we can help
Child OCD Therapy
WE OFFER child ocd therapy: online treatment throughout Arizona and in person in Phoenix AZ. Ages 4 -12 years old.
Set up your free 15-20 minute good-fit discovery phone call today.
Are you a parent who feels lost in how to help your child with scary thoughts? Does it feel like OCD is taking over your child? And your household?
Caught In Your Child’s Loop of OCD
(What you will learn as a parent in child OCD therapy)
Child OCD can embody many different topics and themes.
OCD CAN CAUSE YOUR CHILD TO:
- Fear harming someone they love: your child may worry they will hurt you, a sibling, or a pet, even though they are a gentle and loving child who would never harm anyone
- Fear getting sick or making others sick: refusing to touch doorknobs, eat certain foods, or be near someone who sneezed, terrified they will catch or spread illness
- “Bad touch thoughts”: intrusive thoughts about bodies, touching, or sexuality that your child doesn’t have words for, causing intense shame, confusion, and distress, even though these thoughts are completely ego-dystonic and not reflective of who they are
- Fear being a bad kid or a liar: confessing minor or imagined wrongdoings repeatedly, like “Mommy, I think I took a piece of gum from your purse three years ago and never told you” or “I think I cheated on my spelling test but I’m not sure.”
- Fear not being good enough in their faith: praying repeatedly, confessing sins that aren’t sins, or fearing God is angry with them
- Fear of death or something bad happening: avoiding everyday activities like eating certain foods, riding the bus, or going to school because their brain tells them something terrible might happen
- Hyperfocus on body sensations: constantly aware of the urge to pee, afraid they will wet themselves, making repeated trips to the bathroom even when they just went, or hyperaware of swallowing, blinking, breathing, etc
- Relationship and attachment fears: worrying excessively that you are angry with them, don’t love them, or that something bad will happen to you while they are at school
- Checking and re-checking: needing to make sure the door is locked, the stove is off, or their backpack is packed correctly, sometimes making the whole family late because it doesn’t “feel right” yet
- Fear of “catching” someone’s essence, bad luck, personality or behaviors: not wanting to wear a shirt they had a bad thought in, avoiding a friend who had something bad happen to them, or trying to be perfect in their behavior to counteract a bad action a classmate got caught doing, fearing they will become that person or absorb their misfortune
- Needing things to feel “just right”: erasing and rewriting homework until the pencil goes through the paper, redoing a task over and over not because they fear something bad will happen, but because it simply doesn’t feel right yet
- Magical thinking and rituals: tapping, counting, repeating phrases, or touching things a certain number of times to prevent something bad from happening to someone they love (they often understand logically that their behaviors are unrelated, but cannot shake OCD’s conviction)
- Reassurance seeking: repeatedly asking “Are you sure you’re not mad at me?” “Do you still love me?” “Am I a good person?” and needing to confess worries to a parent or trusted adult, only to feel temporary relief before the question returns
- And so much more!
How We Can Help Your Child, You as the Parent, and the Whole Family in Child OCD Therapy
Whether you are dealing with OCD with compulsions or OCD without compulsions, we can help.
Imagine feeling in control of your life again. You now know how to identify and handle intrusive thoughts and to stop engaging in time-consuming and agonizing rituals and compulsions. You embrace uncertainty. You have your life back. And maybe, your life is now something you never knew existed for yourself, a life where thoughts are fleeting, if the theme of thoughts that once triggered you exist at all, and it stops there. No rumination. Confidence in yourself. Confidence that you are a good, moral, and kind person. Confidence that you can move on from a loop that you were once stuck in. Confidence in your values and what actually matters in your life. Your decision fatigue is over. You don’t plan your life around your triggers. You just live your life.
