Guest guest Posted January 7, 2009 Report Share Posted January 7, 2009 >>We have now found someone with a lot of experience, but he trains us as parents to do the ERP with our son. This is the treatment approach our daughter's therapist took as well. However, her OCD was/is mild and she did well without medication. Another factor was her own motivation to get past the irrational fears. Thirdly, the therapist said this approach requires a great deal of trust within the family . . . Kate is/was at an age where she totally trusted us as her parents. The therapist worked with us as a family to formulate exposures. It took a lot of effort for us to be encouraging without getting frustrated but it worked for us. I don't think this approach would have worked if Kate had been a bit older or if her OCD had been more moderate to severe. The therapist said we were in the ideal situation to try this approach . . . but he also said there will come a time when it won't work. He was delighted with Kate's progress and dismissed her from treatment . . . but he also said he thought he'd be seeing us again in a few months or maybe a few years. Beth Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted January 7, 2009 Report Share Posted January 7, 2009 Hi, Anne. Our son is 16 (but started therapy with an OCD specialist when he was 14) and he chose/chooses what to work on and for how long. He and therapist discuss it, then inform us so we could be his support at home. When we go to his appointments, we go in together at first, to review how things have been going. Then our son stays in alone for the bulk of the appointment, with us coming back in at the end to discuss what is going to be worked on, so we are informed to aid him. That has worked really well for us. And it has taught our son to take responsibility for the work that he needs to do to keep his OCD under control. How is that working for your son, doing it the way this therapist suggests? Because, truly, what really matters is if it is working for him and helping him. When our son is working on overcoming a ritual, he works on it daily. It has been really effective. With a few things he was able to move on after a couple of days. We found that when our son started confronting the OCD, things did get a bit worse at first. But, as he overcame things and gained confidence, he got better at it. We learned to expect some setbacks, but knew that as he stuck with it, things would improve. Our son saw many therapists that didn't use CBT/ERP over the years, before we figured out what type of therapy he really needed. I can't say they harmed him in any way, but they also did not help at all. Still, if your son gets some support from this other therapist, and he is not causing distress, and you feel it is helping him in some way, it can't hurt to keep him on board too. BJ > > Hi wonderful parents, > > We are trying to select a CBT therapist and could use some advice. Our > 13 year-old has GAD & OCD which appears on many fronts (including > intrusive " bad " thoughts). We started with a counselor who after 3 > weeks had us stop because she thought our son was getting worse. She > suggested starting meds for a month and then starting again with > someone else who had longer sessions available. > > We have now found someone with a lot of experience, but he trains us > as parents to do the ERP with our son. I'm just not certain if we > should be doing it or if the therapist should be leading, at least > until we have it down. It was hard the first time to find a > compulsion low enough to work on and after 2 hours of trying at home > the worries just still didn't go down and it was starting to seem like > torture. Is it better for the parents & child to do it as homework or > to have a counselor who can conduct it directly? > > This new therapist said he would have us do 1 1/2 hours work, twice a > week. It sounds good not to overstress our son, but I've read that > doing it everyday is more effective. Any thoughts? > > Another question (sorry for so many) is that he still sees the > analytical therapist he has seen since he was little (after a > traumatic event trigger the GAD). He's had such a long relationship, > we didn't want to break it off while times have been so hard; although > we want to make sure that this therapist doesn't aggravate the OCD by > exploring emotions which should instead be put aside. > > P.S. He has gotten better since stopping CBT - maybe due to less > stress over the school break, but also we think the self-help books > are helping him somewhat to understand what he needs to fight off. So > now we are wondering whether to keep raising the med level or if it > might work without much. > > Thanks for any advice - I've already learned so much from your posts, > > Anne > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted January 9, 2009 Report Share Posted January 9, 2009 Thank you all. Your experiences and advice are very helpful in sorting out our next steps. Anne > > Hi Anne, > > My oldest son sees a therapist to explore his emotions. It isn't hurting him, maybe helping him a little. I'll send him as long as he wants to go. The therapist for my youngest was causing him nightmares so we had to stop. > > The ERP therapists that my kids go to choose the topic with my kids input. I'm told what help to give and we work on it everyday. My little one writes down how things go each day to go over with the therapist. My oldest reviews orally. I am in the session at the end usually to review old and new. > > > > ________________________________ > > To: > Sent: Wednesday, January 7, 2009 10:54:05 PM > Subject: Approach to CBT > > > Hi wonderful parents, > > We are trying to select a CBT therapist and could use some advice. Our > 13 year-old has GAD & OCD which appears on many fronts (including > intrusive " bad " thoughts). We started with a counselor who after 3 > weeks had us stop because she thought our son was getting worse. She > suggested starting meds for a month and then starting again with > someone else who had longer sessions available. > > We have now found someone with a lot of experience, but he trains us > as parents to do the ERP with our son. I'm just not certain if we > should be doing it or if the therapist should be leading, at least > until we have it down. It was hard the first time to find a > compulsion low enough to work on and after 2 hours of trying at home > the worries just still didn't go down and it was starting to seem like > torture. Is it better for the parents & child to do it as homework or > to have a counselor who can conduct it directly? > > This new therapist said he would have us do 1 1/2 hours work, twice a > week. It sounds good not to overstress our son, but I've read that > doing it everyday is more effective. Any thoughts? > > Another question (sorry for so many) is that he still sees the > analytical therapist he has seen since he was little (after a > traumatic event trigger the GAD). He's had such a long relationship, > we didn't want to break it off while times have been so hard; although > we want to make sure that this therapist doesn't aggravate the OCD by > exploring emotions which should instead be put aside. > > P.S. He has gotten better since stopping CBT - maybe due to less > stress over the school break, but also we think the self-help books > are helping him somewhat to understand what he needs to fight off. So > now we are wondering whether to keep raising the med level or if it > might work without much. > > Thanks for any advice - I've already learned so much from your posts, > > Anne > > > > > > > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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