Helping Kids with OCD Who have a Hard Time Showering OCD likes to disrupt anything in its wake, including the things we must do on a daily basis. OCD can make it hard to eat, go to the bathroom and especially shower. This happens for a variety of reasons depending on the person’s OCD themes. In this week’s Youtube video I talk about how to […]
Helping Kids Who Feel too Overwhelmed to Work on OCD or Anxiety Sometimes anxiety or OCD feels SO big that any step to work on it can feel like too much. Sometimes our kids aren’t motivated to work on it because they are too overwhelmed. In this week’s Youtube video for kids and teens, I talk about how to get past the paralysis of overwhelm […]
Helping the Siblings of Kids with Anxiety or OCD Anxiety and OCD don’t just live within our child, it lives within our home. It impacts everyone in the family, including the siblings. What happens to the sibling when all eyes are focused on the child with anxiety or OCD? What happens to them when there are big meltdowns, panic attacks, and overwhelm. What happens when […]
How to Lovingly Detach from Our Kids Anxiety or OCD Kids with anxiety or OCD need an anchor. They need us to be a rock that helps ground them through the chaos. Unfortunately, we cannot do that when we are so immersed in their struggles that we are drowning right along with them. In this week’s AT Parenting Survival Podcast, I talk about learning how […]
Beating OCD or Anxiety Starts with Accepting This So much of anxiety or OCD is the illusion of control. If I do this, then nothing bad will happen. If I wash enough, I won’t get contaminated. If I say this in my head, the discomfort will go away. If I ask this question (again), then I’ll feel reassured. The only problem is we don’t have […]
Handling Parental Burnout Around Anxiety or OCD Parental burnout can take any one of us to our knees. When we are riding on fumes we aren’t good for anyone, including our kids. In this week’s AT Parenting Survival Podcast, I talk about things that cause parental burnout and what we can do to dig our way out of the hole. To take a deeper dive […]
What to Do When Your Child Regrets an OCD Exposure We are always encouraging our kids to take one small step towards fear, towards discomfort. What if they do an OCD exposure and it all goes terribly wrong? What if they take a giant leap towards their fears, but instantly regret it? Pure panic can ensue. So how are we supposed to help with that? […]
When OCD is Misdiagnosed as Learning Issues OCD doesn’t just stay in our home, it likes to wreak havoc in all areas of life, including at school. OCD intrusive thoughts and compulsions can make a child look like they: Struggle to read Struggle to write Struggle to do math equations Struggle to complete assignments Struggle with comprehension Struggle with focus Struggle with expression Struggle with […]
Helping Kids Discover Core Fears Driving Anxiety or OCD Our kids can have a million different intrusive thoughts, anxious feelings and compulsive behaviors. But often there will be a core fear that groups these fears together. It is important to note, that regardless of what theme or core fear a child has, the framework of how to address OCD or anxiety is exactly the same. […]
Here’s the Way to Handle OCD Regardless of Theme I often get very specific questions. Natasha, how do I handle this type of OCD? or What exposures should I do for this OCD theme? Honestly, the answer is always the same. Themes and subtypes can help us categorize our child’s OCD and it can even help us spot patterns in compulsions, but it shouldn’t slow […]
Issues that Like to Partner with Anxiety or OCD Anxiety and OCD don’t live in an isolated bubble. I wish they did! But unfortunately they often like to hang out with several other issues. The tricky part is knowing how to handle those issues differently, because they require us to do so. In this week’s AT Parenting Survival Podcast, I talk about five common issues […]
How to Help Our Kids Handle Intrusive Thoughts It is hard to watch your child being bombarded with intrusive thoughts day and night. No parent wants to see their child suffer, but how are they supposed to help their kids? Unfortunately when it comes to OCD, the answer is often counterintuitive. In this week’s AT Parenting Survival Podcast I explore the nature of intrusive thoughts […]
Helping Kids Process an OCD Diagnosis It can be overwhelming to realize that your child or teen has OCD. It can be even more overwhelming to tell them. How do you explain it? How do you help them have a positive mindset? In this week’s kid/teen Youtube video, I talk to kids who were recently told they have OCD. I talk about hope, I talk […]
Helping Kids with Limiting Beliefs Around Anxiety or OCD I can’t do it. I’ll never beat it. It will always be like this! Those types of limiting beliefs are not only hard to hear, but they can become a self fulfilling prophecy. In this week’s Youtube video for kids and teens I talk about limiting beliefs and how kids can take small steps to slowly […]
Ugly Parenting Moments and How to Repair Them We all have our ugly moments as parents. We all show up in ways we don’t want to show up for our kids with anxiety or OCD. But what do we do after those ugly moments are over? In this week’s AT Parenting Survival Podcast I explore what triggers ugly parenting moments and how we can repair […]
