Using CBT and Mindfulness to Manage Student Anxiety: A 9-Week Program for Children and Adolescents

Using CBT and Mindfulness to Manage Student Anxiety provides a weekly framework utilizing cognitive behavioral therapy and mindfulness to support children who are struggling with anxiety. This book begins with an overview of cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) and mindfulness practices and their use in supporting worry. The 9 weekly sessions are broken down into a ready-to-use lesson complete with an assessment tool, clinician notes for added depth, and a template to support generalization of learning with teachers and guardians. Lessons are focused on connection, building an awareness of emotions, and increasing the student’s capacity to regulate their emotions in a variety of ways. The last portion of this book offers opportunities to continue generalization of emotion regulation skills in the classroom and at home. Providing practitioners with a ready-to-go structured lesson plan that builds with each session, and tools to assess progress and growth, this book will be a welcome addition to any school-based mental health professional’s library.

Table of Contents:
1 The Presentation of Worry and Anxiety in Children and Adolescents 2 What Is Cognitive Behavioral Therapy? 3 How Can Mindfulness Support CBT? 4 How to Use this Book 5 Week 1: Introduction/Get to Know Each Other 6 Emotions 7 Our Body and Our Thoughts 8 Changing Thoughts and Working through Problems 9 In and Out of Control/Coping Strategies 10 People That Help Our Thoughts 11 Coping Strategies 12 Student Plan 13 Completion/Next Steps 14 Continued Support for the Classroom 15 Continued Support for Home

About the Author :
Katelyn Oellerich, EdS, is a nationally certified school psychologist practicing in Wisconsin. In 2022, Katelyn was recognized as the Wisconsin School Psychologist of the Year.

Review :
"Anxiety can be so tricky, yet Katelyn puts together a practical and well laid out guide (or curriculum) to support tweens and teens to address it head on. Weaving together mindfulness and CBT into 9 lessons, teachers and clinicians will be well equipped to teach adolescents multiple strategies to manage their anxiety with ease." — Leah Kuypers, MA Ed., OTR/L, creator and author of The Zones of Regulation "Katelyn Oellerich's book, Using CBT and Mindfulness to Manage Student Anxiety, will be an enormous help to school psychologists and school counselors who are looking to use a manual for a group or individual intervention for students struggling with anxiety related difficulties. From scripted openings to sessions and discussion prompts, to great handouts, figures and "how to" directions, this book will answer the question, "where can I begin and what should I include in a helpful anxiety & coping skill intervention for students. Keep this book in your school mental health library for practitioners." — Rebecca Comizio, co-author of the Resilience Workbook for Kids, nationally certified school psychologist & licensed professional counselor "When school psychologist Katelyn Oellerich offered to become a contributor to MiddleWeb, our internet resource supporting educators who work with students in grades 4-8, America was experiencing the Covid-19 crisis and its ripple effects on schools, teaching, and most of all, on young adolescents who were (as she wrote in one article) in the midst of a mental health crisis. From her authentic "lighthouse" position, working directly with middle grades kids, Katelyn was able to warn our readers that we cannot always expect students to make academic learning their top priority. Many, she said, may be focused on survival and "we need to be focused on helping them do that. In this valuable book, Katelyn offers not only a warning but research-based advice about practices that she has seen make a difference with young people experiencing worry, anxiety and trauma. It’s an excellent resource for counselors, advisory leaders, and school administrators who want to understand more about the best ways to help students survive and thrive in increasingly difficult times." — John Norton, founder & co-editor, MiddleWeb.com "Over the past few years, schools have become the primary source of support for students in a time of significant social and societal disruption and change. This curriculum offers a well-researched formula for supporting students who experience symptoms and feelings of anxiety as a result. Most importantly, it provides clear and easy-to-use lesson plans and scripts for clinicians who are most often on the frontlines of supporting students through emotions that can disrupt or impede their ability to fully exist in the world." — Abby Morrison, school social worker