Freeing Your Child from Obsessive Compulsive Disorder

Book excerpt: An empowering guide to helping children with OCD thrive and find relief from their most distressing symptoms, for kids as young as age four to teens “Dr. Chansky has accomplished a tour de force, which is certain to offer much-needed assistance both to children with OCD-related problems and to their families.”—Jeffrey M. Schwartz, MD, author of Brain Lock Parents of children with obsessive-compulsive disorder know firsthand how confusing and even frightening the symptoms of OCD can be. They have questions about how this condition works and how they can best help their kids: Which behaviors are part of ordinary childhood, and which are symptoms of OCD? How can they help their child take back control of their lives from disruptive thoughts and debilitating rituals? What should they do if their child experiences a relapse in symptoms? In Freeing Your Child from Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder, child psychologist and OCD expert Dr. Tamar E. Chansky helps parents make sense of a child’s experience with this very confusing but highly treatable disorder. She shares intuitive, easy-to-implement strategies for helping kids and teens confidently outsmart the “brain tricks and traps” of OCD, alongside scripts for explaining symptoms to children of all ages and targeted advice for navigating a wide range of OCD themes. Dr. Chansky also advises parents on how they can tailor treatment to their child’s needs with fully updated information on diagnostic criteria, medication, effective therapy modalities, and treatment outcomes, as well as the most recent findings on PANS and PANDAS, the sudden appearance of OCD symptoms after a strep or viral infection. With its research-backed and reassuring guidance, Freeing Your Child from Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder spells out exactly what parents can say and do to help their children reclaim their lives.