Anxiety, You’re Not the Boss of Me! Empowering Children and Adolescents to Take Charge and Build Confidence
- Speaker:
- Jeffrey Olrick, MEd, PhD
- Duration:
- 1 Hour 31 Minutes
- Format:
- Audio and Video
- Copyright:
-
Aug 05, 2026
- Product Code:
- POS150902
- Media Type:
- Digital Seminar
Description
Anxiety, when unaddressed, can quietly fuel avoidance, relational strain, and long‑term emotional challenges.
Join us for a clear, kid‑friendly framework for understanding anxiety, spotting who is truly ready for individual treatment, and using simple, science‑based tools that help kids feel steadier, braver, and more in charge of their internal world.
Key takeaways include:
- A sharper lens for spotting hidden anxiety behaviors often mistaken for defiance, distraction, or mood issues.
- Language and metaphors that help kids talk about anxiety without shame or shutdown.
- Engagement strategies to keep anxious kids participating even when avoidance kicks in.
- Simple ways to involve caregivers, so progress continues outside the therapy room or classroom.
Credit
Speaker
Jeffrey Olrick, MEd, PhD Related seminars and products
Jeffrey Olrick, MEd, PhD is the author of Treating Emotional Dysregulation in Kids & Adolescents, a practical, ready-to-use guide for clinicians, school professionals, and other front-line helpers working with anxiety, depression, emotional reactivity, and dysregulation in young people. A clinical psychologist with more than twenty years of experience, he serves as a clinical lead psychologist for Health New Zealand, where he provides clinical leadership, program development, and support for multidisciplinary teams, while also working directly with children and adolescents to shape clearer, more effective approaches to risk assessment and treatment.
Dr. Olrick has experience working in a variety of settings including residential treatment, the public school system, community mental health, and private practice. An expert in child attachment, Dr. Olrick completed his PhD at the University of Virginia and a postdoctoral fellowship in clinical psychology at UVA’s Mary D. Ainsworth Parent-Child Attachment Clinic. His work is grounded in deep expertise in attachment, child development, and family systems, supported by research experience that includes the English and Romanian Adoptee Project and certifications in Circle of Security Early Childhood Intervention, Trust-Based Relational Intervention, the Ainsworth Infant Attachment Classification System. He is also co-author, with Amy Olrick, of The 6 Needs of Every Child: Empowering Parents and Kids through the Science of Connection.
Speaker Disclosures:
Financial: Dr. Jeffrey Olrick has an employment relationship with TE WHATU ORA and receives royalties as a published author. He receives a speaking honorarium and recording royalties from PESI, Inc. He has no relevant financial relationships with ineligible organizations.
Non-financial: Dr. Jeffrey Olrick has no relevant non-financial relationships.
Additional Info
Access for Self-Study (Non-Interactive)Access never expires for this product.
Questions?
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Objectives
- Identify which clients are appropriate candidates for direct anxiety treatment and distinguish those who are better served by a parent-directed approach.
- Use three key tools that activate top-down pathways to deactivate overwhelming anxiety and develop client agency and confidence in managing anxious symptoms.
- Identify how clients can take charge of anxiety by activating top-down pathways in the brain.
Outline
Kids Who Benefit Most From Anxiety Support
- Indicators of readiness for individual therapy
- Patterns of avoidance suggesting better fit for parent‑based programs
- Red flags pointing to the need for specialty care (OCD, related disorders, tics, PTSD)
- Autonomy‑focused goal‑setting themes for motivated clients
Brain‑Based Understanding of the Anxiety Experience
- Top‑down and bottom‑up pathways influencing anxiety responses
- Anxiety as a survival‑driven, bottom‑up alarm system
- Client‑friendly language for describing the “Anxiety Alarm”
- The “Big Boss” pathway as the system for regulating emotional intensity
Tools for Strengthening Top‑Down Pathways
- Breathing approaches supported by neurophysiology (XXX technique)
- Directed attention with Mind Travel for interrupting mental triggers
- Cognitive reframing with Worst Case Scenario for reducing anticipatory anxiety
- Limits and risks of the strategies and research base
Clinical Considerations That Shape Treatment Direction
- DSM-5 anxiety-related classifications and distinctions between developmental, trauma-based, sensory-driven, and situational sources of anxiety
- Alignment between a client’s lived experience and fear responses
- Family dynamics that unintentionally reinforce anxious patterns
- Thresholds where anxiety severity outweighs current coping capacity
- Indicators for psychiatric evaluation or referral
Target Audience
- Psychologists
- Social Workers
- Counselors
- Marriage & Family Therapists
- Occupational Therapists
- Physicians
- Speech-Language Pathologists
- School Administrators
Reviews
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