Mindfulness Based Cognitive Therapy for Youth With Anxiety at Risk for Bipolar Disorder

A 12 week group therapy program for children with anxiety disorders. This involves teaching the children the pay attention to anxiety related cues with openness and non-judgment. Group leaders begin each session with: sitting meditation, review of the previous session and home practices, teaching a new mindfulness exercise, reading a group poem or story, distributing handouts, etc. There will be a new theme each week.

Waitlist Control (WC) will be the comparison condition. Some of the children in the study will initially participate in a 12 week WC prior to their participation in the MBCT-C. At each visit during the waitlist control period, participants and their families will receive materials about mood and anxiety disorders in youth, bipolar disorders, familial risk for bipolar disorder and treatment strategies for anxiety and depression in youth.