Cognitive behavioural approaches to mental health difficulties in children

The last 20 years have seen a growing body of knowledge demonstrating the development and effectiveness of cognitive behaviour therapy (CBT) with children. This substantial evidence base has resulted in CBT being recommended by expert groups, e.g. the UK National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE), as a first-line treatment for children with depression, obsessive compulsive disorders, post traumatic stress disorder, and attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) (NICE 2005a, 2005b, 2006). Similarly, systematic reviews have consistently demonstrated that CBT is effective for the treatment of childhood emotional disorders of anxiety (Cartwright-Hatton et al. 2004; Compton et al. 2004; James et al. 2007) and depression (Weisz et al. 2006; Watanabe et al. 2007; Klein et al. 2007). CBT has therefore established itself as ‘the form of therapy most strongly backed by scientific evidence’ (Graham 2005).