PSP 333: Should You Tell the School About Your Child’s Anxiety or OCD?

PSP 333: Should You Tell the School About Your Child’s Anxiety or OCD?

Parents often ask me if they should tell the school about their child’s anxiety or OCD. The answer isn’t a simple yes or no. There are things to consider. Like does their anxiety or OCD impact their academic performance or ability to function at school? Is there a chance that they will be mislabeled or misunderstood due to their anxiety or OCD? In this week’s AT Parenting Survival Podcast I explore the areas to consider when weighing the pros and cons of telling the school about your child’s anxiety or OCD.

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PSP 332: Understanding Relationship OCD in Kids and Teens with Kristina Orlova

PSP 332: Understanding Relationship OCD in Kids and Teens with Kristina Orlova

It is helpful to understand the many different disguises OCD can wear. When we understand how OCD can show up, we can nip it in the bud more often. Relationship OCD is often talked about in an adult context, but it impacts kids and teens as well. I invited Kristina Orlova, an anxiety and OCD therapist and creator of OCD Academy, to come onto the AT Parenting Survival Podcast to help us understand ROCD better.

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PSP 331: The Biggest Misconceptions Parents Have About Child Anxiety and OCD Therapy

PSP 331: The Biggest Misconceptions Parents Have About Child Anxiety and OCD Therapy

When your child is in therapy or you are searching for an anxiety or OCD therapist, you might have expectations and assumptions about how treatment should go. Often those expectations and assumptions are inaccurate. I invited therapists Dr. Josh Spitalnick and Marti Munford from Anxiety Specialists of Atlanta, to sit down with me on the AT Parenting Survival Podcast to discuss the most common misconceptions they see among parents.

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Helping Kids with Anxiety or OCD and Sensory Processing Issues

Helping Kids with Anxiety or OCD and Sensory Processing Issues

Helping Kids with Anxiety or OCD and Sensory Processing Issues This episode is for educational purposes only and is not intended to replace the guidance of a qualified professional. Anxiety and OCD don’t live in a bubble. Often kids with anxiety and OCD have sensory processing issues as well. It can help to understand what is sensory, what is anxiety, what is OCD and what […]

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PSP 330: Tips to Travel Internationally With Kids with Anxiety or OCD

PSP 330: Tips to Travel Internationally With Kids with Anxiety or OCD

When your child is struggling with anxiety or OCD it can feel overwhelming to travel internationally. How will their anxiety handle all the change? Will their OCD be triggered? Helping our child with anxiety or OCD is a marathon not a sprint, and life should still be lived and enjoyed. In this week’s AT Parenting Survival Podcast I discuss my tips, tricks and hacks to traveling internationally with kids who have anxiety or OCD.

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PSP 329: What to Do When Your Child with OCD or Anxiety Won’t Discuss it

PSP 329: What to Do When Your Child with OCD or Anxiety Won’t Discuss it

Often parents give up before they even start because their child with OCD or anxiety refuses to talk. It is easy to think there is nothing you can do if you can’t get your child to discuss their anxiety or OCD. But there is always a place to start, always.

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PSP 328: Dealing with School Refusal with Dayna Abraham 

PSP 328: Dealing with School Refusal with Dayna Abraham 

School refusal can be one of the hardest aspects of anxiety or OCD. It can impact so many areas including your child’s education and your employment. With everyone so stressed, it can be hard to respond in an intentional, effective way. That is why I brought Dayna Abraham, author of the new book, Calm the Chaos, onto the AT Parenting Survival Podcast. She has a talent for breaking things down into simple steps.

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PSP 327: Reducing Inflammation to Improve Mental Health

PSP 327: Reducing Inflammation to Improve Mental Health

We are hearing more and more about how inflammation is implicated in many mental health issues including anxiety and OCD. But what does that mean? Are there ways we can see if our child is struggling with inflammation? Are there things we can change in their diet or lifestyle that will reduce inflammation?

