Parenting OCD: What Can You Do If Your Child Refuses To Start Therapy?

Parenting OCD: What Can You Do If Your Child Refuses To Start Therapy?

One of the toughest parts of parenting a child or teen with OCD is getting them to start therapy.

And who can blame them?

Because it can feel awkward enough trying to explain to loved ones that they are being controlled by an invisible bully...let alone trying to explain it to a complete stranger.

So, if you're child is point-blank refusing to do therapy, what can you do to help them in the meantime?

Here are a few things that you can try.

1. Separate OCD from your child

The most effective way of doing this is by giving it a name.

I call ours Hank.

Coming up with a name for OCD with your child can be fun.

So, get creative.

You can call it anything... The Boss, The Dictator or just plain Bob or Fred.

Then whenever you are referring to OCD, call it by that name instead.

Doing this can make avoiding feeding OCD so much easier.

Whenever your child asks for reassurance, you can then simply refuse to talk to 'Bob' instead.

I have a free downloadable workbook for children on my website, which includes a section to draw your own Hank. I've popped the link below if you'd like to download it.

Hank's Activity Book

2. Communicate differently

Believe it or not, even what we say can feed OCD.

Examples include:

Saying things like, "It's my daughter's OCD."

OCD is separate from your child. Therefore referring to it as belonging to your child is helping to feed OCD the power it craves.

"My daughter can't do something because of OCD."

Using the word 'can't' is again feeding OCD.

Your child can do something, it is OCD convincing them that they can't.

Replace can't with won't instead, as it reduces its impact.

Speaking of words, try to refrain from asking your child 'why' they fear something.

Instead, ask them 'what' it is about something that makes them so anxious.

Doing this can help break down barriers and make your child more relaxed to open up about their worries.

3. Put up images on the wall

Word of caution: your child will probably hate this one.😀

Print off images of your child's fear words and pin them on walls around the house.

This will help them start facing their fears.

For example: if a child has an intense fear of, say catching chickenpox... (this is the first thing I could think of on the fly), then put images of chickenpox on the walls.

Chances are that they will immediately take them back down as it will feel so uncomfortable for them.

However, exposure to these images, even for a few seconds, can be powerful in getting them to start facing their fear.

If they point blank refuse to keep them up, try negotiating a deal with them.

Offer them a reward for agreeing to have the images put on the wall for a set period of time and gradually build up on this, including getting them to start touching the image eventually.

I could go on and on, but I know we are all pressed for time in our busy lives so I will wrap it up for today.

However, I cover this in more detail, (along with lots of other OCD strategies) within my digital OCD E-handbook for parents that you can go through at your own leisure.

The E-book costs £15 and can be accessed by clicking the link for my website shop below:

The Mind Monsters Shop

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