To (New to Group)

[Guest guest]

Hi ,

BJ gave you some great tips. The one thing I wanted to add was to

FIGHT your insurance company if the only " qualified " therapist is out

of network. It can be very difficult, and you need to be stubborn and

a thorn in their side, but it can work! It did for me. One thing I

used with them is that this is no different than if my daughter had a

physical illness that required a specialist. You wouldn't send her to

a kidney dr. if she had a heart condition. And sending your child to

someone who doesn't do CBT with ERP is just wasting your time and

THEIR money. In the long run, they win if you can go to a specialist

and get results, and sometimes very quickly.

We did try oour ins co's " best offer " first, a nice lady but she

admitted she was no OCD specialist. She actually helped us by talking

to the ins co. and telling them that she couldn't help our child as

effectively as another woman in our area who WAS trained in OCD (but

out-of-network). In the end I think this did more than anything for

our case.

Good luck - remember, your child needs you to fight for her!

nna

NY

>

> Hi all,

> I'm just starting on this journey and saw the pediatrician with my 7

> yr old daughter on Friday. Got some referrals to psychologists

> (here's a list -- you pick), and that was pretty much it. I guess I

> was hoping for more guidance.

> A little background...she was diagnosed with Sensory Integration

> Disorder when she was 4 (it was great to have a diagnosis finally!).

> Then during a long 6 month battle w/ strep at age 5 she became very

> anxious and started having germ phobias and anxiety. We had CBT, and

> long course of antibiotic treatment. Psych mentioned possibility of

> PANDAS, but said she was too young for OCD diagnosis. She did make

> some progress and symptoms subsided, and then we relocated from NJ to

> Atlanta.

> Have been in Atlanta for about a year now. About 3 mos. ago her

> younger sister got strep and my other daughter went overboard with

> the questions, reassurance, germ phobia, sensory issues,

> preoccupation with 'bathroom' stuff, hand washing, etc. This occupies

> all her waking hours at home, although fortunately she able to stay

> relatively focused at school -- but I think that is now beginning to

> detiorate too. Mentioned all this to her pediatrician. They did

> rapid strep, got a negative, and said go to psych.

> I'm so frustrated. I have no clue where to start. The school has not

> been very helpful, and lately has actually been more troublesome than

> anything. When I pressed the doctor for someone that she thought

> was 'good', the one person she mentioned is not in our insurance

> plan. We have no family or friends (yet) here in Atlanta as a

> support system, and my daughter's tantrums and behavior is really

> beginning to effect the rest of the family.

> Any suggestions on how/where to start? Anyone on the list interested

> in 'mentoring' a parent new to OCD? Anyone in the Atlanta area that

> might have some suggestions for good therapist? (I might need one as

> well :-)

> Thank you all so much for taking the time to read this...and as I

> must say at least a thousand times as day " It's all OK. "

>