Symposium 42 - Influences, Inspirations and Joy in Developing Treatments for Child Anxiety, Phobias and Oppositional Defiant Disorders: a tribute to Distinguished Professor Thomas Ollendick, our 29th ABCT President

Chair(s)

• LF

  Lara Farrell, Ph.D. (she/her/hers)

  Professor
  Griffith University
  Southport, Queensland, Australia

Discussant(s)

• 

  Thomas Ollendick, Ph.D. (he/him/his)

  Professor
  Virginia Tech
  Blacksburg, Virginia

Presenter(s)

• LF

  Lara Farrell, Ph.D. (she/her/hers)

  Professor
  Griffith University
  Southport, Queensland, Australia
• 

  Carla Marin, Ph.D.

  Assistant Professor
  Yale Child Study Center
  New Haven, Connecticut
• RM

  Rachael Murrihy, Psy.D. (she/her/hers)

  Director
  Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University
  Randwick, New South Wales, Australia
• AD

  Anna Dedousis-Wallace, M.S. (she/her/hers)

  Psychologist
  Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University
  Kensingon, New South Wales, Australia

Anxiety, phobias and disruptive behavioural disorders (DBDs) are among the most common mental health disorders affecting children and adolescents (e.g., Merikangas et al., 2010).  The experience of these disorders during childhood and adolescence can be highly debilitating to the individual and their family, and frequently result in significant disruptions to healthy development (Strauss et al., 2010; Ialongo et al., 1995). Critical advances in the understanding and treatment of child anxiety, phobias and DBDs have been made over the past few decades, leading to notable advances in the implementation of evidence-based practice, and consequently the prognostic outcomes for children and youth. Whilst the prevalence and burden of these disorders remains high, prognosis is generally good when a child has access to an evidence-based treatment such as CBT or parent behaviour training in the case of DBDs. Much of the work in this field to date has been influenced by the scientific contributions of past ABCT President Thomas Ollendick (1994-1995 President). Professor Thomas H. Ollendick, Ph.D., is University Distinguished Professor in Clinical Psychology, and founder of the Child Study Centre at Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, Blacksburg, Virginia. He received the Career/Lifetime Achievement Award from ABCT in 2013 and the Lifetime Achievement Award for Scientific Contributions from the Society of Clinical Psychology (APA) in 2017. In addition to his legacy in treatment developments for childhood anxiety, phobias and DBDs, Professor Ollendick has inspired generations of scholars, clinicians, and scientists who continue to work tirelessly towards the pursuit of bringing joy into the lives of children and families who experience daily burden associated with these serious mental health disorders. Our symposium pays homage to the work of Professor Ollendick, and provides latest developments in science and practice that aims to replicate, extend and enhance the foundational work of Professor Ollendick (and others). Our symposium includes a series of papers that describe novel approaches aimed at advancing the implementation of evidence-based treatment for child anxiety, phobias and DBDs, providing more personalized models of care that address both developmental and cultural vulnerability.