Before getting access to professional therapy, I was doing all the wrong things when it came to tackling OCD, including:
- I gave it lots of reassurance.
- I got recruited to carry out compulsions.
- And I reacted to every OCD meltdown.
As a mum, I thought that’s what I needed to do to calm my terrified daughter.
However, the opposite applied.
It turned out that I was accommodating OCD and helping it grow until it eventually controlled the whole family.
So, what changed?
ERP was an absolute game-changer for us.
ERP therapy wasn’t a quick fix and it wasn’t an easy fix. However, when you stick to the plan and carry out daily therapy, it is considered the most effective treatment for OCD.
How did we get ERP therapy done?
We came up with a plan, and we stuck to it. Exposure therapy allowed us to slowly manage OCD behaviours by exposing our child to her greatest fears without neutralising them with compulsions. It began with us writing a list of all OCD issues that needed to be tackled and then creating challenges for each item. We then celebrated every milestone successfully achieved, which helped keep our daughter onboard and consistent with therapy.
Therapy consisted of using several different approaches, including:
- Reducing compulsions. For example, reducing the number of wipes used each day.
- Delaying compulsions such as delaying handwashing for a set period, like a few seconds.
- Changing the hierarchy of compulsions. One example is changing from a trusted branded wipe to a supermarket one.
And then slowly increasing on the above until the compulsions have been eliminated and all items in the list have been completed.
What would my advice be to parents facing parenting a child with OCD?
Here are my 5 final tips.
- Understand OCD. Please educate yourself on what OCD is and how it operates so as not to end up feeding it and making it harder to manage. There are some great websites out there and lots of great advice posted on social media. Check out the popular OCD hashtags.
- Get professional support. Invest in a therapist who specialises in OCD, as OCD therapy differs from that given for general anxiety.
- Stay consistent with therapy. If your child refuses to do therapy, try offering some trade-off to get therapy done, even if that means offering some sort of sweetener or repeating the previous day’s therapy instead.
- Get school support. Discreetly meet up with senior staff at school to discuss your challenges. Some ways that schools can help include:
- Allowing flexibility around school avoidance and stopping absenteeism letters from being sent out.
- Providing ways that you can support your child with schoolwork at home.
- Giving advance notice for any changes to routine likely to increase anxiety. For example, school photos or change of lessons.
- Stop OCD creeping back in. OCD has a nasty habit of sneaking back in as new themes; that’s why it’s essential to manage your child’s anxiety, be on the lookout for any new clues, and to act on them immediately.
For more blogs on OCD, please see Julie Derrick’s website (The author of this blog): https://themindmonsters.co.uk/
