Residential TX for secret OCD?

[Guest guest]

Hello all,

 

After the round of neuropsych tests that we waited all summer to have done, the

official diagnosis of our 9-year old daughter is OCD and GAD, but the Asperger's

was not pervasive enough to get officially diagnosed. So we're concentrating on

the OCD in therapy.

 

Our therapist keeps mentioning a residential treatment facility in our state,

but most of our dd's compulsions and obsessions are " secret " , she has backed off

from even telling me her mental loops now, and we don't " see " rituals at least

being done in front of us. Does anyone have any experience or opinion on if a

residential program would be able to help her, even if she has these " secret "

OCD symptoms?

 

Thanks,

 

[Guest guest]

Hi -

I don't have any answers for you, but just wanted to comment that you seem to be

an amazing and determined mom. I am sure that you can trust your instincts and

you will make good decisions for her.

Our daugher also had mental rituals - but luckily not ones that she kept secret.

While her therapist did feel that she was young to learn the techniques for

mental rituals, we did find that they responded to the ERP therapy. If you

sense that she needs a residential program - I'd encourage you to try. There

are such wonderful stories here of their success, and of lives saved.

I wish you all the best, and look foward to reading of your future joys with

your daughter. All my best - in NC.

>

> Hello all,

>  

> After the round of neuropsych tests that we waited all summer to have done,

the official diagnosis of our 9-year old daughter is OCD and GAD, but the

Asperger's was not pervasive enough to get officially diagnosed. So we're

concentrating on the OCD in therapy.

>  

> Our therapist keeps mentioning a residential treatment facility in our state,

but most of our dd's compulsions and obsessions are " secret " , she has backed off

from even telling me her mental loops now, and we don't " see " rituals at least

being done in front of us. Does anyone have any experience or opinion on if a

residential program would be able to help her, even if she has these " secret "

OCD symptoms?

>  

> Thanks,

>

>  

>

>

[Guest guest]

My daughter is going to the Austin Center for the Treatment of OCD.

I'm not sure if they have a residential program but I do know they

have intensive outpatient treatment, especially if you don't live near

Austin. We've been very happy with them so far, but we're just going

once a week. Vicky Easterling is the therapist there that deals

exclusively with kids and my 9-year-old daughter likes her. What part

of TX are you in?

Katy

[Guest guest]

Hi Katy,

 

I apologize, I'm in the veterinary medical field and we use " TX " to mean

" treatment " all the time, so I slipped into vet lingo. I actually USED to live

in Texas a few years ago, but now we're in Wisconsin. We have heard of a good

residential treatment facility here, a few hours away, so we may look into going

and talking with them. But thanks for the info! It's good to know those in Texas

have options!  :-)

 

It's just so hard when these kids have more the obsessions than the rituals,

because you just can't possibly know what's going on in their little heads all

the time. And I think she's trying to play it down, deny it perhaps, because we

were getting pretty intense about discussing it with her some months ago. So I

know when she does pipe up and say something about it bothering her, it's

probably REALLY bothering her much more!

 

Thanks again,

Subject: Re:Residential TX for " secret " OCD?

To:

Date: Thursday, September 3, 2009, 5:46 AM

 

My daughter is going to the Austin Center for the Treatment of OCD.

I'm not sure if they have a residential program but I do know they

have intensive outpatient treatment, especially if you don't live near

Austin. We've been very happy with them so far, but we're just going

once a week. Vicky Easterling is the therapist there that deals

exclusively with kids and my 9-year-old daughter likes her. What part

of TX are you in?

Katy

[Guest guest]

Thanks for clarifying that. I didn't respond because I thought you were

specifically asking about Texas! I have heard good things about , if that

is the one you are talking about. I think they can work with just obsessive

thoughts. When my dd was at Remuda she didn't really have obvious rituals. They

looked at the areas she had trouble with. For example, she struggled with

perfectionism which may not sound OCD based, but it was for her. She had so much

obsessive thinking surrounding school work that she literally couldn't do any

school work and if she accomplished any she would not allow a teacher to have

it. In her mind their could possibly be a mistake in it and she would rather

have a zero because she didn't turn it in then get a 90% because she actually

made mistakes. I would call the treatment center and ask them about your dd's

situation. My dd did wonderfully at hers. Good luck, Stormy

________________________________

To:

Sent: Thursday, September 3, 2009 10:23:30 AM

Subject: Re: Re:Residential TX for " secret " OCD?

