Cleveland Clinic Children's Outcomes

Calm Kids is a 4-week group program, initially developed by Amy Lee, PhD, Pediatric Psychologist from Cleveland Clinic Children’s Hospital, which focuses on teaching children to cope with anxiety. Therapy Services groups are run by an occupational therapist and a speech language pathologist. The group is geared toward children ages 4-10 years old. This program uses concepts from cognitive behavior therapy (CBT) to help children learn to identify their feelings, thoughts, and reactions and focuses on teaching children ways to change their thoughts and reactions to improve coping. Other coping strategies taught include yoga, mindfulness and breathing techniques. Parents/caregivers are also present for each session and receive weekly education to assist the child with practice at home. The outcome measure used was the Symptoms Rating Form developed by Dr. Lee. This form, completed by parents, identifies areas of concern including physical complaints, specific fears, and activity avoidance. An overall coping score is also identified. Ratings range from no problem (1) to extreme problem (7) with the goal of decreasing the score. The maximum total score is 112. Based on the 82 patients who were used for this data, there was an average improvement of 7.6 points.