Guest guest Posted September 19, 2008 Report Share Posted September 19, 2008 Hey Jennie, Welcome. Sounds like you are on the right track already with doing ERP/CBT. Our son is 18 and we've had to deal with the handwashing with him. For him it was length of time as well as the amount of soap. We've put limits on both and he's doing much better now. He doesn't have any problems with making the bed. Of course that could be because he doesn't make his bed. LOL He was taking really long showers; over an hour. If interrupted while taking a shower, he would have to start over; which meant an even longer shower. He worked on cutting down the amount of time for his showers and his therapist helped him come up with coping statements to use when he felt the need to start over. Have you spoken with the therapist about things you can do at home to help your daughter? Your daughter's therapist will work with her to come up with a hierarchy of the things to work on. The hierarchy will help you to know what things to start working on. Once you know which things your daughter is working on, you can ask her therapist what you can do to help her. Take care Connie > > Thank you, BJ. > > We are seeing an OCD specialist therapist who uses ERP/CBT specifically. We just therapy > started this week after completing a psychiatric eval. We're hoping meds won't be needed > and are going to try CBT for awhile before making that call. > > She's probably had low lying OCD her whole life, but it recently flared noticeably at the > beginning of last month just after her grandfather spent 9 days in the hospital and was > then diagnosed with cancer. > > Mainly at home she's struggled with handwashing the most. Though with a stop watch > she's gotten it down from 45 min. to just over 2 min. There are also issues with using too > much TP and too many wipes after using the toilet. For awhile she was using too much > soft soap, but we rationed it and that helped a bit. > > Sometimes there's a morning making the bed ritual that's time consuming and if she gets > interrupted, has to start all over again, etc. > > Those are the main things she gets stuck on at home. > > Thanks again, > Jennie Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted September 19, 2008 Report Share Posted September 19, 2008 Thanks, Connie. We have a parent feedback session with the therapist next week (they started the hierarchy list of items to address this week). I was just hoping to glean any possible tips before then. :-) > > > > Thank you, BJ. > > > > We are seeing an OCD specialist therapist who uses ERP/CBT specifically. We just > therapy > > started this week after completing a psychiatric eval. We're hoping meds won't be > needed > > and are going to try CBT for awhile before making that call. > > > > She's probably had low lying OCD her whole life, but it recently flared noticeably at the > > beginning of last month just after her grandfather spent 9 days in the hospital and was > > then diagnosed with cancer. > > > > Mainly at home she's struggled with handwashing the most. Though with a stop watch > > she's gotten it down from 45 min. to just over 2 min. There are also issues with using > too > > much TP and too many wipes after using the toilet. For awhile she was using too much > > soft soap, but we rationed it and that helped a bit. > > > > Sometimes there's a morning making the bed ritual that's time consuming and if she > gets > > interrupted, has to start all over again, etc. > > > > Those are the main things she gets stuck on at home. > > > > Thanks again, > > Jennie > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted September 19, 2008 Report Share Posted September 19, 2008 That is great, Jennie. You are definitely on the right track. It can be so hard to find someone who knows how to treat OCD correctly, I'm so glad you did. Yes, trauma can set OCD off. Then again, many things can. Sorry to hear about " grandpa " . ( I have a father that is in a nursing home with Alzheimers. I know how much having a loved one ailing, can add stress. Omygosh, we've been through all of that. Plugged toilets, baby wipes, TONS of soap, handwashing until the hands and wrists are cracked and bleeding, and having to restart everything if things get interrupted. Many of those, our son dealt with when he was younger. He sort of ourgrew them, but grew into other things. We didn't know about CBT/ERP back then, so he didn't use any to try to overcome those things. We relied on doctors, and the only option we were told of, at that time, was meds. Fortunately, they helped. It sounds like the ERP she is doing is helping some. That is awesome that she went from 45 minutes to 2 with the handwashing. We found working on the contamination issues were the hardest for our son. He still has some to work on, but literally got to the point that he would stick his hand in the garbage and not wash his