Understanding and Treating Anxiety Disorders in Adolescents
Dr Polly Waite
Monday, 17 February 2025, 2pm to 3pm
New Radcliffe House, 2nd floor seminar rooms (Lift available)
Hosted by Professor Matthew Rushworth
ABSTRACT:
Rates of anxiety difficulties have increased over time, particularly among teenagers and there are long waits for treatment within services. Current treatments are typically ‘one-size fits all’ cognitive behavioural therapy applied across anxiety disorders and wide age groups, producing remission in only around half children and young people. In contrast, studies in adults have demonstrated that treatments developed to specifically target established cognitive mechanisms are highly effective with much greater rates of remission. This talk will focus on the work that we have been doing examining key maintenance factors for anxiety disorders in adolescents that are not addressed as standard in treatment and then present our work developing and evaluating brief, developmentally informed, targeted cognitive therapy.
ABOUT THE SPEAKER:
Polly Waite is an Associate Professor of Clinical Psychology in the Department of Experimental Psychology and a Tutorial Fellow at New College at the University of Oxford. She is also an Honorary Consultant Clinical Psychologist at Oxford Health NHS Foundation Trust. Her primary clinical and research interests are anxiety and related disorders in adolescents. She has edited and authored papers and books on anxiety and other common mental health problems for professionals, young people and their families. She also co-leads the NIHR BRC ‘Mental Health in Development’ theme’s work package establishing an integrated research and clinical treatment centre, the Anxiety and Depression in Young People (AnDY) Research Clinic – Oxford in collaboration with Oxford Health NHS Foundation Trust Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS).
To join the talk:
This is a hybrid event. The seminar will be held at the seminar rooms, New Radcliffe House, (2nd floor) but can also be followed on zoom.
You can access the zoom link via OxTalks at Understanding and Treating Anxiety Disorders in Adolescents - Oxford Talks or, e-mail us at hod.office@psy.ox.ac.uk to request the zoom details.