Re: update on our assessment visit & our psych. (long)

[Guest guest]

Hi there,, I too was waiting for the word mild, I just wasnt convinced,,but

he turned to me and said.. " you werent sure this was ocd?..its actually

quite severe "

I think we just dont want it to be,,so we convince ourselves otherwise

untill they see the Doctor.

Just me and my two cents.

Ang

update on our assessment visit & our psych.

(long)

>

> Hi everyone. We had our assessment visit last night (3.5 long hours!).

Bottom line is that dd does indeed have ocd. On her graph, the physical

compulsions were low enough as to not present a problem. Most of the other

graph points were not far above the 'normal' range. One point did spike up

(social anxiety). Since all but 1 of the points were reasonably close to

the normal range (I thought), I was trying to get the dr. to say it was a

mild case. I don't know why that was important to me -- just reassuring, I

guess. She wouldn't say the word 'mild'. She ended up saying that it was

" borderline statistically significant " . I had lots of questions for her,

but I didn't want to ask in front of my dd. I guess I will send an email to

her. In others' experience, do most cases generally start out as 'mild' and

get worse from there? Meds were not mentioned and again, I didn't want to

ask in front of dd. On our original phone call, meds were discussed and I

know this dr. prefers t

>

> wrote:

> Who is the therapist you are accessing - maybe I know the name, or someone

else on the list can help in verifying the credentials. Bottom line is: if

they are not using CBT with ERP, you're not going to receive good value for

your money at any rate!

>

>

> The psychologist's name is Mendlowitz. She's a Phd. Her

background seems perfect. She's been working at Sick Kids' Hospital in

toronto for 10 years, in the Psychiatric Dept. Most of the kids she sees

are ocd cases. The wait list at Sick Kids is over a year, and Dr.

Mendlowitz also has a private practice, so they recommended her to us. She

says that many of her patients are now symptom-free. She totally agrees

with Tamar Chansky's book and uses the same basic techniques herself. The

only difference she says is that Dr. Chansky buys into ?can't remember the

name?? method and she does not. She has developed her own program - a

12-step program that takes 12 visits. She says this will prob be enough.

Today, the College of Psychology finally called me back and gave me 3

psychologists names who do some ocd work (don't know how much until I call

them). All of them are much closer to me geographically -- one is right in

my town. We are an hour drive from Toronto, so not t

>

> I'm reading all your posts and feeling so much sympathy for everyone with

much worse problems than ours. It makes me feel very fortunate to have

milder symptoms -- for now anyway. I wish everyone much luck and patience.

You are all incredible parents.

>

> Mo

>

>

>

>

[Guest guest]

Hi there,, I too was waiting for the word mild, I just wasnt convinced,,but

he turned to me and said.. " you werent sure this was ocd?..its actually

quite severe "

I think we just dont want it to be,,so we convince ourselves otherwise

untill they see the Doctor.

Just me and my two cents.

Ang

update on our assessment visit & our psych.

(long)

>

> Hi everyone. We had our assessment visit last night (3.5 long hours!).

Bottom line is that dd does indeed have ocd. On her graph, the physical

compulsions were low enough as to not present a problem. Most of the other

graph points were not far above the 'normal' range. One point did spike up

(social anxiety). Since all but 1 of the points were reasonably close to

the normal range (I thought), I was trying to get the dr. to say it was a

mild case. I don't know why that was important to me -- just reassuring, I

guess. She wouldn't say the word 'mild'. She ended up saying that it was

" borderline statistically significant " . I had lots of questions for her,

but I didn't want to ask in front of my dd. I guess I will send an email to

her. In others' experience, do most cases generally start out as 'mild' and

get worse from there? Meds were not mentioned and again, I didn't want to

ask in front of dd. On our original phone call, meds were discussed and I

know this dr. prefers t

>

> wrote:

> Who is the therapist you are accessing - maybe I know the name, or someone

else on the list can help in verifying the credentials. Bottom line is: if

they are not using CBT with ERP, you're not going to receive good value for

your money at any rate!

>

>

> The psychologist's name is Mendlowitz. She's a Phd. Her

background seems perfect. She's been working at Sick Kids' Hospital in

toronto for 10 years, in the Psychiatric Dept. Most of the kids she sees

are ocd cases. The wait list at Sick Kids is over a year, and Dr.