hands. Is she working her way up a hierarchy list? We found there were many things (as our son worked up his list) we just had to continue to enable and endure as we worked on easier stuff, working our way up to the harder stuff. So often, it seemed the answer was doing the opposite of what OCD wanted. Desensitizing yourself to it.. . But, making sure our son chose what to work on, and how fast the pace was in moving forward with it. That way, he was on board and cooperative. When our son was working on the rituals associated with his bed making. . He was told to just pull up the blankets and throw his stuff (pillows, extra blankets, etc) up on the bed, in any haphazard way it landed. He literally groaned out loud as he would walk away, it bothered him so much. But, he quickly was able to do it without it bothering him anymore. . .Much quicker than I expected. Once he was able to let it go, he was able to put things moreso in order, but was instructed that if it started feeling like it needed to be a certain way, he was to go back to the ERP, to combat it. It can be work, but worth the effort when you see improvement. ) BJ > > > > > > Hello all, > > > > > > My name is Jennie, and I have a 10 year old daughter who was > > recently diagnosed. > > > > > > I'm looking for additional resources and support. > > > > > > Lately I've been scouring a number books, pamphlets and articles > > looking for specific > > > direction on what to do in the middle of a stuck episode and haven't > > found _any_ specific > > > direction for parents. Help! > > > > > > All suggestions are most welcome. > > > > > > Thanks so much, > > > Jennie > > > > > > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted September 20, 2008 Report Share Posted September 20, 2008 I had the same problem when I was in college.  What finally worked for me when after college when I found an OCD specialist was taking the med Anafranil.  I am still on it today and my showers are about 20 mins. long and could be shorter if I tried.  Would you believe they were hours and hours long?!?!?  When I was in college I would start at night and be showering right until morning. I had to do it all in threes in a ritualistic way.  With regard to handwashing, I would wash my hands up to my elbows three times and the washing could take maybe 20 mins.  I would be spending more time in the university bathrooms scrubbing than actually studying.  Thank goodness school comes easy to me!  I throw out my notes because I would think they were contaminated and sometimes even the text.  I couldn't make myself do much studying until the night before because I felt everything was so contaminated.  Luckily, I had the spunk to stick college out despite very severe OCD and managed to graduate with a good cum from an Ivy League university.  Of course, I felt the school was so contaminated that I wouldn't let any of my family travel up to see the graduation.  I wasn't even planning to go, but a friend went and got my cap and gown when she got hers and convinced me to go.  It was bittersweet that my family wasn't there.  My parents were so sad about it, but still so supportive.  I was so overwhelmed by contamination fears that20I was too afraid to leave my dorm and move back home after graduation because I didn't want to contaminate my family home.  Finally, my family helped me by agreeing that I could throw everything I owned out and just come home myself.  Would you believe that to get me to do this, my dad picked me up at a train station, drove me to a hotel so I could " decontaminate " by showering (all night) and then I left my clothes and shoes in the hotel and my brother and mom brought me fresh ones in the morning so I would finally feel okay about going home.  They only agreed to do all this because we all knew how severely sick I was, and I needed to get home to start searching for the right help.  It took several years to find someone who knew about OCD, and then when ERP was too scary for me to do, I went to Canada to get Anafranil, which was the only med available at the time for OCD and wasn't available in the US.  Going on Anafranil was my life saver, plus the wonderful OCD specialist I saw intensively, and the support of my parents.  