AT Parenting Survival | Raising Kids with OCD & Anxiety

OCD wants us to take its threats seriously. It wants us to debate with it, argue, and come up with solutions to circumvent the issues it presents.  Afraid of germs - let’s think of ways you can avoid it. Afraid you’ll turn into something you aren’t - let’s remind yourself that you are a good person. Afraid you forgot something - let’s develop ways you can remember. All of these solutions are...

Anxiety and OCD don’t always appear in an obvious way. Sometimes our kids will have behaviors that we would never think would be anxiety or OCD.  In this episode of the AT Parenting Survival Podcast I talk about some common behaviors that hide anxiety or OCD and what parents should do when they see them. For more in-depth support on difficult behaviors check out these resources: Free Webinar:...

As a cognitive behavioral therapist I talk a great deal about how to help our kids by reframing their anxious thoughts and taking steps to do brave things. But I want to expand your child’s toolbox with other useful ways for them to calm their mind and body. The more diversified our children’s coping mechanisms, the better they will do long term! In this week’s AT Parenting Survival Podcast I invi...

We only have a small part to play in our child’s anxiety or OCD success. It is their journey and we are only one piece of that puzzle. But that is a puzzle piece we can work on! Often our own erroneous beliefs, limitations or fears create unintentional barriers to our child’s long term success with anxiety or OCD. In this week’s AT Parenting Survival Podcast I explore some of those beliefs and fea...

Sign up for the FREE series: Self-Care for Parents Raising Kids with Anxiety or OCD here . Supplemental podcasts related to this topic: Partner related issues: What to Do When Your Partner Triggers Your Child’s Anxiety or OCD How to Deal with a Partner Who Doesn’t Believe in Anxiety Disorders The Impact of Child Anxiety or OCD on Marriages Sibling related issues: Raising Multiple Kids with Anxiety...

Many kids with anxiety and OCD struggle with sleep. This sleep struggle can be caused by a variety of issues that are different for each child. In this week’s AT Parenting Survival Podcast I explore the most common ways anxiety and OCD impacts sleep and how a lack of sleep impacts anxiety and OCD. I also talk about the approaches that won’t work and what will work instead. For more in-depth suppor...

There are many times when the actual theme of our child’s anxiety or OCD can undermine their ability to get help. How are we supposed to help our kids (or clients/patients) when the very nature of helping is triggering their anxiety or OCD? In this week’s AT Parenting Survival Podcast I explore the most common ways anxiety and OCD themes get in the way of helping and what parents and therapists ca...

Teaching our kids to trust their gut instinct can be a lifesaver. But what do we do when anxiety or OCD feels like gut instinct? What if intuition is really their OCD magical thinking in disguise? In this week’s AT Parenting Survival Podcast I explore the differences between gut instinct and intuition vs anxiety and OCD. 🌸 NEW! Want your kids to have direct help? ❤️ Course for kids and teens with...

So many parents ask me, “How can I stop my child’s compulsions?” The quick answer is, you can’t. You can stop your participation in them, but you can’t force your child to not do compulsions. And even if you can, it isn’t going to bring your child long term success. In this week’s AT Parenting Survival Podcast I address this common question and explore what parents can and cannot do to help their...

I get this question so often I thought it deserved a whole podcast. One of the first things OCD therapists often teach parents is how to pull back their reassurance. This can make a parent feel very uncomfortable and I get it. I have kids with OCD myself. Parents want to know they are doing the right thing, especially when everything feels counterintuitive.  In this week’s AT Parenting Surviv...

The best ways to directly help our kids with anxiety or OCD is through effective treatment, but there are some side dishes that can aid in their progress. When we help others it can improve self-esteem, mood and purpose. In this week’s AT Parenting Survival Podcast I discuss how having our kids help others can actually help them as well. 🌸 NEW! Want your kids to have direct help? ❤️ Course for ki...

Compulsions are often missed by parents and therapists not trained to treat OCD. Sometimes our kids will be doing something right in front of us and we’ll miss it. It is easy to do when OCD has a million different disguises.  In this week’s AT Parenting Survival Podcast I explore some commonly missed compulsions and what to do when you accurately spot a new weed growing. 🌸 NEW! Want your kid...

