A Study of Adolescence Anxiety, Depression and Low Self-esteem

A Comparison of CBT, Relaxation Training and EMDR: A Study of Adolescence.
Anxiety, depression and low self-esteem have several different causes. Adolescents can develop psychological trauma caused by broken families, bullying by peers, mental, physical and sexual abuse. (Bensley, Van Eenwyk, Spieker, & Schoder, 1999). These things and many more can cause an adolescent to have low self-esteem, which has been known to create emotional problems such as anxiety and depression (Kendall-Tackett, Williams, & Finkelhor, 1993).
It can prove problematic to research large groups of adolescents. Many adolescent problems are not addressed until there are legal issues from environmental issues and/or poor behavior, having developed coping mechanisms that are not healthy, adolescents can be hard to reach in therapy (Steinberg, 2009). If we recognize early warning signs, it may be possible to alter these coping mechanisms and provide them with better tools. Relaxation Training, Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) and Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) are some of the tools used to decrease depression and anxiety and increase self-esteem.
Relaxation Training is based on progressive muscle relaxation, a systematic technique for achieving a deep state of relaxation. Dr. Edmund Jacobson developed this technique in 1934. (McCallie, M., Blum, S., Hood, & C. M. Charlaine J., 2006) He discovered that a muscle could be relaxed by first tensing it for a few seconds and then releasing it. The idea is to do this in succession for sixteen different muscle groups of the body. Do not tense so hard that you strain. Tense muscle group for about ten seconds and then let go of the tension giving about fifteen to twenty seconds to relax. Notice ...

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...deo games, sports, school and various other activities. Wanders et al. (2008) used relaxation techniques research to treat depression and anxiety. These techniques can be applied in most instances, where time is permitting, and can be used as lifelong tools as initial anxiety tools. Addressing ones self-esteem appears to help with emotional issues such as depression and anxiety (Wanders et al., 2008).
Although EMDR has been used to treat post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) for many patients (e.g. Bisson et al., 2007), recent studies show it can also help children with behavioral problems (Soberman, Greenwald, & Rule, 2002). In another study the differences between the treatment effectiveness for EMDR were small, the children who originally received EMDR showed significantly larger changes in target behaviors than those in the CBT group (Wanders et al., 2008).