ABOUT THE COOL KIDS™PROGRAM

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Cool Kids is a 10-session program aimed at treating anxiety in children and teens. It uses a cognitive behavioural approach which means that it focuses on teaching skills to manage anxiety. 

Core skills include:

•  How to identify anxious thoughts, feelings, and behaviours
•  Discovering realistic thoughts and expectations (detective thinking)
•  Gradually building independence and confidence by facing fears (stepladders). 

If needed, additional skills such as problem solving, social confidence and relaxation can be introduced to help manage difficult situations. 

Parents are shown how to support their child in the use of these new skills and a section of the program focuses specifically on parenting strategies that encourage children to self-manage anxiety. 

During each session families practice skills during discussion, games, role play and in real life situations. Practice tasks are a crucial part of the program and are given following every session. Practice tasks encourage use of new skills in everyday life.

Sessions are typically held weekly. 

• Who are 7-17 years old (grades 1-12)
•  Where anxiety is the main problem being experienced and it is affecting his or her day to-day life. 

The standard Cool Kids program is not suitable for children who have significant learning delays, autism or if another difficulty such as depression or oppositional behaviour is the current main problem. 

In addition, children or teens who are suicidal, who are self-harming or who have been school refusing for two weeks or more, will not be recommended to the Cool Kids program due to the complexity of these situations. 

These exclusions are in place to ensure that Cool Kids is delivered to children who are most likely to benefit from the program. We offer other services that may be suitable for your child if they are not suitable for Cool Kids.

A thorough assessment will be conducted to determine if Cool Kids is likely to be helpful for your child. The assessment involves online questionnaires and a face-to-face or Telehealth interview with a child and his/her parent(s). 

This initial session will take approximately 90 minutes. Each session thereafter is approximately 50-minutes.