OCD tools are not as effective if kids don’t understand why we are using them. That’s the reason I start with educating kids on the WHY around exposures and other OCD tools before we start.
Getting relief from OCD is not rocket science. OCD is driven by intrusive thoughts that make our kids want to do compulsions. These compulsions can be mental, physical or even just avoidance. The more they do these compulsions, the more their discomfort grows, the more intrusive thoughts they have. OCD is predictable in that way. No matter what thoughts or OCD themes they have, this pattern exists. The only way to break out of this pattern is to have them see the illusions OCD is feeding them and disrupt the pattern that OCD wants them to follow.
Helping Kids Understand Why Distraction Doesn’t Help Anxiety or OCD When I ask kids what’s the main way they cope with anxiety or OCD, I almost always hear distraction. “I try to get my mind off of it,” they usually say. Unfortunately that is like putting a bandaid on a bullet hole to stop the bleeding. Ignoring the problem doesn’t make it go away, it […]
How to Help Our Kids Get OCD Relief It is so hard to watch as our kids struggle with OCD. As parents all we want is for our kids to get some OCD relief. But how are we supposed to do that? Especially if they don’t feel like they are ready to work on it? In this latest Youtube video, I talk about getting OCD […]
What Effective OCD Treatment Looks Like (and Doesn’t Look Like). Getting OCD treatment from a general therapist who doesn’t specialize in OCD is like going to your primary care physician to get a heart transplant. Proper OCD treatment requires an understanding of evidenced-based treatment approaches, most of which are not taught in graduate school (don’t get me on that soap box). If you suffer with […]
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