I don’t know those answers, but I do know someone who does! That is why I invited Dr. Ann Kulze, a renowned physician and founder of the Healthy Living School to come and talk to us. Dr. Ann has been featured on the Dr. Oz show, Oprah and Friends Radio, Time, and WebMD sharing her expertise in this area.

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PSP 326: OCD and Eating Disorders

PSP 326: OCD and Eating Disorders

OCD and Eating Disorders are often comorbid conditions, but beyond that, OCD can cause disordered eating. Many OCD issues including Emetophobia, Moral OCD, Body Dysmorphic Disorder, Orthorexia, PANDAS/PANS and ARFID can impact our kids ability to eat. In this week’s AT Parenting Survival Podcast I explore the various OCD issues that can overlap Eating Disorders and some that can be incorrectly diagnosed and treated as only an Eating Disorder.

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PSP 325: OCD Recovery and Maintenance with Shaun Flores

PSP 325: OCD Recovery and Maintenance with Shaun Flores

Shaun Flores was only a couple of years into his own struggle with OCD when he became an OCD advocate. He quickly became a stronger messenger of hope through his OCD awareness work. Recently I had Shaun back on the AT Parenting Survival podcast to discuss how his OCD recovery is going, what he does to maintain progress and how the perception of recovery can be part of a bigger issue.

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PSP 324: How to Help Kids with Anxiety or OCD Transition to College

PSP 324: How to Help Kids with Anxiety or OCD Transition to College

How to Help Kids with Anxiety or OCD Transition to College This episode is for educational purposes only and is not intended to replace the guidance of a qualified professional. Going to college can bring a mix of emotions. Many kids feel excitement and some trepidation. But kids with anxiety or OCD can be overwhelmed with the transition. They can worry about being far from […]

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PSP 323: Raising a Child With Chronic Health Issues and Anxiety or OCD

PSP 323: Raising a Child With Chronic Health Issues and Anxiety or OCD

It can be difficult having a child with both chronic health issues and anxiety or OCD. Often there is a symbiotic relationship between them. Anxiety and OCD can hijack health issues and make them worse. Stress and worry make health issues worse. It is a vicious cycle that some kids struggle to break. In this week’s AT Parenting Survival Podcast I talk about how to help a child with both chronic health issues and anxiety or OCD.

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PSP 322: Finding Happiness During Difficult Times

PSP 322: Finding Happiness During Difficult Times

When we are raising kids with anxiety or OCD it can take a toll on our own level of happiness. We can be consumed with fear, overwhelm and the what-ifs of tomorrow. But our child’s journey with anxiety or OCD is a marathon not a sprint. If we live in crisis mode all of the time we rob ourselves and our family the joy life can bring. In this week’s AT Parenting Survival Podcast I talk about how to find moments of happiness even during difficult times with your child’s anxiety or OCD (or any difficult time for that matter).

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PSP 321: How to Create Effective Social Anxiety Exposures

PSP 321: How to Create Effective Social Anxiety Exposures

Social anxiety shows up differently for each person. Social anxiety is about the fear of rejection, criticism or embarrassment, but it goes much deeper than that. The core fear can be different for each person. I am raising three kids with social anxiety and have social anxiety myself. However, our core fears are all different. In this week’s AT Parenting Survival Podcast I’ll explore the many faces of social anxiety and how to craft effective social anxiety exposures based on those fears.

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Does OCD Make Your Child Avoid Certain Words or Topics?

Does OCD Make Your Child Avoid Certain Words or Topics?

OCD loves to dictate everything, including what words and topics your child and other people around them can use. It’s an OCD trap. The more they avoid these words and topics, the smaller their world becomes. OCD will eventually have them avoid words and topics similar to those they are already avoiding. Before they know it, they’ll have a long list of things OCD says they have to avoid. A list that is impossible to avoid without impacting everyone’s life. In this week’s YouTube video for kids and teens I discuss how OCD will want them to avoid certain words and topics and how to get their power back from OCD.

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