness and more that each child can learn and can feel safe and secure and at peace when anxiety arises. These tools can be used for: panic, generalized anxiety, social anxiety, phobias and more.

Facing your child’s fear head on is vital to help him or her feel confident and master anxiety.Learning these skills and more will help build self esteem and will free our chip up to embrace his or her life and create a happy and healthy life., Conduct disorders

Children and teens have stress daily. Many children have anxiety and the real question is if your child is missing out on life’s opportunities due to one’s anxiety. Anxiety can be managed and there are many tools your child can learn to regulate stress, anxiety, as well as behaviors. There are a few causes of anxiety that we know: genetics are a big component, traumatic or upsetting events can trigger anxiety, how one was raised and past events that are impacting your child today.

One research and evidence based therapy I use that has great results is cognitive behavioral counseling or therapy. I work with each individual child and help them understand the connection between our  thoughts, feelings, and our behavior that we act upon daily.Automatic unconscious thoughts that evolve can spark anxiety. Learning to become aware of unhealthy and twisted thoughts that do not have validity or truth is taught in a manner that is easy for your child to understand. As we learn to question these unhealthy thoughts we can then change them to healthy positive thoughts and overcome our anxiety.

There are two ways of looking at our thoughts. The first is to find out if our thoughts are accurate? The second way is to to see if the way we are thinking is leading us toward avoidance or toward a value system of ours. After your child learns to identify distorted thoughts he or she can learn alternative  ways to help move through the anxiety and face the situation that is: scary, fearful etc.

There are a number of research based tools that I use including behavior modification, dot, EMDR, exposure therapy, imagery, mindfulness and more that each child can learn and can feel safe and secure and at peace when anxiety arises. These tools can be used for: panic, generalized anxiety, social anxiety, phobias and more.

Facing your child’s fear head on is vital to help him or her feel confident and master anxiety.Learning these skills and more will help build self esteem and will free our chip up to embrace his or her life and create a happy and healthy life.

Society is always looking for the quick fix. Anxiety disorders are usually chronic. Benzodiazepines(xanax,klonopin,valium, ativan) treatment can be prolonged and hence there can be increased risk of side effects.

Physical and psychological dependence, withdrawl symptoms(reduced alertness, memory loss,fatigue etc) can occur with regular and extended usage.
When individuals stop taking these meds they have a 50-75 percent chance of relapse.

Cognitive behavioral therapy has been shown to be equally effective as medication for sleep challenges and anxiety.

Look into CBT before you start popping pills. Therapy and counseling can save you a lot of money without the side effects and I believe it is more effective.

David Abrams child teen adult counselor and psychotherapist
Sent from David Abrams MAPC, LPC, CAGS
602.575.4030
www.LifeWorksAZ.com
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