 

Hi Katy,

 

I apologize, I'm in the veterinary medical field and we use " TX " to mean

" treatment " all the time, so I slipped into vet lingo. I actually USED to live

in Texas a few years ago, but now we're in Wisconsin. We have heard of a good

residential treatment facility here, a few hours away, so we may look into going

and talking with them. But thanks for the info! It's good to know those in Texas

have options!  :-)

 

It's just so hard when these kids have more the obsessions than the rituals,

because you just can't possibly know what's going on in their little heads all

the time. And I think she's trying to play it down, deny it perhaps, because we

were getting pretty intense about discussing it with her some months ago. So I

know when she does pipe up and say something about it bothering her, it's

probably REALLY bothering her much more!

 

Thanks again,

From: Katy Levit <katylevitmac (DOT) com>

Subject: Re:Residential TX for " secret " OCD?

To: @ yahoogroups. com

Date: Thursday, September 3, 2009, 5:46 AM

 

My daughter is going to the Austin Center for the Treatment of OCD.

I'm not sure if they have a residential program but I do know they

have intensive outpatient treatment, especially if you don't live near

Austin. We've been very happy with them so far, but we're just going

once a week. Vicky Easterling is the therapist there that deals

exclusively with kids and my 9-year-old daughter likes her. What part

of TX are you in?

Katy

[Guest guest]

Oh gosh, Stormy, I gasped when I read your response below. My dd has been

" diagnosed " with perfectionism as well, and it is affecting her more and more,

especially at the end of last school year and of course here we go again!  I was

referring to , so it's good to hear you've heard good things as well. It's

encouraging to hear you say that you think they could work with her

obsessions...thanks so much!

From: Katy Levit <katylevitmac (DOT) com>

Subject: Re:Residential TX for " secret " OCD?

To: @ yahoogroups. com

Date: Thursday, September 3, 2009, 5:46 AM

 

My daughter is going to the Austin Center for the Treatment of OCD.

I'm not sure if they have a residential program but I do know they

have intensive outpatient treatment, especially if you don't live near

Austin. We've been very happy with them so far, but we're just going

once a week. Vicky Easterling is the therapist there that deals

exclusively with kids and my 9-year-old daughter likes her. What part

of TX are you in?

Katy

[Guest guest]

Hi . Your dd is so young it would be a great time to break the

perfectionism cycle. My dd actually had to repeat a year of high school despite

being a gifted student. Starting in junior high, if my dd got a grade like a

90% that alone would send her into a deep depression. She also developed

bulimia. Eating disorders are extremely common with people who have

perfectionism.  My dd was older when she received intensive inpatient treatment.

She spent 60 days at Remuda Ranch in AZ. They worked a lot on her perfectionism

on the school part there. They would take papers from her that were only

partially completed and it would count as a grade. They did things like not

allow her to check her work at all. They would give her a certain amount of time

and say your done, period, finished or not. They would have her intentionally

answer questions wrong. These were grades that actually counted in her final

grade. She learned that the world didn't end when

she received a grade that she didn't like and that her self worth was not

dependent on these things. My dd leaves for college on Sat and it has been a

rough road to get there. I don't yet know if she will be successful, but I do

know that without her residential program she would never be even attempting

college and may not have even graduated from high school. Let me know if you

have any questions. Good luck, Stormy

________________________________

To:

Sent: Thursday, September 3, 2009 11:29:49 AM

Subject: Re: Re:Residential TX for " secret " OCD?

