In another great contribution to the world of parents with kids who struggle with OCD, Chris Baier, one of the creators of Unstuck: an OCD Kids movie wrote this article for the Mighty a few years back that remains just as relevant today as then.
He talks about his first instinct of treating the OCD as though it were a virus, something parental comfort could overcome, eventually realizing
…I was driven by the thought that I could change what she was feeling
which only accommodated and played to his daughter’s OCD symptoms. However, over time, Chris shifted his focus to his daughter’s ERP treatment and his role changed
I began to think of myself only as a cheerleader, advocate and educator. I suppressed my need to fix and focused on helping.
This drastically changed his relationship with his daughter’s OCD, and reframed her as the person who could combat her OCD. This meant she was able to learn the tools necessary to move forward in her OCD treatment, with the support of her parents alongside her.
To read the article, visit The Mighty
#OCD #ERP #CBT