Anxiety disorders

  • Reflections from the room

    When young people bring their own digital support into therapy

    Some young people come to therapy already using apps, videos or chatbots to help them through difficult moments. Asking about that support can be a useful way into the work. The answers can tell a clinician a good deal about the young person, and they open questions about the tools themselves and about how the family sees them.

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  • John Piacentini

    OCD and Anxiety in Children and Young People: Assessment, Diagnosis and Treatment

    This practical two-hour session will provide a clinical overview of OCD and anxiety in children and young people. It will cover key features to look out for, approaches to assessment and diagnosis, and how to distinguish OCD from other conditions. The session will also explore treatment approaches and the role of families, alongside a brief overview of the evidence base.

    Event type
    Session
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  • Reflections from the room

    Using a case formulation to identify what maintains anxiety

    Case conceptualisation helps clinicians move from a description of a young person’s symptoms to an account of what may be keeping them going. In the session on science-informed case conceptualisation, Professor Bryce McLeod illustrated his five-step model with a single case of social anxiety in a young adolescent girl. The case shows how a formulation can bring maintaining factors into view, including the coping strategies of the girl and her mother, and then shape treatment and the conversation with the family.

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  • Portrait of happy mother and daughter hugging each other in bedroom at home

    Self-Guided Intervention for Intergenerational Anxiety

    Could supporting anxious parents help reduce anxiety in children? Explore research on a self-guided online parenting intervention and its effects on child anxiety.

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  • Tamsin Ford web 1

    School Attendance and Mental Health: Evidence, Barriers and Effective Support for Young People

    This advanced session exploring the relationship between mental health and school attendance in children and young people. The event will examine current evidence on how mental health difficulties are associated with school attendance, share findings from young people, parents/carers and school staff about experiences of struggling to attend school, and consider emerging evidence on approaches to improving attendance. The session will also include a parent lived experience contribution and a final panel discussion and audience Q&A.

    Event type
    Advanced session
    Location
    LIVE STREAM
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  • 06

    Reimagining SEND: Policy, Inclusive Education, and System Change

    The SEND landscape in England is entering one of its most significant periods of reform since the Children and Families Act 2014. This evidence-informed practice-focused event will provide delegates with a clear understanding of the emerging policy direction, while critically examining what the reforms may mean for practice, service delivery and outcomes for children and young people.

    Event type
    Introductory and Update Session
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  • Sam Cartwright Hatton

    Helping Anxious Parents Raise Confident Children: Preventing the Intergenerational Transmission of Anxiety

    Internationally renowned expert Professor Sam Cartwright-Hatton will lead the programme sharing extensive clinical and research expertise. Through in-depth presentation and interactive Q&A session, participants will learn how to support parents in reducing accommodating behaviours, fostering resilience, and promoting long-term emotional wellbeing in anxious children.

    Event type
    Intermediate level
    Location
    LIVE STREAM
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  • David Bürgin

    What are the most important life events for teens

    Most adolescents and young adults identify positive, everyday milestones—such as education, relationships and growing independence—as the most important events in their lives, rather than crises. However, those with higher anxiety and depression are more likely to emphasise stressful experiences and interpersonal difficulties, highlighting how mental health shapes the way life events are perceived. Blog by David Bürgin on his recent paper.

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  • Yan Li and Christian Hakulinen

    Mental Health and School Achievement: Why Gender and Age at Onset Matter

    Discover how mental health conditions impact school performance in children and adolescents. Explore research on over 837,000 young people, highlighting the effects of anxiety, depression, gender differences, and age of onset on academic achievement—and why early support matters.

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  • 24

    Debate – Regulating Social Media Use in Children and Young People – Are bans justified?

    This 1.5-hour online debate brings together leading experts to examine whether age-based social media bans are an appropriate policy response to concerns about children and young people’s mental health.

    Event type
    Debate
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