Evidence-based treatments for children
For over 10 years we have been providing specialised assessment and therapy services to the Gold Coast community. Developed from a research framework and globally recognised best practice standards, we deliver individually tailored, cognitive-behavioural treatments (CBT) for children, adolescents and their families.
What is OCD?
OCD is a neuro-behavioural disorder, characterised by obsessions (or intrusive, upsetting thoughts) and/or compulsions (repetitive rituals and avoidance behaviours). This disorder results in time-consuming symptoms, often extreme distress for children and families, and can lead to substantial impairments at home, school and with friends. For more information about OCD please visit our OCD Busters page.
To access our evidence-based treatments for OCD and specific phobias please contact us at ocdbustersgc@griffith.edu.au or (07) 5678 8317.
What is Specific Phobia?
Specific Phobia is one of the most prevalent forms of anxiety disorders affecting children and teens. Children with a specific phobia experience extreme fear in response to stimuli, situations or contexts, which results in avoidance behaviours and subsequent impairments to a child and their family's life. Phobias are often related to fears of animals (dogs, cats, spiders), natural/environmental stimuli (dark, storms, wind) situations (heights, travel in cars/planes/buses), blood or injury, or other objects/situations (costume characters, vomiting). For more information, including details of our current funded research trial for young children, please visit our Pre-Schoolers Overcoming Phobias page.
OCD Busters program
OCD Busters is an evidence-based CBT treatment for youth aged 7-17 years with obsessive-compulsive disorder. The treatment was developed at Griffith University by Associate Professor Lara Farrell & Professor Allison Waters and has been delivered and scientifically evaluated since 2008. The program is delivered in a variety of formats including groups, weekly individual sessions and more recently in a concentrated format of 2 to 3 intensive sessions lasting 3 hours each.
Preschoolers Overcoming Phobias
The Pre-schoolers Overcoming Phobias (POP) program is part of a nationally funded study investigating a one-session treatment of Child Specific Phobias. The study aims to learn more about the course of childhood fears in young children and involves testing a novel, brief intervention for childhood phobias, which has proven effective in older children and with adults. The study is being run by a team of international experts in child anxiety, led by Professor Lara Farrell, and offers free assessment and treatment for children ages 3 to 6 years with a specific phobia.