Description
Anxiety is one of the biggest challenges faced by children with high-functioning autism spectrum disorders and Asperger syndrome. Help them conquer their fears—and participate more fully in home, school, and community life—with this innovative group therapy program for children 8–14 years old and their parents.
Ideal for small groups of 4–5 children but also effective in one-to-one therapy, this proven, ready-to-use program is a must for mental health professionals who work with children and families in clinical settings. Developed to address the specific needs and challenges of children with high-functioning ASD and Asperger syndrome, Facing Your Fears works because it
- targets specific fears or worries that interfere with day-to-day functioning at home and school
- actively involves parents in every session—the key to helping children make progress and ensuring that families provide skillful, sensitive support
- is backed by more than 7 years of funded research, including two clinical trials with positive outcomes
- engages children with memorable, age-appropriate strategies for defeating anxiety, from creating "worry bugs" to filming movies of themselves facing their fears
- gives children repeated opportunities to practice their social interactions with others
- uses the highly effective principles of cognitive behavioral therapy
- helps children and parents generalize the skills they learn in group to other settings
Facing Your Fears includes everything professionals need to run a successful program—a Facilitator's Manual, one Parent Workbook, and one Child Workbook. With the Facilitator's Manual, group leaders will get complete guidance on conducting each session: clear step-by-step instructions, materials lists, goals, sample schedules, and helpful hints for running sessions smoothly.
The Parent Workbooks and Child Workbooks (also sold separately in packs of 4) give children and families a wide variety of creative activities to help them fight fears and worries head-on, both inside and outside the group setting. And the included DVD inspires and motivates kids with sample movies of real children facing their fears.
Essential for every mental health professional working with children with ASD, this innovative program will help families struggling with the burdens of anxiety and increase children's odds for lifelong academic and social success.
Reviews
Review: Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders
"The consistently clear and precise language, the usage of many visual cues in the childs workbook and the practice of preceding tasks with clear examples that a child can mimic to be successful also exhibit the authors experience in creating content that will be easily adopted by children with autism."
Table of Contents
About the Authors
Preface
Acknowledgments
List of Materials
Introduction
Session 1: Welcome to Group: Words We Use for Worry
Session 2: When I Worry
Session 3: Time Spent Worrying
Session 4: What Worry Does to My Body: Beginning to Measure Worry
Session 5: The Mind-Body Connection
Session 6: More Mind-Body Connections: Introduction to Exposure
Session 7: Introduction to Exposure (Continued)
Session 8: Practing Exposure and Making Movies
Sessions 9-13: Facing Fears and Making Movies
Session 14: Graduation
Booster Session
References
Index