new to group - intro

[Guest guest]

I recently joined both groups and wanted to introduce myself. My name is

Kym, and I have a 6yo dd who, I'm certain has ocd. She primarily has

intrusive thoughts that have involved scrupulosity, death, violence, sexual

issues and abandonment. She has an attachment issue with me, and since I am

with her most of the time, my husband doesn't see everything to the extent I

do. Her rituals include confession and reassurance. There are days I am so

mentally exhausted from hearing her confessions and answering ok over and

over. I have started telling her " I have already answered that question,

and I'm not going to keep answering it. You need to tell your silly

thoughts to clear out, that you already know the answer. " Sometimes this

helps. I have been reading everything I can get my hands on about ocd. I

am both relieved and terrified. I am so glad to have found both of these

groups.

I am trying to find a therapist to treat her. The OC Foundation website

lists Dr. A. Shayne Abelkop, near Athens, GA. I was wondering if anyone has

any experience with this therapist, as she is the closest to us. For those

of you whose children were diagnosed at age 6 or under, what does typical

treatment look like? What is done with the child, the parents, the family?

She has trouble explaining her thoughts, but knows they are not normal and

wants to get rid of them.

I appreciate reading all your advice to each other and look forward to any

advice, especially about therapists and treatment, you offer me.

Thanks in advance,

Kym

[Guest guest]

Kym,

I don't know anything about Dr. Abelkop but, with what I could find

out she was at the top of my list of possibles until I found someone

in ville, NC. We live in Upstate SC and there are almost no

qualified therapists in our area. You're lucky that there are a lot

of qualified professionals in and around the Atlanta area. Many on

this site drive hours away for therapy.

I completely understand the emotional exhaustion you are going

through form the constant reassurance, my seven year old daughter

does the same thing. Thankfully, with meds some of her anxiety has

been relieved and there are fewer questions these days.

Look on this site for a post from Louis Harkins about family based

CBT. Because of your daughters age you need to be involved in her

therapy. I insisted on it when looking for a therapist and I found

someone who comletely agreed. You're there for love, support, and to

clarify what your child means from time to time. But, you are not

there as a shield for your child to hide behind, you don't answer

questions for her or direct her responses. You learn how to help

with her ERP (Exposure Response Prevention) homework.

Some posts today list the best books to read. By all means read the

childrens books with your daughter so she will understand that it's

not her it's OCD. Educate yourself all you can so you can help her

out of OCD hell and separate the good docs from the quacks. Nobody

has the time or money to waste on people who claim to specialize in

OCD but try to treat with talk or relaxation therapy. It must be

CBT/ERP.

You've found the right site. If you're going through it, someone

here has been there or is going through it as well. These ladies and

a few gentelmen have helped to educate me more than any book I've

read.

Luck and Hugs to your whole family,

Tracey in SC

>

> I recently joined both groups and wanted to introduce myself. My

name is

> Kym, and I have a 6yo dd who, I'm certain has ocd. She primarily

has

> intrusive thoughts that have involved scrupulosity, death,

violence, sexual

> issues and abandonment. She has an attachment issue with me, and

since I am

> with her most of the time, my husband doesn't see everything to the

extent I

> do. Her rituals include confession and reassurance. There are

days I am so

> mentally exhausted from hearing her confessions and answering ok

over and

> over. I have started telling her " I have already answered that

question,

> and I'm not going to keep answering it. You need to tell your silly

> thoughts to clear out, that you already know the answer. "

Sometimes this

> helps. I have been reading everything I can get my hands on about

ocd. I

> am both relieved and terrified. I am so glad to have found both of

these

> groups.

>

>

>

> I am trying to find a therapist to treat her. The OC Foundation

website

> lists Dr. A. Shayne Abelkop, near Athens, GA. I was wondering if

anyone has

> any experience with this therapist, as she is the closest to us.

For those

> of you whose children were diagnosed at age 6 or under, what does

typical

> treatment look like? What is done with the child, the parents, the

family?

> She has trouble explaining her thoughts, but knows they are not

normal and

> wants to get rid of them.

>

>

>

> I appreciate reading all your advice to each other and look forward

to any

> advice, especially about therapists and treatment, you offer me.

>

>

>

> Thanks in advance,

>

> Kym

>

>

>

>

[Guest guest]

Welcome, Kym. Glad you are here.

Our son has dealt with the more outward physical rituals, but also

thoughts. For him it's been " intrusive thoughts " , including some

scrupulosity, along with some GAD thoughts too. We found the thoughts

are the toughest to treat. But, it can be done. Meds seemed to help

the most in that area for our son though.

I'm in Washington, so I can't share any info on the doc you mentioned.

But, what I did was interview the therapists I called. Most are

willing to speak to you on the phone if you ask. I learned as much as

I could about OCD with some great, informative books. Here are the

names of a few, if you are interested, or haven't heard of them. . .

Talking Back to OCD by March

What to do when your Child has Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder by Aureen

Pinto Wagner

Freeing Your Child from Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder by Tamar E. Chansky

Helping Your Child With Ocd: A Workbook for Parents of Children With

Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder by Lee, Ph.D. Fitzgibbons and Cherry Pedrick

The last one has a great section that walks you through what to ask a

therapist when you are interviewing them.

Once, I was informed, it was easy to tell if the therapist knew what

they were doing. They must know CBT (cognitive behavioral therapy)

and how to apply it to OCD, using ERP (exposure and response

prevention).

Hopefully, there is someone from down in your area that can share some

info of someone good and qualified, but if not, do phone interviews.

) That's how we found our therapist and he has helped our son

immensely.

Glad you found us.

BJ

>

> I recently joined both groups and wanted to introduce myself. My

name is

> Kym, and I have a 6yo dd who, I'm certain has ocd. She primarily has

> intrusive thoughts that have involved scrupulosity, death, violence,

sexual

> issues and abandonment. She has an attachment issue with me, and

since I am

> with her most of the time, my husband doesn't see everything to the

extent I

> do. Her rituals include confession and reassurance. There are days

I am so

> mentally exhausted from hearing her confessions and answering ok

over and

> over. I have started telling her " I have already answered that

question,

> and I'm not going to keep answering it. You need to tell your silly

> thoughts to clear out, that you already know the answer. " Sometimes

this

> helps. I have been reading everything I can get my hands on about

ocd. I

> am both relieved and terrified. I am so glad to have found both of

these

> groups.

>

>

>

> I am trying to find a therapist to treat her. The OC Foundation website

> lists Dr. A. Shayne Abelkop, near Athens, GA. I was wondering if

anyone has

> any experience with this therapist, as she is the closest to us.

For those

> of you whose children were diagnosed at age 6 or under, what does

typical

> treatment look like? What is done with the child, the parents, the

family?

> She has trouble explaining her thoughts, but knows they are not

normal and

> wants to get rid of them.

>

>

>

> I appreciate reading all your advice to each other and look forward

to any

> advice, especially about therapists and treatment, you offer me.

>

>

>

> Thanks in advance,

>

> Kym

>

>

>

>