SPECIAL SERIES: Intensive Cognitive-Behavioral Treatments for Child and Adolescent Anxiety Disorders

This special series on intensive treatments for anxiety disorders in youth reminds us that these are challenging conditions and there is much more work to be done to address some of the limitations to and challenges of treating anxiety disorders in children using CBT. The treatments described in this series are intensive in their delivery and represent innovation on the part of the investigators. Most consistently, these treatments manipulated the time element to deliver the usual number of sessions within a shorter span of time (e.g., 15 sessions in 3 to 4 weeks for school refusal and OCD) or to maximize treatment within a shorter number of sessions (e.g., phobia, separation anxiety, and panic). This commentary presents ideas on certain highlights from each paper and implications for dissemination to the community.