Incorporating Others in Treatment of Childhood Anxiety Disorders

• Describe the bidirectional relationship between child anxiety and the environment.
• Describe the role of family accommodation in anxiety treatment with children and be able to differentiate accommodation from appropriate support.
• Describe the key concepts of psychoeducation, monitoring, parental anxiety management, and parent coaching as they relate to parental involvement in child anxiety treatment.
• Demonstrate an understanding of necessary considerations when incorporating others into child anxiety treatment with special populations (ASD and co-morbid populations).

Heather Loffredo, Psy.D. is a licensed psychologist and Director of Assessment at Alvord, Baker & Associates, LLC, where she has provided psychotherapy and assessment services for over ten years. She has expertise in working clinically with children, adolescents, adults, and families and leads Resilience Builder groups for adolescents and young adults with high functioning autism. Dr. Loffredo completed her pre-doctoral training at Children’s National Medical Center's Neurodevelopmental Clinic, where she gained experience assessing children with developmental delays, and Children’s National Medical Center at HSC Pediatric Center, where she specialized in psychological treatment and assessment of pediatric populations. During her internship in a community mental health center and post-doctoral training, she concentrated extensively on group and individual therapy with children, adolescents, and adults and psychoeducational and clinical assessments. Dr. Loffredo has also worked as the lead psychologist for Friendship Public Charter Schools, where she focused on treatment of children with special education needs, including academic, behavioral, and social-emotional difficulties. Specific areas of clinical expertise and interest include: psychoeducational and psychological evaluations, parent training, and treatment of children, adolescents, and adults with social deficits, anxiety disorders, learning disabilities, ADHD, autism spectrum disorder, mood disorders, behavioral challenges, grief and loss, issues related to self-esteem, stress-management, chronic pain, and co-morbid medical diagnoses. Dr. Loffredo is the co-author of Exposure Therapy for Treating Children and Adolescents with Anxiety.