Seeking holistic therapist for 12yo with OCD tendencies
Hi,
Our 12 year old daughter has asked to see a therapist for generalized anxiety. She has OCD tendencies, but while they fluctuate, they are relatively mild. She is happy, does well at school, extroverted, but tends towards being anxious and overthinks things. She recently started telling us that there are things she can't talk to us about, which is when we suggested a therapist, and she took us up on the suggestion.
We started off searching for a CBT therapist, but they are all booked up. We got referred to someone, but in her second meeting with us she asked us how we feel about medication. That to me is a red flag, as she did not ask how we feel about exercise, meditation, CBT and the like. In fact she said she thinks CBT is a fad... which it might or might not be, but I'd rather try that first before even discussing medication for someone with mild OCD tendencies.
If anyone knows of a therapist who is holistic in her approach and wary of medication for kids with mild symptoms, please let me know.
Thank you,
Parent Replies
Hi there,
So sorry your daughter is going through this. My now-17-year-old daughter was dealing with some similar issues around that age. OCD is tricky and often kids/teens who are dealing with it aren't able to articulate quite how it is affecting them. We found it very helpful to have a qualified therapist assess the severity of OCD. The treatment for OCD is a specific type of therapy called Exposure and Response Prevention (ERP), which. not all CBT therapists do. It's really key to learning how to deal with OCD.
That is very strange that the CBT therapist you found mentioned that she thinks CBT is a fad. In any case, if she doesn't regularly treat OCD I would look elsewhere for a therapist who has more extensive experiences with OCD.
I very much suggest you find a qualified OCD therapist. You can get help here:
http://iocdf.org/ or the local organization here:
https://www.ocdbayarea.org/
OCD really does need a therapist trained in a type of therapy called ERP.
My child also had what we thought was mostly anxiety and mild OCD, but in actuality was severe OCD.
Hi. My 11 year old stopped telling us about OCD thoughts Bc she was embarrassed. We messed around with the wrong therapists and put off RX trying to figure it out. I have no idea, of course, whether you are facing OCD, but if you are I recommend signing up to work only with folks who know their field. The iocdf.org is a great help. I’m sorry for your struggles. Reach out if i can help.