CBT Strategies for Anxious and Depressed Children and Adolescents

“Bunge, Mandil, Consoli, and Gomar have provided us with an excellent review of CBT strategies as they apply to working with children and adolescents. The book is presented as a clinician’s tool kit and well lives up to its billing, providing a comprehensive, thorough, easy-to-use, and empirically supported group of activities for this population….This would be a very valuable textbook to use in any graduate course, whether in psychology, social work, or psychiatry, dealing with child and adolescent psychopathology and treatment….Highly recommended.”

—Child and Family Behavior Therapy


“CBT has earned its empirical chops and is becoming the 'go-to' treatment approach for many practitioners working with depressed and anxious youth. Bunge et al. have produced a practice-friendly addition to the treatment literature. The material is presented in an inviting manner and the reproducible handouts are eye catching.”

—Robert D. Friedberg, PhD, ABPP, Professor and Director, Center for the Study and Treatment of Anxious Youth, Palo Alto University


“This book is a creative compendium for those who work with anxious and depressed youth. It captures the essence of evidence-based treatments and provides therapy materials that are engaging and humorous. It is clear the authors enjoy working with children—the handouts will help busy clinicians and psychotherapy students do the same!”

—Mary A. Fristad, PhD, ABPP, Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Health, The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center


“A comprehensive, hands-on volume for clinicians. It explains well-established CBT strategies in an understandable way. Many of the handouts and forms encourage children to think about a hypothetical example before applying the strategy to themselves. I expect that child and adolescent clients will find the exercises easy to use, which has the potential to increase homework compliance. This book is a terrific supplement to textbooks on CBT for anxiety and depression with child and adolescent clients. It will surely be consulted frequently by clinicians.”

—Amy Wenzel, PhD, Department of Psychiatry, Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania


“A great resource for providers who have a solid understanding of CBT and are looking for quick and creative ideas for treatment. The transdiagnostic approach makes this book a practical tool for busy clinicians working with school-age children and teens with multiple presenting concerns, and it appropriately emphasizes experiential learning. The fun, inviting illustrations and comic strips are presented in a way that promotes discussion with patients and families. The setup of the book allows for flexibility, as providers can pull out specific handouts and strategies to meet individual patients' needs.”

—Jessica M. McClure, PsyD, coauthor of Clinical Practice of Cognitive Therapy with Children and Adolescents, Second Edition


“The engaging, creative activities and modular approach allow practitioners to flexibly customize essential components of treatment for individual children. The materials and activities are developmentally appropriate, incorporate humor, and will be appealing to children and adolescents. The authors were mindful to create comics and drawings that are gender inclusive and culturally sensitive. This book can serve as a quick supplemental session-planning resource for professionals with expertise in treatments for anxiety and depression. In addition, the theoretical framework and concise, child-friendly exercises make it an ideal text for training new therapists in applied counseling techniques.”

—Diana Joyce-Beaulieu, PhD, NCSP, School of Special Education, School Psychology and Early Childhood Studies, University of Florida