Re:new to group, first posting, intro and looking for advice please :)

[Guest guest]

Hi everyone. My daughter, who will be 18 in March just returned from a

residential treatment facility on January 18. She was at Memorial

Hospital in Oconomowoc, Wisconsin.

We live in California and were advised by J's psychologist (who specializes

in anxiety disorders) to look into residential treatment for her since

outpatient treatment wasn't working and she was becoming more and more

debilitated. She could no longer do simple things like prepare a meal, take

a shower, get dressed, walk through the house, get in and out of the car.

She had tried to take some classes at the community college, but couldn't

complete them. She did have a job as a server, but by the time she left for

residential treatment it was very stressful for her to get to her job and

then to function well. She was late all the time and very distracted when

she was at work. She loved this job and didn't want to leave it, but by the

time she finally quit she was greatly relieved. It was just too hard.

Anyway, she spent 3 months at . We were shocked that it took so long

because her psychologist thought it would take 4 or 5 weeks. He was

familiar with the program at McLean Hospital in Boston which apparently

moves faster than the program at . I don't know how true that is -

just what he communicated to me when we saw him last week. I think the key

is to find a program that specializes in treating OCD specifically. If

treatment isn't done right, it can make the OCD worse.

In the end, ' program was very successful for J. She is able to do

all the things she couldn't when she left. She learned a lot of coping

skills and is able to do ERP without me hounding her. She is back to the

happy-go-lucky girl we had before OCD reared its ugly head 4 years ago. She

is studying for her driver's license (finally!) and will start cosmetology

school in May.

Most of the kids J met while she was at were there for at least a

couple of months - and some were there as long as five months. That would

cost a fortune at $680 per day! Sadly, many kids left before they were

ready because insurance quit paying. We were lucky ours held out so long.

They would only approve 4 days at a time, so we were on edge for the entire

3 months thinking we'd have to jump on a plane and bring her home before she

was ready.

They do have residential and out-patient programs for adults, too. Many

times J's therapist at said she thought J would have done better in

the adult program because she was so much older than most of the kids. That

may be why it took her so long to respond to treatment - she was caught up

in the antics and drama of the 14 and 15 year olds. Once she was moved to

another wing with kids closer to her age she did much better.

J is seeing her old psychologist twice a week right now. She does ERP

almost daily and will continue to do that as long as necessary. She still

has issues with fears regarding death so she is doing exposures related to

that. She is taking Zoloft and Abilify and weaning off Seroquel. I think

the medications also were instrumental in her ability to get a handle on

OCD.

J's therapist described the constant struggle with keeping OCD under control

so well. He said it's like having a house. There are always things to work

on and when you finish one project, there's another one to work on.

Good luck finding help for your daughter, LA.

Michele in CA

[Guest guest]

Welcome, Michele. It sounds like your daughter is doing much better

due to her treatment. That is always great to hear.

This is a great group. Very supportive. Glad you are here.

BJ

>

> Hi everyone. My daughter, who will be 18 in March just returned from a

> residential treatment facility on January 18. She was at

Memorial

> Hospital in Oconomowoc, Wisconsin.

>

>

>

> We live in California and were advised by J's psychologist (who

specializes

> in anxiety disorders) to look into residential treatment for her since

> outpatient treatment wasn't working and she was becoming more and more

> debilitated. She could no longer do simple things like prepare a

meal, take

> a shower, get dressed, walk through the house, get in and out of the

car.

> She had tried to take some classes at the community college, but

couldn't

> complete them. She did have a job as a server, but by the time she

left for

> residential treatment it was very stressful for her to get to her

job and

> then to function well. She was late all the time and very

distracted when

> she was at work. She loved this job and didn't want to leave it,

but by the

> time she finally quit she was greatly relieved. It was just too hard.

>

>

>

> Anyway, she spent 3 months at . We were shocked that it took

so long

> because her psychologist thought it would take 4 or 5 weeks. He was

> familiar with the program at McLean Hospital in Boston which apparently

> moves faster than the program at . I don't know how true that

is -

> just what he communicated to me when we saw him last week. I think

the key

> is to find a program that specializes in treating OCD specifically. If

> treatment isn't done right, it can make the OCD worse.

>

>

>

> In the end, ' program was very successful for J. She is able

to do

> all the things she couldn't when she left. She learned a lot of coping

> skills and is able to do ERP without me hounding her. She is back

to the

> happy-go-lucky girl we had before OCD reared its ugly head 4 years

ago. She

> is studying for her driver's license (finally!) and will start

cosmetology

> school in May.

>

>

>

> Most of the kids J met while she was at were there for at least a

> couple of months - and some were there as long as five months. That

would

> cost a fortune at $680 per day! Sadly, many kids left before they were

> ready because insurance quit paying. We were lucky ours held out so

long.

> They would only approve 4 days at a time, so we were on edge for the

entire

> 3 months thinking we'd have to jump on a plane and bring her home

before she

> was ready.

>

>

>

> They do have residential and out-patient programs for adults, too. Many

> times J's therapist at said she thought J would have done

better in

> the adult program because she was so much older than most of the

kids. That

> may be why it took her so long to respond to treatment - she was

caught up

> in the antics and drama of the 14 and 15 year olds. Once she was

moved to

> another wing with kids closer to her age she did much better.

>

>

>

> J is seeing her old psychologist twice a week right now. She does ERP

> almost daily and will continue to do that as long as necessary. She

still

> has issues with fears regarding death so she is doing exposures

related to

> that. She is taking Zoloft and Abilify and weaning off Seroquel. I

think

> the medications also were instrumental in her ability to get a handle on

> OCD.

>

>

>

> J's therapist described the constant struggle with keeping OCD under

control

> so well. He said it's like having a house. There are always things

to work

> on and when you finish one project, there's another one to work on.

>

>

>

> Good luck finding help for your daughter, LA.

>

>

>

> Michele in CA

>

>

>

>

>

>

>

>

>

>

>

>

>

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