Parenting Kids With OCD

Book excerpt: Parenting Kids With OCD provides parents with a comprehensive understanding of obsessive-compulsive disorder, its symptoms, types, and presentation in children and teens. The treatment of OCD is explained, and guidelines on how to both find appropriate help and best support one's child are provided. Family accommodation is the rule, not the exception, when it comes to childhood OCD; yet, higher accommodating is associated with a worsening of the child's symptoms and greater levels of familial stress. Parents who have awareness of how they can positively or negatively impact their child's OCD can benefit their child's outcome. Case examples are included to illustrate the child's experience with OCD and what effective treatment looks like. OCD worsens when there is increased stress for the child; therefore, stress management is an essential component for improvement. Parents will learn how to manage stress in themselves and encourage effective stress management for their children.