Guest guest Posted November 15, 2006 Report Share Posted November 15, 2006 Hi , It's frustrating. Give the doctor a little time to see " what's what. " But be looking around for who else to contact just in case this isn't going to work out. Some therapists and doctors seem to go in the wrong direction with OCD (due to not understanding it perhaps?). Like concentrating on the divorce instead of the OCD. I know 's psychologist (also a friend) seemed to think more of the conflict between him and sometimes than working on his OC behaviors, though he would give him " homework. " My thought was that even if & had done a turnaround and become best friends, the OCD would still be there. ( is 's twin) > > Hi everyone! > > Just got back from the shrink. First appointment and I'm so disappointed. I guess I was unrealistically expecting a magic cure TODAY for my daughter. I need to calm myself down. > > They are sending some questionnaires for her father and I to fill out and send back, on ocd and life in general. Then in 2 weeks her father and I go back by ourselves to talk. THEN they will know more and know what to do. > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted November 15, 2006 Report Share Posted November 15, 2006 Hi , I have been to four therapists with my 11 year old son so far. In my experience the two therapists that knew the least about ocd wanted to focus on other things besides the ocd first. One therapist especially made it pretty clear that he thought the ocd was in response to our family life. In my opinion from all the reading I've done here and in books, OCD is a brain/chemical thing. It is not caused by outside issues. It can be aggravated by stress (good or bad) but the ocd needs to be dealt with itself except in rare cases with an extremely stressful homelife (I don't think divorce automatically falls into that catagory). The fourth therapist we went to see started to work on dealing with the ocd right away. I left the first appt. feeling great. He didn't get into family life at all. (Actually, the first therapist we saw understood ocd and that it was chemical and didn't get into family life issues, but she was not trained in cbt or erp. She confirmed with me that our family life was not the cause or cure for 's ocd) Trust your gut feelings and if the therapist doesn't want to face the ocd right off the bat, they may not know what they're doing. I wasted time going to people I wanted to help up but knew in my heart they couldn't. > > Hi everyone! > > Just got back from the shrink. First appointment and I'm so disappointed. I guess I was unrealistically expecting a magic cure TODAY for my daughter. I need to calm myself down. > > They are sending some questionnaires for her father and I to fill out and send back, on ocd and life in general. Then in 2 weeks her father and I go back by ourselves to talk. THEN they will know more and know what to do. > > It just seems to take so long. She made it sound like my daughter was just suffering because of the divorce and I know in my heart it's NOT just that. > > So the ball is finally rolling and I just need to roll with it and calm myself down. One day at a time, as I usually say in another group I am part of. > > Hugs to all, > > > > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted November 15, 2006 Report Share Posted November 15, 2006 good luck - yes one day at a time - hard not to just want to jump in and fix it - eileen Quoting L <bamama48@...>: > Hi everyone! > > Just got back from the shrink. First appointment and I'm so > disappointed. I guess I was unrealistically expecting a magic cure > TODAY for my daughter. I need to calm myself down. > > They are sending some questionnaires for her father and I to fill > out and send back, on ocd and life in general. Then in 2 weeks her > father and I go back by ourselves to talk. THEN they will know more > and know what to do. > > It just seems to take so long. She made it sound like my daughter > was just suffering because of the divorce and I know in my heart > it's NOT just that. > > So the ball is finally rolling and I just need to roll with it and > calm myself down. One day at a time, as I usually say in another > group I am part of. > > Hugs to all, > > > > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted November 15, 2006 Report Share Posted November 15, 2006 Hi , Hang in there, it does take awhile during the assessment stages. We started our journey in June and went through the summer with all the assessments and regular counselling for my daughter. In September she had slipped into a deep depression so our GP pulled a favour and got her into the psychiatrist in 2 weeks. After that things just started getting better as there was no doubt it was OCD and we started meds right away. The regular counselling also then turned to OCD therapy too. We are in Canada though, I think things move quicker in the US? Her OCD is as strong as ever but she knows now what it is and understands it is not her fault. A huge step. Good luck with everything and hope things move quickly. As to the part where they stated this could be just a reaction to the divorce? From all that I was told by the psych is that OCD is biological, it can flare up under times of stress but stress does not cause OCD. How old is your little girl? Take care, Kim M > > Hi everyone! > > Just got back from the shrink. First appointment and I'm so disappointed. I guess I was unrealistically expecting a magic cure TODAY for my daughter. I need to calm myself down. > > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted November 15, 2006 Report Share Posted November 15, 2006 Hi my dd has OCD, eating disorder, huge anxiety probs so can hardly go to school at mo etc but when profs dont know what to try to get her into school they have to suggest things like " be forceful with her " as if your not- what makes them think Im not(its so frustrating forceful is the LEAST of it!- u want to scream at her) & be consistant-they havent got a clue what its like trying to get a child whose frightened of it to go into school, sometimes they need " persuation " & sometimes an " order " but i feel it can imply blame rather than admit that there isnt much that they can do xxx Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted November 15, 2006 Report Share Posted November 15, 2006 Hi , Our first pdoc said that Mikayla was anxious because we had newborn twins and she wasn't getting enough attention. I agree that the " good stress " of having 2 little brothers probably caused her OCD onset, but that's where we parted ways. She wanted to do lots of talk therapy about her past, anger, jealousy, etc, and my daughter was very confused. She loved her new brothers! She didn't want to be angry at them. She didn't want to think that she had OCD because of them. We found a new pdoc who still does a little of this, but is more on board with her meds. and what to do NOW to help her OCD, not dig into the past to see what caused it. Maybe the divorce triggered it, who knows? But, it would have manifested at some point with some stressor. Hugs, Dina Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted November 16, 