Mendlowitz also has a private practice, so they recommended her to us. She

says that many of her patients are now symptom-free. She totally agrees

with Tamar Chansky's book and uses the same basic techniques herself. The

only difference she says is that Dr. Chansky buys into ?can't remember the

name?? method and she does not. She has developed her own program - a

12-step program that takes 12 visits. She says this will prob be enough.

Today, the College of Psychology finally called me back and gave me 3

psychologists names who do some ocd work (don't know how much until I call

them). All of them are much closer to me geographically -- one is right in

my town. We are an hour drive from Toronto, so not t

>

> I'm reading all your posts and feeling so much sympathy for everyone with

much worse problems than ours. It makes me feel very fortunate to have

milder symptoms -- for now anyway. I wish everyone much luck and patience.

You are all incredible parents.

>

> Mo

>

>

>

>

[Guest guest]

Hi there,, I too was waiting for the word mild, I just wasnt convinced,,but

he turned to me and said.. " you werent sure this was ocd?..its actually

quite severe "

I think we just dont want it to be,,so we convince ourselves otherwise

untill they see the Doctor.

Just me and my two cents.

Ang

update on our assessment visit & our psych.

(long)

>

> Hi everyone. We had our assessment visit last night (3.5 long hours!).

Bottom line is that dd does indeed have ocd. On her graph, the physical

compulsions were low enough as to not present a problem. Most of the other

graph points were not far above the 'normal' range. One point did spike up

(social anxiety). Since all but 1 of the points were reasonably close to

the normal range (I thought), I was trying to get the dr. to say it was a

mild case. I don't know why that was important to me -- just reassuring, I

guess. She wouldn't say the word 'mild'. She ended up saying that it was

" borderline statistically significant " . I had lots of questions for her,

but I didn't want to ask in front of my dd. I guess I will send an email to

her. In others' experience, do most cases generally start out as 'mild' and

get worse from there? Meds were not mentioned and again, I didn't want to

ask in front of dd. On our original phone call, meds were discussed and I

know this dr. prefers t

>

> wrote:

> Who is the therapist you are accessing - maybe I know the name, or someone

else on the list can help in verifying the credentials. Bottom line is: if

they are not using CBT with ERP, you're not going to receive good value for

your money at any rate!

>

>

> The psychologist's name is Mendlowitz. She's a Phd. Her

background seems perfect. She's been working at Sick Kids' Hospital in

toronto for 10 years, in the Psychiatric Dept. Most of the kids she sees

are ocd cases. The wait list at Sick Kids is over a year, and Dr.

Mendlowitz also has a private practice, so they recommended her to us. She

says that many of her patients are now symptom-free. She totally agrees

with Tamar Chansky's book and uses the same basic techniques herself. The

only difference she says is that Dr. Chansky buys into ?can't remember the

name?? method and she does not. She has developed her own program - a

12-step program that takes 12 visits. She says this will prob be enough.

Today, the College of Psychology finally called me back and gave me 3

psychologists names who do some ocd work (don't know how much until I call

them). All of them are much closer to me geographically -- one is right in

my town. We are an hour drive from Toronto, so not t

>

> I'm reading all your posts and feeling so much sympathy for everyone with

much worse problems than ours. It makes me feel very fortunate to have

milder symptoms -- for now anyway. I wish everyone much luck and patience.

You are all incredible parents.

>

> Mo

>

>

>

>

[Guest guest]

Hi Mo,

In our case, there was just a " bit " of OCD in the early years, no

problem really. Then for whatever reason, suddenly seemed to

happen " overnight " with 24/7 compulsions where it was a huge

problem. And, in our case it was obviously pretty bad.

I describe things now - since sooooo much better - as manageable. (I

did write how he's avoiding movies, a few other things, so OCD is

still there but " manageable. " I would still love to work on

it of course.)

I wish I could offer something to help you in your choices to make.

But here's some (((hugs))) and keep us updated!!

> Hi everyone. We had our assessment visit last night (3.5 long

hours!). Bottom line is that dd does indeed have ocd. On her graph,

the physical compulsions were low enough as to not present a

problem. Most of the other graph points were not far above

the 'normal' range. One point did spike up (social anxiety). Since

all but 1 of the points were reasonably close to the normal range (I

[Guest guest]

Hi Mo,

In our case, there was just a " bit " of OCD in the early years, no

problem really. Then for whatever reason, suddenly seemed to

happen " overnight " with 24/7 compulsions where it was a huge

problem. And, in our case it was obviously pretty bad.

