dreams update

[Guest guest]

Abby had a therapy appt yesterday and I mentioned to her therapist about her OCD

dreams. Turns out they are actually a good thing! She said it is her way of

working through some of her issues on her own, in a safe place. When Abby has

these dreams, she does tell me about them, but just once - not over and over,

and she is calm about it - not upset, and she isnt needing reassurance from me -

she is just wanting to tell me, I listen, that is it. It is safe for her, she

isnt having the anxiety like if she were doing these things in real life, and

she sees that she can conquer her worries. She has had less real life worries

since having these dreams.

Abby has also come up with her own way to calm herself down, or to distract

herself when she is in a bad OCD mode. She pretends she is sitting under an

apple tree with her eyes closed, and tells me everything she hears, feels,

smells, etc, with her other senses. It works very well and she came up with

this on her own. Her therapist was very impressed with that!

They also talked some about her not going to kindergarten this year and waiting

until she is 6. Abby has a big thing about wanting to be the oldest, instead of

the youngest, and was talking to her therapist about this. She said Abby seems

very happy and comfortable with the decision.

Abby is 5 and her sister is 3. The other thing she told the therapist is that

she doesnt have to worry about some of her worries any more because her sister

doesnt worry about them. So she is seeing that certain things dont bother other

people, so maybe she can let them go and not have to worry about them. It used

to be the opposite, it bothered her that SHE worried and other people didnt.

Now it is helping her. She has made such great improvements over the last year,

it is amazing.

haron