Having a child with anxiety or OCD can be a challenge, but when it impacts eating, it can become a major health issue. Many kids with anxiety or OCD struggle to eat for many different reasons. In this week’s AT Parenting Survival Podcast I explore common core fears that drive restrictive eating and what you can do if your child has ARFID ( Avoidant Restrictive Food Intake Disorder ) or is working...

Working on anxiety or OCD is like lining up dominos. Without certain pieces you aren’t going to get too far. One of the first dominos is trust and communication. Without trust and communication, helping our kids with anxiety or OCD is going to be an uphill battle. In this week’s AT Parenting Survival Podcast I explore how parents can improve their trust and communication to set their child up for...

OCD is not always about a fear, sometimes it is about a feeling. Kids with OCD can have intrusive feelings around disgust. They can have issues where things don’t feel just right. They can be hyper focused on bodily sensations like their breathing, blinking, heart rhythm and bladder. In this week’s AT Parenting Survival Podcast I explore how these types of OCD themes show up and how to do ERP (exp...

When kids have Moral OCD, intrusive thoughts they are a bad person, it can be hard to discipline and set boundaries. It can also hit their self-esteem on a level that makes it hard to manage. In this week’s AT Parenting Survival Podcast I talk to parents about how to navigate the minefield of discipline, redirection, self-esteem and boundary setting in kids with Moral or Scrupulosity OCD. Want mor...

Our kids with anxiety or OCD will often have moments of fear and avoidance. What we do in those moments can have a big impact on their long term success.  In this week’s AT Parenting Survival Podcast I talk about how to turn some of those fearful moments into an opportunity to sit in discomfort and walk towards fear. Click here to join my FREE series happening right now: Survival Tools for Pa...

We are only one piece of the puzzle in our child’s long term success with anxiety or OCD, but our attitude is something we have full control over. How we show up to our child’s struggles can have a big impact. In this week’s AT Parenting Survival Podcast I talk about our parental attitudes and how to shift them while having self-compassion. 🌸 NEW! Want your kids to have direct help? ❤️ Course for...

Often our kids with anxiety or OCD have BIG emotions. These emotions can be exhausting or overwhelming for us to handle. In this week’s AT Parenting Survival Podcast I talk about how to shift our perspective when these big emotions show up and how to turn a dark moment into an opportunity for growth. 🌸 NEW! Want your kids to have direct help? ❤️ Course for kids and teens with OCD: Crushing OCD Co...

As parents we want to encourage our kids with anxiety or OCD to move towards their fears and discomfort, not away from them. But how do we do that? In this week’s AT Parenting Survival Podcast I talk about the small steps we can take to help our kids move towards their fears. I also talk about effective ways to offer encouragement and instill the feeling of success. 🌸 NEW! Want your kids to have...

Puberty is hard enough, but add anxiety and OCD to the mix and UGH! In this week’s AT Parenting Survival Podcast I talk about the good (yes there is some good), the bad (oh yeah, there is that too) and the ugly (plenty of that) when kids with anxiety or OCD enter puberty. 🌸 NEW! Want your kids to have direct help? ❤️ Course for kids and teens with OCD: Crushing OCD Course for Kids & Teens ***...

OCD can take over our child or teen’s world and sometimes we have to get more intensive support.  In this week’s AT Parenting Survival Podcast I talk about the different levels of care that are available to kids with OCD, when to consider intensive outpatient or residential care and what to do when they come back home. 🌸 NEW! Want your kids to have direct help? ❤️ Course for kids and teens w...

I have a special announcement that couldn't wait until next week! I have a special offer for you that will end this Friday. If you have been wanting to provide your child or teen with clinically sound, evidenced based approaches to OCD, I now have something for you! My course, Crushing OCD Class for Kids and Teens is now open. The best part... instead of paying $127, I'm offering you 30% off until...

Agoraphobia can prevent our kids from being able to leave the house, be in crowds, go to the movies or travel - just to name a few. It can be a debilitating and life altering disorder and often the signs and symptoms can start in childhood. In this week’s AT Parenting Survival Podcast I talk about what Agoraphobia is, what signs to look for and what to do about it. 🌸 NEW! Want your kids to have d...

Parenting can be an isolating journey, but as women we often have many resources at our fingertips. We have Mommy and Me classes and endless Facebook groups ready to get our mama back.  But what about fathers? The fatherhood journey can feel completely different and comes with its own set of obstacles and struggles.  In this week’s AT Parenting Survival Podcast I talk to Jason from Dad’s...