I describe things now - since sooooo much better - as manageable. (I

did write how he's avoiding movies, a few other things, so OCD is

still there but " manageable. " I would still love to work on

it of course.)

I wish I could offer something to help you in your choices to make.

But here's some (((hugs))) and keep us updated!!

> Hi everyone. We had our assessment visit last night (3.5 long

hours!). Bottom line is that dd does indeed have ocd. On her graph,

the physical compulsions were low enough as to not present a

problem. Most of the other graph points were not far above

the 'normal' range. One point did spike up (social anxiety). Since

all but 1 of the points were reasonably close to the normal range (I

[Guest guest]

Hi Mo,

I am not familiar with Dr. Mendolowitz, but being connected to Sick Kids

and having a good track record with a twelve step program sounds very good.

Find out if the alternative Ph.D choices, esp. the one in your town, trained

under her or within the department, otherwise, my gut says you'll benefit more

from the drive and expense than going to someone less experienced that may end

up costing you more money in the long run!

3.5 hour for diagnostic testing is about right - What you want now is to move on

to treatment and find out about after care (after the 12 sessions).

I guess you can look at the travel time this way: You can use it to help

build/reinforce a bond between you and your daughter and add to the therapy by

reviewing homework instructions and developing creative exposure exercises.

Keep me posted!

wendy, in canada

Maureen s wrote:

Hi everyone. We had our assessment visit last night (3.5 long hours!). ...

The psychologist's name is Mendlowitz. She's a Phd. Her background

seems perfect. She's been working at Sick Kids' Hospital in toronto for 10

years, in the Psychiatric Dept. Most of the kids she sees are ocd cases. ...

She has developed her own program - a 12-step program that takes 12 visits. She

says this will prob be enough. ... Also, this local dr. is prob. much cheaper

- again, I haven't spoken to her yet; just left a message. Mo

---------------------------------

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[Guest guest]

Hi again, Mo!

We began therapy with our kids about 2 years after diagnosis: they were about 9,

12 and 15 at the time. Our experience is that once the kids learned the

techniques, and it was reinforced regularly as a lifestyle at home, it was

interchangeable to a variety of symptoms and stayed with them long term. My kids

have been off and on medications over the years but they would prefer to apply

their ERP tools over meds anyday: for them its a way of life.

Hormones/adolescents had a big impact on their personalities, and symptoms, but

like everything else - identifying the cause led to solution. My kids are now

21, 19 and 15.

wendy, in ottawa

Maureen s wrote:

Hi Chris. Was he doing therapy in the early days when symptoms were milder?

Am I being unrealistic in thinking that if she gets the therapy now, the ocd may

not get worse? I realize no one can know for sure, but I wonder what the

probability is.

Mo

---------------------------------

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[Guest guest]

Mo,

The Luvox only had side effects on 100 mg-a little hyperactivity, but we backed

down to 75 mg, and that's enough to keep the symptoms at bay and free of side

effects. He sleeps well with it. We give the dose all at night. Our doctor

has assured us that there have been definitive studies that have shown Luvox has

no long-term ill effects on the child, which I absolutely had to know. It was

definitely instant relief for my son.

in So IL

Re: update on our assessment visit & our psych.

(long)

Hi . Thanks for that info. I'm glad the med. has worked so well for your

son. Have you noticed any side effects at all? It would be so wonderful to

have an instant relief like that.

Mo

----- Original Message -----

From:

Mo: In my experience and from reading lots on this forum, my son has what I

might call, not necessarily " mild " , but " very treatable " . With medication now,

I would consider it so mild, it's almost nonexistent.

[Guest guest]

Mo,

The Luvox only had side effects on 100 mg-a little hyperactivity, but we backed

down to 75 mg, and that's enough to keep the symptoms at bay and free of side

effects. He sleeps well with it. We give the dose all at night. Our doctor

has assured us that there have been definitive studies that have shown Luvox has

no long-term ill effects on the child, which I absolutely had to know. It was

definitely instant relief for my son.

in So IL

Re: update on our assessment visit & our psych.

(long)

Hi . Thanks for that info. I'm glad the med. has worked so well for your

son. Have you noticed any side effects at all? It would be so wonderful to

have an instant relief like that.

Mo

----- Original Message -----

From:

Mo: In my experience and from reading lots on this forum, my son has what I

might call, not necessarily " mild " , but " very treatable " . With medication now,

I would consider it so mild, it's almost nonexistent.