25 Tips for Parenting Your Child with OCD and Anxiety

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– – – Disclaimer – – –
For information purposes only. Does not constitute clinical advice. Consult your local medical authority for advice.

Parenting is tough. Add OCD or anxiety on top of it and it becomes much tougher. With these 25 tips, you'll be prepared and know how to correctly parent a child with OCD.

Written by: Josh Spitalnick, PhD, ABPP and Marti Munford, LPC
Anxiety Specialists of Atlanta, LLC

Chapters:
00:00 Tips for Parenting Your Child with Anxiety or OCD
0:26 Tip #1
0:51 Tip #2
1:12 Tip #3
1:42 Tip #4
2:12 Tip #5
2:49 Tip #6
3:20 Tip #7
3:53 Tip #8
4:34 Tip #9
5:07 Tip #10
5:21 Tip #11
6:11 Tip #12
6:47 Tip #13
7:23 Tip #14
8:14 Tip #15
8:58 Tip #16
9:22 Tip #17
9:34 Tip #18
10:08 Tip #19
10:44 Tip #20
11:14 Tip #21
11:40 Tip #22
12:13 Tip #23
12:37 Tip #24
13:19 Tip #25

OCD and Anxiety Online and the information provided by Nathan Peterson are solely intended for informational and entertainment purposes and are not a substitute for advice, diagnosis, or treatment regarding medical or mental health conditions. Although Nathan Peterson is a licensed therapist, the views expressed on this site or any related content should not be taken for medical or psychiatric advice. Always consult your physician before making any decisions related to your physical or mental health.

[piyusha]

IT'S beautiful that some parents care about their child's mental health 😊😊😊

[flaviachavez]

I am parenting a teen with OCD. Thanks for your videos. Recognizing that it is ok not to be ok, helped me to deal with the culpability ❤

[hrag]

Nathan, words cannot express the amount of gratitude I have for you. You have literally saved my life, countless times. In times of struggle, I always come back and watch your videos. From your voice, to the words you use, to your personality and wonderful smile, you brought peace back into my life. Thank you a million times thank you. You are a wonderful person and I am standing here today because of you 🙏.

[marianamartinez]

As a mom with ocd and hearing you say I’m not the problem feels peaceful I cannot help but to think I’m the problem

[gp]

Man do I relate to the whack-a-mole metaphor! I have a complicated little 5 year old with a lot of anxiety and it is so true that when one thing goes away, another pops up. One thing I think is very important is to let them know they aren't bad, they aren't wrong or deformed, they are human and all humans have struggles. It is ok and normal to struggle, and it never impacts how loved they are. I also minimise focus on the behaviour, and because he is so young I see a lot of my role as framing with positivity things through words. We can take mountains and make them molehills, take catastrophic thoughs and see them as just imaginary, make a habit of being grateful for the good, etc... Build an overall culture of good mental health into family life and everyone benefits.

[aspenx-qcrm]

nice! i’m going to send this to my mom. your videos have helped me understand my own struggles so much so maybe it’ll help her too.

[vanshika]

im 14 and i have undiagnosed OCD. it started 8 months ago. i was watching a video about serial killers, and suddenly i was like, what if I hurt somebody? then it was followed by constant rumination, reassurance seeking, self ERP which made things worse, compulsions, not being able to leave my scissors anywhere but in my bookshelf between books, doing something over and over until i don't have the thought while doing it, replaying something because my thought occured, researching about murderers, psychopathy, schizophrenia, psychosis, bipolar disorder, and diseases. it was getting better a month ago, and then my friend ditched me for another group. i felt betrayed but then a thought occured, 'why do i feel angry? do i want to hurt my friend? how do I know if this is normal anger or anger that would make me hurt them? what if i snap?'. I've been brooding over this and I'm so worried I'll actually snap and hurt somebody because of the trust issues (two of my friends did the same thing to me previously). do y'all think it's likely I'll hurt somebody? please answer somebody. I've posted this comment on another video and got reassurance but now because of this im so anxious. (i don't have a genetic predisposition to OCD, all i know about my family's mental health is that my grandfather [dad's side] was anxious about everybody's health to the point of buying meds before anything bad happened).

[heliantaflores]

Hey, Nathan, i don't know if you'll see this, but i could use some advice. Writing was something that i did as a hobby for the longest time. An activity i really enjoyed. For the past year, thought, OCD has taken over it. The obssession tend to be either "Do you really know how to write?" or "Are you sure you know your character? do you even know how to write your character?" How do i confront these thoughts? Because they only come up when i'm in the writing process, so i'm at a loss here

[MiniMastersLearn]

Really helpful video. Thanks for sharing.

[lillianfranco]

It would be great if you can follow-up with a video as to how parents can deal with some of these tips that you gave. For example, in #14 Family accommodations keep the family stuck, How am I supposed to respond if my child ( 10 year old) is anxious about dyeing. I tell her this is not going to happen right now and remind her that she is healthy and safe at home. Is that accommodating my child's anxiety?

[tanramiel]

Give reassurance, don’t give reassurance. Empty words and no actual steps on how to approach a child who’s washing their hands for the 10000th time 😐

[ocdandanxiety]

Does your child struggle with OCD and/or Anxiety?

[BassJunkeeZ]

Hi there, I'm a parent and my child are experiencing constantly washing hands, avoiding other kids, having hysterical moments like for moving his mobile that he does not use. Anyway, seen the video, thanks. It really brings some new information for me and my wife, and we are struggling with him to make him better. Not sure why I'm writing this comment. But I am grateful that people make this kind of videos, they are needed. Thanks again.

[rylandweet]

Hey Nathan, could you possibly make another video on magical thinking?, that’s the one I have really badly, more scared if I don’t do my compulsions something later in the future might happen, it’s so terrifying just moving on from it or trying to move on

[soundscape]

Not a parent myself but watched the same. As always top quality content from you Nathan.

[wolfevickery]

My teen son seems to have developed OCD out of nowhere. My wife and are are struggling to help him, particularly when he gets 'stuck' cleaning and can't get unstuck. We just started seeing a professional, but they really don't talk to us (because he just turned 18) help him. My wife is really struggling because he has gotten college scholarships for the next year and we want to help him develop some ways to get through the day. LOST

[yathartharora]

hello sir i have been a great admirer of you..can u please help me..I have around 30 days left for my final exams..i am trying my best to let go of the OCD thoughts but every time I experience it i become very confused and anxious so I perform compulsions to stop wasting my time which helps me in the short term gain..should I continue to ignore these thoughts or perform compulsion for this period of time?

[grahamemes]

Thanks dor the video, but for number 14/15, if we dont tey to reassure out children, then what do we do instead when they are freaking out or going into a madantra about something that doesn't matter to a nurotypical brain?

[Crafter_H]

Ok....where did you get that neon sign?!

[ogeiddago]

Hi, I've been wondering if what I've been experiencing is a type of OCD. I'm not sure how to explain this but, usually before bed I get thoughts that when I wake up I'll somehow be unaware or unconscious of the present. As if the (me) from tomorrow will be different from (me) at night. It usually happens nights or days before exciting events, maybe as a fear that I won't fully embrace or enjoy the moment. I then get extreme urges to leave reminders or notes for myself to become "aware" in the morning. It leaves me really anxious and I can't sleep unless I do them.