A friend's 12yo dd has just been diagnosed with OCD - help with questions

[DingdongMaryBonhigh]

A friend's 12yo dd has just been diagnosed with OCD. Her mother was told when she was 7 or 8 that 50% of kids grow out of it, and so nothing was done.

She has been going for counselling, but today told her mother she didn't want to go, and when she got the counselling session she refused to speak.

The counsellor said that if she doesn't respond to counselling, there is nothing the counsellor can do, and will most likely end up on medication when she is older. The counsellor said more should have been done when she was younger, and not hormonal!

The dd knows all this, but is still not co-operating. My friend is at her wits' end, doesn't know what to do, doesn't know where to start.

So, has anyone got any experience of this? Can anyone recommend any books? Coping techniques? Anything?

I've noticed certain similarities with Asperger's (which I have), and I've told her mother about coping techniques that I use, but I'm not sure if this is right or not. I've also explained exactly how I feel when I react the way I do, to try to help her mother understand. The Dr's have said she doesn't have AS/ASD.

ds2 has OCD amongst other dx & it is the most controlling of all his behaviours & disabilities so I have every sympathy for your friend & her dd.

My ds is still very young BUT we have been told the opposite in that if we don't keep on top of the OCD & continually try to push him to make small changes to his rituals & routines his life will become more rigid & restricted & develop into other associated conditions the most common being severe agraphobia (he's is 5 & already would happily never leave the house if we allowed it).
BUT we were also told with the correct intervention it is very treatable, so your friend must push for treatment rather than just counseling
Does your friends dd have a phsych? Who has made the dx?
There are active therapies that really can help.

Thank you, I'll get back to you once I've spoken to her.

What sort of treatment should she be receiving?

Hi Dingdong,
Cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) is what helped with my son, aged 11. What happened was very gradual exposure to the things he would normally try to avoid or control, coupled with training him to relax in the presence of the 'problem'. 'Not talking' to the counsellor wasn't really seen as a problem.

Hope that helps

F8cking counsellor. Counselling is NOT an appropriate treatment for OCD. CBT and/or meds (and at her age meds would be a last resort) are the appropriate treatment. CBT would be pretty much as PussinWellies describes.

ocdyouth.iop.kcl.ac.uk/

this site should have useful info for all of you (the maudsley hospital is probably best NHS unit for treating OCD in the UK).

there are some very good self-help books available -
OCD Handbook by Hyman and Pedrick
Getting Control by Lee Baer (or pretty much anything else on OCD by him).

A good basic info book is by Frank Tallis - think it's called "OCD - the facts" but not 100% sure of the title.

I'ld have thought it would be more appropriate for the DD to see a psychologist or psychiatrist than a counsellor.

If you look at NICE website, they have guidelines for treatment of OCD in young people as well as adults.