Anxiety disorders in children and young people are common and can have a significant impact on mental health and well-being. Anxiety disorders can affect family, school and social life, leisure activities and educational achievement and they often occur alongside other mental health problems.
Anxiety disorders
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Meet the expert: a nervous system approach to selective mutism, with Anna Biavati
We caught up with the presenter – Anna Biavati, a Speech and Language Therapist and founder of Steps to Brave Talking Therapy and Support – about the topic itself, her career, and her hopes for the event.
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Emotionally Based School Avoidance (EBSA) in Practice: Evidence, Complexity, and Recovery-Oriented Approaches
This three-hour online event explores what we currently know about EBSA, and how thinking, language, and responses have evolved in recent years. The session will examine the up-to-date research landscape, emerging international developments, and recovery-oriented approaches grounded in complex real-world cases.
- Event type
- Update session
- Location
- LIVE STREAM
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Meet the expert: Practical techniques for managing social anxiety in everyday clinical work, with Dr. Eleanor Leigh
We caught up with Dr. Eleanor Leigh, Associate Professor and MRC Clinician Scientist Fellow at the University of Oxford, to talk about practical techniques for managing social anxiety in everyday clinical work.
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Creating Safety Before Speech: A Nervous System Approach to Selective Mutism
EARLY BIRD FROM £5! The session explores the connections between early development, emotional regulation, movement, retained primitive reflexes, and the nervous system, illustrating how these systems interact to shape a child’s capacity to engage, relate, and communicate. It places particular emphasis on how safety, predictability, and reduced pressure can support regulation and communication across both home and school environments.
- Event type
- Talk with Q&A
- Location
- LIVE STREAM
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Practical techniques for managing social anxiety in everyday clinical work
Associate Professor Eleanor Leigh will focus on social anxiety in adolescents, with a strong emphasis on developing practical clinical skills. This advanced session will be ideal for professionals in child and family mental health who have therapeutic experience with children and families.
- Event type
- Introductory to Advanced
- Location
- LIVE STREAM
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Social Fears in Children: The Roles of Parental Communication and Child Temperament
A recent longitudinal study by Zeytinoglu and colleagues (2025) provides insights into how parental verbal communication and child characteristics contribute to the transmission of social fears. The study shows the impact of both positive and negative maternal statements about ambiguous social situations, finding that positive comments were linked to reductions in children’s social fear beliefs, while negative comments predicted increases, especially among children who were behaviourally inhibited or had high anxiety.
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Blades and Wounded Minds: exploring the links between youth mental health and knife crime
This webinar examines the complex relationship between youth mental health issues—particularly trauma and anxiety—and the rise in knife crime among young people.
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Putting Sustainability at the Front of Digital Mental Health
Research has indicated the urgent importance of embedding sustainable practice into research and healthcare. With the rapid deployment of AI and other novel technologies across healthcare, we must consider sustainability in the research and development of digital mental health technologies. Here, two mental health researchers reflect on their work in digital mental health and what is next for sustainable mental health research.
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Advancing the Understanding and Treatment of Anxiety Disorders in Young People – Emanuel Miller International Conference 2025
Anxiety disorders remain among the most common mental health challenges faced by children and adolescents, demanding ongoing innovation in both research and practice. Despite widespread recognition, critical gaps persist in understanding, diagnosing, and treating these conditions.
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- Emanuel Miller
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From COP29 to Net Zero Mental Health Care: What does it mean for Child and Adolescent Mental Health professionals?
Climate change and biodiversity loss are affecting the mental health of children and young people worldwide. Although many of us care deeply about ecological issues, they can seem less relevant to clinical practice and research. In this blog, Dr Shuo Zhang and Shailpriya Nand briefly summarise the literature on climate change and youth mental health before considering how Child and Adolescent Mental Health professionals can play a vital role in both reducing the carbon costs of healthcare and strengthening population mental health.
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