How to help your child with OCD at home.
Dear Parents,
Is your child coming to you often distressed about their thoughts and looking for reassurance or confessing unwanted thoughts to you? Is the reassurance you are giving not helping and possibly even making it worse? Do you seem to be stuck in a loop? If so, your child might be suffering from OCD. Here are some helpful tips to use at home to help you get unstuck.
Normalize: Remind your child that a thought is just a thought and everyone has odd and unwanted thoughts, it’s what we do with those thoughts that matter. Maybe even share some outrageous & age appropriate thoughts you have had before.
Catch OCD in the act: If your child is repeatedly confessing her upsetting thoughts or seeking reassurance from you, recognize this as an OCD compulsion. Together you can say, “That’s that pesky OCD bully again trying to trick me.”
Teach your child about the SUDS scale or Subjective Units of Distress Scale: Ask her "On a scale of 0-10 how upset are you by this thought?” “What is your number?” Then guide her through repeating the unwanted thought over and over while her distress decreases from an 8 to a 5. This will allow her to see that she doesn’t have to be afraid of her thoughts and that OCD can’t control her life.
Do the opposite of what OCD wants: Have your child repeat those unwanted thoughts over and over and over (instead of avoiding, reassurance seeking or confessing) until her anxiety goes down (you might want to start by doing it aloud together, then gradually phase out your role over time). Kids can learn to do this on their own as they start to master this skill and feel empowered.
Make the thought funny: Humor is a great way to help kids take their thoughts less seriously! Say the thought out loud in a few different silly voices, get them to do it too. You will be giggling so hard, she will forget to be anxious.
Disclaimer: This blog is for informational purposes only. Seek help from a mental health professional for ongoing concerns.
