To ask if anyone has any experience of therapy that has worked for teenager with OCD?

[deaperatelyunhappyandscared]

My dd15 has OCD, it usually involves rituals that she has to go through when showering / bathing and getting dried / hair etc.
She also gets hyper fixated on various things to do with her health and her appearance.
In the last month or so, it’s become so extreme, that her shower rituals are taking hours. She knows in her head that this isn’t “normal”, but feels that she has no control over it.
She has an occupational therapist, but it’s so difficult to get her to engage with any help, it hasn’t really made a difference. She’s seeing a psychiatrist in a few weeks to discuss the possibility of medication.
It’s exhausting for her and me, I’m a single
parent with one income and it’s becoming a financial strain. Obviously her mental
health is my first priority, so I do everything I can to try and help.
Does anyone have any experience of therapy that has been successful in the treatment of this type of OCD? Or any books you would recommend?
I know we can’t continue like this, but I’m so stuck.

Watching, I have same experience with my DS (age 16) it's very hard. Sorry you are going through this.

My daughter had several sessions of hypnotherapy for her OCD. She had orthorexia and anorexia which was related to OCD. She also had rituals around washing. After CAMHS, the hypnotherapy was a last shot, and I was surprised when it worked.

Yes, CBT is the recommended treatment for OCD - I’ve used it successfully with many patients. I hope your DD gets the help she needs.

My DD also has OCD but was much younger when it started - she had CBT with CAHMS which helped. But I think she was 'fortunate' to experience this fairly young and not too severely, so she has been able to understand her feelings and learned techniques to deal with the intrusive thoughts.
One of her friends has OCD presenting in rituals and is responding well to talk therapy and CBT.
For many people it doesn't entirely go away, but it does become more liveable.
DD has also been recently assessed for ASD and is autistic.
Hope you can find something that helps.

Thank you for your replies. She’s tried CBT with the occupational therapist, I think
it was “take your thoughts to court”? type
of exercises. It seemed to make her fixate even more, so it was back to
the drawing board. I think there are other types of CBT though?
I am hoping the psychiatrist can suggest other things that can go alongside medication, but she and I are keen to try that, as this has gone on for years now and only
got worse.
I’m sorry to hear that you have been and are going through this, it’s relentless and very difficult to live with.
We haven’t thought of hypnotherapy, maybe i
could look in to that.

CBT. Is she under CAMHS?

Yep Dd16 was in therapy for a year or so. She still has ocd and I’m guessing intrusive thoughts still but it’s manageable now.

The OT wouldn't have been able to do a proper, full course of CBT. Possibly CBT informed therapy, but not actual CBT.

I hope you can find something that helps x

I think the right therapist is key.

We’ve been Under CAMHS since she was 7, when she started pulling her eyelashes out. She had talking therapy and seemed a little
better, but from the age of about 10 I’d say things got worse. When she started senior school, everything spiralled.
She had a diagnosis of ADHD and we are on waitlist for ASD assessment. She doesn’t attend school any more but has tutoring under ed support.
She has no friends, will hardly leave the house and is very anxious and I think also depressed. Its so sad, I can’t bear to see her like this.

That sounds really tough.

Sorry I should have been more specific - CBT with a CBT therapist or a Clinical Psychologist ideally, the work done with OT wouldn’t be intensive CBT. It can be absolutely transformative, finding a therapist she clicks with is so important.

Would they do EMDR? I found it really helpful when I was having lots of anxious thoughts

Could you possibly go private if she could be seen by someone highly qualified, and quicker? Although I can see the role of OT being helpful here too. It sounds tremendously difficult, I really hope things improve for your daughter soon.

It is. I think the past couple of months have been the most horrendous. She has put on a lot of weight as she does no exercise, is too scared to go out for a walk (even with me) and is now even more stuck
in a rut because she feels too big to go anywhere.
I’ve tried suggesting indoor walking, YouTube workouts, just anything to get some
activity, as I’ve explained that exercise can help our mood. She just has no motivation anymore, no resilience, she has no life really.

Hi- the most evidence based approach to OCD is a form of CBT called ERP (exposure and response prevention) and its a hit different from the ‘thought challenging’ type your OT was using.. this self help book is very good and written by two very well known experts in the field www.amazon.co.uk/Overcoming-Obsessive-Compulsive-Disorder-2nd-behavioural/dp/1472136012/ref=mp_s_a_1_1?crid=1HTLBSD3SNFKW&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.CuZO4aAlIV5UZ2KYHAfgIBtrzhSdDv2exQb2YF5-ZCcJ080Kr8VgPzJMXPQbztH4aTUXnj9qCUaBgRNHc7pWEUIbdm7OC0dyr0EgjSaUM7uUVCS0NcSiizhPnj7I7rlJ879aeIipPaBI59TXuFF0qOLCh3opWeeEzch3BkIGJOTLbwugb8FoOH2AFEo40BHexe4HsBF7QbNXSX0rhEUlyg.bpPVOXuW91KcxTh4g9rmvWhs-wlc0Bot5GuweX08b-U&dib_tag=se&keywords=ocd+self+help+books+veale&nsdOptOutParam=true&qid=1733089942&sprefix=ocd+self+help+books+veale%2Caps%2C75&sr=8-1

@deaperatelyunhappyandscared what are CAMHS doing?

I have OCD and I can't recommend hypnotherapy enough (providing you research the hypnotherapist really well and they've plenty of positive reviews and experience). I have had CBT and medication in the past and they do help, no doubt, but not on the level that hypnotherapy helped me. It very much saved my life.

Thank you for these suggestions, I feel like
it would really help me to go into the appointment prepared with some questions and possible suggestions for therapy.
I can’t really afford private, but I would consider it depending on the cost if I thought it would help. I could possibly get some financial help with it.

CAMHS (CYPS now where I am) have referred her for the ASD assessment, they also referred her to the occupational therapist, who then put her forward to speak to a psychiatrist regarding medication. Its been a very long process.

It’s good to hear that you found something that helped you, Thank you for sharing your experience. I will definitely look into hypnotherapy.

emdr therapy was the most affective for me.
I had 2 lots of cbt and one period of counselling.
I always wanted to know what triggered my ocd as i felt that was key to getting better.
Im not entirely fixed but so much better than I ever dreamed I would be

My DS has had CBT under CAMHS for this but what has helped more to be honest has been sertraline. I was initially reluctant to go down that road (we had a lot of discussion with professionals and ultimately it was his choice) but it's made a massive improvement to his life.

A family member had a similar but different issue at about age 10. Their parents took them to a hypnotherapist after trying after things, with a great deal of skepticism. But it worked! So may be worth trying. Interesting to see other people have mentioned it on here too.

CBT plus ERP plus Prozac is working for my 17yr old