 

Oh gosh, Stormy, I gasped when I read your response below. My dd has been

" diagnosed " with perfectionism as well, and it is affecting her more and more,

especially at the end of last school year and of course here we go again!  I was

referring to , so it's good to hear you've heard good things as well. It's

encouraging to hear you say that you think they could work with her obsessions..

..thanks so much!

From: Katy Levit <katylevitmac (DOT) com>

Subject: Re:Residential TX for " secret " OCD?

To: @ yahoogroups. com

Date: Thursday, September 3, 2009, 5:46 AM

 

My daughter is going to the Austin Center for the Treatment of OCD.

I'm not sure if they have a residential program but I do know they

have intensive outpatient treatment, especially if you don't live near

Austin. We've been very happy with them so far, but we're just going

once a week. Vicky Easterling is the therapist there that deals

exclusively with kids and my 9-year-old daughter likes her. What part

of TX are you in?

Katy

[Guest guest]

**********

Does anyone have any experience or opinion on if a

residential program would be able to help her, even if she has these " secret "

OCD symptoms?

**********

Unless they have a way of getting her to bring it out into the open, and be able

to convince her work on them, I'm not sure if they could help. If she has

" mental OCs " that she is hiding, how would anyone be able to know it's even

happening? And if she isn't willing to work on them, it's easy to keep them

hidden.

Our son made remarkable progress with his therapist using ERP. But, there were

a few things at the top of his list that he was unwilling to work on. He never

did. He needed to be willing, since he was the one who had to do the work.

Even incentives were not going to work for him. But, that might be something

you could try with her. Is there anything she really, really wants that would

convince her to try to work on this stuff?

Is she on any medication, ? I was wondering, because some of the

things Josh was contending with, minimized, then eventually disappeared, due to

medication. It was " intrusive thought " OCD. For instance, his OCD would tell

him that certain " bad " things would happen, if he didn't do something specific

to prevent it. Those thoughts diminished. It was a relief for him that some of

his OCD thoughts were turned off. Other thoughts he had to use CBT/ERP on,

because they continued.

Not suggesting you medicate her, just sharing that it helped for him.

BJ

[Guest guest]

Tomorrow in fact, we're going to ask her therapist to recommend a psychiatrist

to consider meds. I just want her to know how it feels like to NOT have the

anxiety, so she'll have something to strive for in therapy as we, hopefully,

reduce the dose longterm. We have not tried any medications at all, and the ERP

seems helpful, but only addresses one tiny bit of it at a time, while the more

mental obsessions are spiraling out of control.

Subject: Re: Residential TX for " secret " OCD?

To:

Date: Thursday, September 3, 2009, 11:06 AM

 

**********

Does anyone have any experience or opinion on if a

residential program would be able to help her, even if she has these " secret "

OCD symptoms?

**********

Unless they have a way of getting her to bring it out into the open, and be able

to convince her work on them, I'm not sure if they could help. If she has

" mental OCs " that she is hiding, how would anyone be able to know it's even

happening? And if she isn't willing to work on them, it's easy to keep them

hidden.

Our son made remarkable progress with his therapist using ERP. But, there were a

few things at the top of his list that he was unwilling to work on. He never

did. He needed to be willing, since he was the one who had to do the work. Even

incentives were not going to work for him. But, that might be something you

could try with her. Is there anything she really, really wants that would

convince her to try to work on this stuff?

Is she on any medication, ? I was wondering, because some of the things

Josh was contending with, minimized, then eventually disappeared, due to

medication. It was " intrusive thought " OCD. For instance, his OCD would tell him

that certain " bad " things would happen, if he didn't do something specific to

prevent it. Those thoughts diminished. It was a relief for him that some of his

OCD thoughts were turned off. Other thoughts he had to use CBT/ERP on, because

they continued.

Not suggesting you medicate her, just sharing that it helped for him.

