Childhood anxiety and depression are commonplace yet often neglected problems. This article briefly summarizes information on the prevalence and developmental chronology of these disorders. Innovative intervention methods are presented and described. Finally, a section alerting readers to salient issues germane to working with children of color who experience depression and anxiety is included.

Storytelling is a developmentally sensitive tool to elicit children’s thoughts, identify their distortions, and help them to more accurately make sense of their world. Integration of storytelling into a cognitive approach to child psychotherapy is encouraged due to cognitive therapy’s conceptual richness and flexibility. Cognitive case conceptualization augments the application of the storytelling techniques. Advantages of the storytelling approach such as familiarity to children, relationship enhancement, meaningfulness, and flexibility are delineated. Clinical examples are described and special considerations are outlined.

The introduction to this special issue emphasizes that competent supervisors are made not born into their role. Earning supervisory competence is difficult work and requires a varied skill set. The contributions in the special issue help build this diverse skill set. Each contribution in the special issue is summarized and implications are delineated.

The therapeutic potential of cognitive therapy in psychiatric hospitals is enhanced through conceptually homogeneous milieus and skillful staff training. This paper describes methods, processes, and issues to be considered in developing staff training programs. An emphasis is placed on case conceptualization and matching training to patients’ needs. Further, a general training program is delineated and challenges facing trainers are discussed. Finally, questions which may guide future research directions are suggested.

This clinically focused article offers cognitive behavior therapists recommendations and cautionary tales for using the Socratic method when working with children. The importance of the therapeutic relationship in combination with developmental considerations is discussed. The use of Socratic method in various cognitive behavioral modules is illustrated by means of case examples. Dialogues provide examples of how the cognitive specificity hypothesis and downward arrow technique can be used to support young clients in eliciting negative automatic thoughts. The importance of pacing, the mixing of closed and open-ended questions, and behavioral experiments to aid cognitive restructuring are also highlighted through extracts from clinical conversations. Finally, the article emphasizes that the purpose of the Socratic method is to broaden thinking and to access new knowledge rather than just giving young clients new thoughts and problem solving strategies.

Cognitive behavioral supervisors influence new generations of clients and clinicians. Accordingly, the task is meaningful, rewarding, challenging, and critically important. This article describes traditional and unconventional approaches to supervising clinicians in cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT). Traditional methods such as the use of the Cognitive Therapy Rating Scale, videotape/audiotape review, live supervision, and cotherapy are reviewed. Further, inventive procedures for teaching supervisees cognitive flexibility, empathy, tolerance for ambiguity, and remaining steadfast when faced with negative emotional arousal are explained. Popular media, improvisation and acting exercises, and working with professional actors as teaching methods are explained.

Child psychiatric fellows enter cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) training experiences with a wide variety of backgrounds and experiences in this area of treatment. Although some child fellows have fundamental knowledge of cognitive-behavioral theory, most struggle with the CBT model and even more so, subsequently using this model to guide treatment. Unlike supervising early career mental health professionals, child residents often possess a skill set apt for CBT including using a problem-oriented focus, a tendency to use structured methods in treatment, the use of psychoeducation, and basic clinical skills including genuineness, understanding, and empathy. On the other hand, child psychiatric fellows find several areas of CBT challenging because it is often vastly different from previous experience, including more frequent and longer sessions, the use of collaborative empiricism, developing case conceptualizations, and tolerating negative affective arousal. Moreover, training climates in psychiatry departments may shape the supervision experiences. Various specific recommendations are offered to manage these crucibles. Overall, although there are significant challenges when supervising child residents in CBT rotations, having knowledge of these crucibles and access to choices for addressing these supervisory tests enhances both supervisor and supervisee competence.