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Imagine This for Your Child
How We Work With Your Child
Our child therapists for OCD meet kids where they are. Rather than sitting across from a child and talking about their fears head-on, our therapists build the foundation first. Using expressive arts therapy and play therapy, they help children develop the emotional intelligence to identify what they are feeling and where they feel it in their body so they can begin to recognize their OCD symptoms as they arise. Our therapists will also spend time with you as the parent, educating you on what to expect throughout treatment, OCD, and the process of exposure therapy so you feel confident helping your child at home.
From there, they begin in Exposure and Response Prevention (ERP), the gold standard treatment for OCD, in ways that feel manageable and even fun. Think card games and memory games built around triggers, ERP bingo, and sand trays. Think creating clay molds, using puppets, and painting while facing their fears. The work is real and effective, but it doesn’t have to feel clinical or scary for a child.
After hard work in session, our child therapists create space for grounding: a game, an art activity, something strategic that brings the child back down before they walk out the door without undoing the hard work a child just completed. The goal is always to meet your child where they are that day, and work from there.
You Are Part of the Team
One of the most important parts of treating OCD in children is helping parents understand their role, and that includes learning about family accommodation. Accommodation is the natural, loving instinct to protect your child from distress: answering the reassurance questions, helping them avoid triggers, adjusting the family’s routine around their fears. It makes sense that you do it. And it’s also one of the things that unintentionally keeps OCD strong.
In parent sessions, we work with you to gradually reduce accommodation while staying firmly on your child’s team. You learn to call out the OCD, not your child, and to say, “I’m not going to help OCD win today, but I am here for you. Let’s boss-back OCD together.”
This shift can feel hard at first, and yes, things sometimes flare before they get better. But as your child begins to see that you are fighting against OCD alongside them, not against them, something changes. The friction in the home lifts. Your child feels safer. Their sense of security and self-esteem grows. And your relationship with them gets stronger through the process.
You and your child, on the same team. Against OCD.
That’s how we work. And that’s how kids get their lives back.
Your child ocd therapist will teach you:
- How to help your child tolerate and embrace uncertainty, and how to sit with it yourself as a parent.
- How to help your child make decisions and behave based on their values, even when OCD is loud.
- How to recognize and confidently say no to OCD, together, as a team.
- How to stop time-consuming compulsions and rituals without it turning into a battle at home
- How to separate your child from their OCD so your child knows you see them, not their symptoms, and so they can begin to see themselves that way, too.
Set up your free 15-20 minute good-fit discovery phone call today.
Common Questions
What ages do you treat for childhood OCD?
Our child OCD therapy is designed for children ages 4 through 12, and our child therapist holds specialized training in early childhood development from birth through age 12. If your child is younger than 4 and you are concerned about OCD or anxiety, please don’t hesitate to reach out. Earlier than you might think is not too early to get support.
For teenagers, we have multiple therapists on our team who specialize in OCD treatment for adolescents ages 13 through 18. No matter where your child falls, we have someone who is trained, experienced, and ready to help.
If you are unsure whether we are the right fit for your child’s age or needs, just reach out. We will point you in the right direction.
My child's OCD doesn't look like what I've seen online or heard about. How do I know if it really is OCD?
This is one of the most common things parents tell us. OCD is sneaky. It shifts, it hides, and it rarely looks the way people expect it to. A child who confesses constantly, avoids wearing certain clothes, makes repeated trips to the bathroom, or melts down over something that seems small may not “look like” OCD to the untrained eye. That is exactly why our therapists are trained to recognize OCD in every form it takes, not just the ones most people know about. The International OCD Foundation has wonderful resources for OCD in kids.
Won't exposing my child to their fears make things worse? I don't want to traumatize them.
This is every parent’s instinct, and it makes complete sense. The treatment for OCD, (Exposure and Response Prevention, or ERP) does involve gradually facing fears, but never recklessly and never without your child being ready. You and your child always have a say, and we never do anything without consent or against your family’s values. Our child therapists use play therapy, art therapy, and games to make exposures feel manageable. We always meet your child where they are that day. The goal is to build confidence, not overwhelm.