BJ

[Guest guest]

, medication can be extremely helpful. Sometimes we just don't know how

much anxiety someone has. I have told this story before, but I don't know if you

have heard it. My dd was put on Zoloft for depression. About 6 weeks later she

says, " I don't feel sick to leave the house anymore! " I asked her what she was

talking about. She told me that she always felt physically sick to leave the

house, even if she were going to do something fun. She actually thought that was

normal and everyone experienced that because she never remembered feeling

different than that. Having had my dd in residential treatment I would strongly

encourage doing a med trial before sending her. Though it was a wonderful

experience for my dd, and life changing, your dd is very young. Meds may make

all the difference in the world for her.. Good luck, Stormy

________________________________

To:

Sent: Thursday, September 3, 2009 1:20:18 PM

Subject: Re: Re: Residential TX for " secret " OCD?

 

Tomorrow in fact, we're going to ask her therapist to recommend a psychiatrist

to consider meds. I just want her to know how it feels like to NOT have the

anxiety, so she'll have something to strive for in therapy as we, hopefully,

reduce the dose longterm. We have not tried any medications at all, and the ERP

seems helpful, but only addresses one tiny bit of it at a time, while the more

mental obsessions are spiraling out of control.

From: svdbyhislove <BJClosnercomcast (DOT) net>

Subject: Re: Residential TX for " secret " OCD?

To: @ yahoogroups. com

Date: Thursday, September 3, 2009, 11:06 AM

 

**********

Does anyone have any experience or opinion on if a

residential program would be able to help her, even if she has these " secret "

OCD symptoms?

**********

Unless they have a way of getting her to bring it out into the open, and be able

to convince her work on them, I'm not sure if they could help. If she has

" mental OCs " that she is hiding, how would anyone be able to know it's even

happening? And if she isn't willing to work on them, it's easy to keep them

hidden.

Our son made remarkable progress with his therapist using ERP. But, there were a

few things at the top of his list that he was unwilling to work on. He never

did. He needed to be willing, since he was the one who had to do the work. Even

incentives were not going to work for him. But, that might be something you

could try with her. Is there anything she really, really wants that would

convince her to try to work on this stuff?

Is she on any medication, ? I was wondering, because some of the things

Josh was contending with, minimized, then eventually disappeared, due to

medication. It was " intrusive thought " OCD. For instance, his OCD would tell him

that certain " bad " things would happen, if he didn't do something specific to

prevent it. Those thoughts diminished. It was a relief for him that some of his

OCD thoughts were turned off. Other thoughts he had to use CBT/ERP on, because

they continued.

Not suggesting you medicate her, just sharing that it helped for him.

BJ

[Guest guest]

We have had terrible perfectionism stuff around school and sports too. It is

the one piece reamining right now t hat we still need to work on. My son would

also rather take a 0 then get a 90. Unless he knows he knows the answer before

he starts a problem, he cant do it. Makes learning new things kind of hard. We

did ERP on it last year with school- also handing in things with intentional

wrong answers, stuff scribbled out etc and it seemed to help a lot.As I said- he

is nearly symptom free at this point but keeping a VERY close watch on the

perfectionism

[Guest guest]

That is great that you were able to have this progress at school. My dd got to

the point where she absolutely couldn't go to school. I would say her

perfectionism had a large role in her needed to stay an extra year in high

school, though physically she really couldn't go there. The perfectionism

spilled into every aspect of her life and the depressions that resulted were

severe. She is also bipolar which caused a lot of problems as well, but the

perfectionism became more than just with school. I believe it really fed her

paranoia as well. Stormy

________________________________

To: " " < >

Sent: Thursday, September 3, 2009 1:43:37 PM

Subject: Re: Residential TX for " secret " OCD?

 

We have had terrible perfectionism stuff around school and sports too. It is the

one piece reamining right now t hat we still need to work on. My son would also

rather take a 0 then get a 90. Unless he knows he knows the answer before he

starts a problem, he cant do it. Makes learning new things kind of hard. We did

ERP on it last year with school- also handing in things with intentional wrong

answers, stuff scribbled out etc and it seemed to help a lot.As I said- he is

nearly symptom free at this point but keeping a VERY close watch on the

perfectionism