2006 Report Share Posted November 16, 2006 In a message dated 11/15/2006 7:50:59 A.M. Eastern Standard Time, bamama48@... writes: Just got back from the shrink. First appointment and I'm so disappointed. I guess I was unrealistically expecting a magic cure TODAY for my daughter. I need to calm myself down..................................................................She made it sound like my daughter was just suffering because of the divorce and I know in my heart it's NOT just that. I felt the same way when we first went to a psychologist for help. I thought - this is great, this doctor will just tell us what to do, and that will be that. WRONG!!! Yes, it is a long journey, but hopefully it will be a successful one for you daughter! OCD is a chemical imbalance in the brain & from what I understand, a person is born with it. Who knows, maybe there are folks out there with OCD who never actually have symptoms come to the surface - I'm sure we'll never know. Something happens to bring these symptoms out. In my daughter's case, it was the death of 2 people very close to her. While it may have sounded like the therapist was " blaming " the divorce for your daughter's OCD, maybe she was just trying to find something to pinpoint the onset of the symptoms?? In any case, it really doesn't matter what happened that caused the symptoms to surface - what matters is that you're getting your child the help she needs to overcome this. People say things that upset us - everyone does, even doctors. I don't think they mean to upset us, it's just how what's said is taken. I remember our 2nd psychologist who looked at us across the room & (in front of my daughter) says, " If she doesn't want to come to these appts, there's no point in bringing her - it's better for her not to come at all. " Well, I wanted to spring out of my chair & smack the woman right in the head. It took every ounce of energy for us to get our daughter to those appts. She cried & begged & was angry, etc. Of course she didn't " want " to go - she was only 14 and we sat around talking about how she rubbed her breasts raw in the shower, or how she wiped herself so aggressively, she was bleeding from her rectum after going to the bathroom.... what teenager would WANT to go do that??? But, without therapy, what would we do??? Well, anyway, this post got a little carried away. Sorry. Hang in there. LT Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted November 16, 2006 Report Share Posted November 16, 2006 In a message dated 11/16/2006 6:13:28 P.M. Eastern Standard Time, herronmat@... writes: >>Anyway, per a previous post, we are now searching for another >> " professional " to help us. Ummm.... sounds like you're doing the right thing to me!!!! LT Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted November 16, 2006 Report Share Posted November 16, 2006 We just had our first appt Tuesday and it was very disappointing! I brought Dr. Chansky's books with me to help ask questions. The therapist did not agree with much of what is in those books. However, applying some of the techniques at home have helped. The therapist had never heard of PANDAS (our son has most of the redflags), he/she spent about 1/2 hour trying to convince me that the problem is Tourretes (sp?) not OCD, then at the end of the FOUR HOUR session, he said... Oh, after speaking with my son it is clearly OCD. It was like the guy was playing games with me. He told me several times that it was my fault - didn't say how or why and I **think** he was joking but I'm not really sure. He said to all three of us (wife, husband, son) that that evening would be OCD bad and the next day would be really really bad. Not sure if he was doing some kind of reverse psych. thing or what but we had a good evening and a great next day. Anyway, per a previous post, we are now searching for another " professional " to help us. Vent, vent, vent, vent... > > > In a message dated 11/15/2006 7:50:59 A.M. Eastern Standard Time, > bamama48@... writes: > > Just got back from the shrink. First appointment and I'm so disappointed. I > guess I was unrealistically expecting a magic cure TODAY for my daughter. I > need to calm myself > down..................................................................She made it sound like my daughter was just suffering because of > the divorce and I know in my heart it's NOT just that. > > > > > I felt the same way when we first went to a psychologist for help. I > thought - this is great, this doctor will just tell us what to do, and that will be > that. WRONG!!! Yes, it is a long journey, but hopefully it will be a > successful one for you daughter! > > OCD is a chemical imbalance in the brain & from what I understand, a person > is born with it. Who knows, maybe there are folks out there with OCD who > never actually have symptoms come to the surface - I'm sure we'll never know. > Something happens to bring these symptoms out. In my daughter's case, it was > the death of 2 people very close to her. While it may have sounded like the > therapist was " blaming " the divorce for your daughter's OCD, maybe she was > just trying to find something to pinpoint the onset of the symptoms?? > > In any case, it really doesn't matter what happened that caused the symptoms > to surface - what matters is that you're getting your child the help she > needs to overcome this. > > People say things that upset us - everyone does, even doctors. I don't > think they mean to upset us, it's just how what's said is taken. I remember our > 2nd psychologist who looked at us across the room & (in front of my daughter) > says, " If she doesn't want to come to these appts, there's no point in > bringing her - it's better for her not to come at all. " Well, I wanted to spring > out of my chair & smack the woman right in the head. It took every ounce of > energy for us to get our daughter to those appts. She cried & begged & was > angry, etc. Of course she didn't " want " to go - she was only 14 and we sat > around talking about how she rubbed her breasts raw in the shower, or how she > wiped herself so aggressively, she was bleeding from her rectum after going to > the bathroom.... what teenager would WANT to go do that??? But, without > therapy, what would we do??? > > Well, anyway, this post got a little carried away. Sorry. Hang in there. > LT > > > > > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted November 16, 2006 Report Share Posted November 16, 2006 > All I have to say is, " RUN! " Why are there so many incompetent > therapists out there? Ugh! Good luck finding someone better. I > think I'd screen them by phone first rather than waste your time. We > have a boarderline pdoc. Sometimes I think she gets it, and other > times she's way off base. It's so frustrating. Our last appt. was > one of those frustrating ones. She doesn't get ERP and doesn't > recommend doing it with our 11 yr. old because she'd much rather > control her with meds. At some point we'll have to try and find a > therapist to do ERP on our own. Right now her symptoms are minor. > > Dina > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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