Should I stop answering my child's reassurance questions? It feels cruel to say no.
It feels cruel because you love your child, and that instinct to soothe them is good parenting. The hard truth is that reassurance, while it helps in the moment, is one of the things that keeps OCD strong over time. We don’t ask you to go cold turkey or do it alone. We work with you to gradually reduce accommodation in a way that keeps you firmly on your child’s team so they feel supported in the process. We also help you with language that feels loving and kind for both you and your child. Learn more about the secret sauce to parenting a kid with OCD.
How do I know if my child has OCD or PANS/PANDAS?
This is such an important question and one we take seriously. PANS/PANDAS is a condition where OCD symptoms, and sometimes other behavioral or neurological symptoms, appear suddenly or intensify dramatically, often following a strep infection or other illness. If your child seemed to develop OCD symptoms almost overnight, had a sudden and dramatic shift in their personality or behavior, began experiencing rage episodes, separation anxiety, or regression alongside their OCD symptoms, or if their symptoms seem to flare every time they get sick, PANS/PANDAS may be worth exploring.
The tricky part is that OCD and OCD due to PANS/PANDAS can look identical on the surface: the intrusive thoughts, the compulsions, the rituals are all the same. The difference is often in the onset and the pattern. A child with OCD typically develops symptoms more gradually, while PANS/PANDAS tends to arrive suddenly and in waves tied to illness.
We are not medical providers and cannot diagnose PANS/PANDAS; that requires a medical evaluation. However, we are experienced in working alongside medical providers. We treat the OCD and separation anxiety components while your child’s medical team addresses the underlying immune response. If you suspect PANS/PANDAS, we will help you navigate next steps and ensure your child is getting care that addresses the full picture.
My child has both OCD and trauma. Can you help with that too?
Absolutely. Our child therapist is trained in OCD, anxiety, trauma, and childhood stressors so you do not have to choose between getting help for one or the other, and you do not have to piece together care from multiple providers.
One of the most common questions parents ask is whether trauma or OCD should be treated first. The honest answer is that it depends on your child and how they show up, and that is something your therapist will help you navigate together. Treatment is not a rigid roadmap. It is a dance, and a good therapist knows when to lean into the harder work and when to pull back and focus on stabilization and connection first.
Depending on your child’s needs, treatment may include play therapy, expressive arts therapy, EMDR for kids, or Exposure and Response Prevention, or a thoughtful combination of all of them. The goal is always to meet your child where they are and work in a way that feels safe enough to be effective.
Your child does not have to carry all of this separately. We can help with the whole picture.
I think my teenager has OCD. How do I know, and what should I do?
Teenagers with OCD can be especially hard to spot because teens are more private, more likely to hide what they are experiencing out of shame, and more likely to have been quietly managing their symptoms for years before anyone notices how much it has taken over their life.
Some signs your teenager may be struggling with OCD:
- Spending significant time in the bathroom, their room, or on their phone and seeming distressed rather than just disengaged
- Asking for reassurance repeatedly about their health, their relationships/friendships, their morality, or whether they are a good person
- Dropping grades, avoiding school, or withdrawing from friends and activities they used to love
- Carrying a weight of shame or fear that feels bigger than typical teenage stress, something that appears to attack their moral character
The most important thing to know is that your teenager is not choosing this. OCD attacks what matters most to a person and for a teenager that means their identity, their relationships, and their sense of being a good person.
What you can do: Let them know you see them and you are not afraid of what they are going through. Avoid accommodating the OCD even when it is hard. And get them specialized help. OCD requires a therapist trained specifically in Exposure and Response Prevention.
That is exactly what we offer at Outsmarting Anxiety & OCD. We will meet your teenager where they are, do the real work of helping them take their life back, and keep you informed and equipped to support them at home. If you think your teenager has OCD, don’t wait. Reach out today.
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