Clinical Child and Adolescent Psychology

Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy (CBT) has shown to be effective in the treatment of childhood OCD. This online Therapist Guide outlines a 12-session CBT-based treatment for OCD that benefits not only children and adolescents, but their families as well. Each session incorporates a family therapy component in addition to individual treatment for the child. It is a combined approach program that educates the child and family about OCD in order to reduce negative feelings of guilt and blame and to normalise family functioning. It also provides guidelines for conducting both imaginal and in vivo exposures, which are techniques at the core of helping children reduce their anxiety. For use with children ages 8 to 17, this online resource is an indispensable tool for clinicians helping children and their families cope with OCD.Less

Childhood obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD) is a complex condition that is often accompanied by high levels of family stress and strain. Families of youth with OCD face a unique set of difficulties in that they often are intimately involved in their children’s symptoms. This pattern of responding to OCD, frequently referred to as accommodation, comes in many forms, and for most families, it occurs daily. Research suggests that accommodation is accompanied by increased levels of family distress, anxiety, and conflict, which, when high enough, can undermine successful OCD treatment. Although evidence-based treatments exist for childhood OCD, few protocols offer strategies for treating these more complex family presentations. This program offers an empirically supported approach for managing childhood OCD complicated by poor family functioning. It identifies specific family features that may contribute to treatment nonresponse in childhood OCD, and provides clinicians with an innovative set of strategies for addressing them. By focusing on emotion-regulation strategies and family-problem-solving exercises, families learn to troubleshoot difficult OCD episodes in an effective and supportive manner.Less