Re: New member Hey Jennie, Welcome. Sounds like you are on the right track already with doing ERP/CBT. Our son is 18 and we've had to deal with the hand washing with him. For him it was length of time as well as the amount of soap. We've put limits on both and he's doing much better now. He doesn't have any problems with making the bed. Of course that could be because he doesn't make his bed. LOL He was taking really long showers; over an hour. If interrupted while taking a shower, he would have to start over; which meant an even longer shower. He worked on cutting down the amount of time for his showers and his therapist helped him come up with coping statements to use when he felt the need to start over. Have you spoken with the therapist about things you can do at home to help your daughter? Your daughter's therapist will work with her to come up with a hierarchy of the things to work on. The hierarchy will help you to know what things to start working on. Once you know which things your daughter is working on, you can ask her therapist what you can do to help her. Take care Connie > > Thank you, BJ. > > We are seeing an OCD specialist therapist who uses ERP/CBT specifically. We just therapy > started this week after completing a psychiatric eval. We're hoping meds won't be needed > and are going to try CBT for awhile before making that call. > > She's probably had low lying OCD her whole life, but it rece ntly flared noticeably at the > beginning of last month just after her grandfather spent 9 days in the hospital and was > then diagnosed with cancer. > > Mainly at home she's struggled with handwashing the most. Though with a stop watch > she's gotten it down from 45 min. to just over 2 min. There are also issues with using too > much TP and too many wipes after using the toilet. For awhile she was using too much > soft soap, but we rationed it and that helped a bit. > > Sometimes there's a morning making the bed ritual that's time consuming and if she gets > interrupted, has to start all over again, etc. > > Those are the main things she gets stuck on at home. > > Thanks again, > Jennie Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted September 20, 2008 Report Share Posted September 20, 2008 Wow, Jordana, you have such loving, understanding, and supportive parents. I'm glad you were able to find help at at time where it was even more rare than now. Our son suffers somewhat from what you explained, but not as severe. I wonder if that is because the medication brings it down a notch. One day, while in therapy, he told the therapist and I that at this point, he has decided that the house is so contaminated from all the ERP he done, that he has just learned to live with that idea. It kind of made me sad that he can't let it go altogether, but I hope that someday he can. BJ > > > > > > Thank you, BJ. > > > > > > We are seeing an OCD specialist therapist who uses ERP/CBT specifically. We just > > therapy > > > started this week after completing a psychiatric eval. We're hoping meds won't be > > needed > > > and are going to try CBT for awhile before making that call. > > > > > > She's probably had low lying OCD her whole life, but it rece > ntly flared noticeably at the > > > beginning of last month just after her grandfather spent 9 days in the hospital and was > > > then diagnosed with cancer. > > > > > > Mainly at home she's struggled with handwashing the most. Though with a stop watch > > > she's gotten it down from 45 min. to just over 2 min. There are also issues with using > > too > > > much TP and too many wipes after using the toilet. For awhile she was using too much > > > soft soap, but we rationed it and that helped a bit. > > > > > > Sometimes there's a morning making the bed ritual that's time consuming and if she > > gets > > > interrupted, has to start all over again, etc. > > > > > > Those are the main things she gets stuck on at home. > > > > > > Thanks again, > > > Jennie > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted September 20, 2008 Report Share Posted September 20, 2008 I think what your son said is kind of the ultimate goal of ERP for contamination:  Make everything feel contaminated so there is no point in trying to avoid anything.  For me, my bed always seemed to be the " sacred " thing that had to be kept free of any contamination.  Thus, my behavior therapist would have me bring to bed a tissue that was rubbed against anything I had worked on touching that day.  The idea was to do away with the idea of the bed as being some " safe zone " .  She used to have me rub things on the bed that I had agreed to expose myself to.  By the way, nothing I exposed myself to was in anyway dangerous, as I know now.  She wasn't one who believed in the need for extreme exposures, like rubbing public toilets or whatever. Re: New member Wow, Jordana, you have such loving, understanding, and supportive parents. I'm glad you were able to find help at at time where it was even more rare than now. Our son suffers somewhat from what you explained, but not as severe. I wonder if that is because the medication brings it down a notch. One day, while in therapy, he told the therapist and I that at this point, he has decided that the house is so contaminate d from all the ERP he done, that he has just learned to live with that idea. It kind of made me sad that he can't let it go altogether, but I hope that someday he can. BJ > > > > > > Thank you, BJ. > > > > > > We are seeing an OCD specialist therapist who uses ERP/CBT specifically. We just > > therapy > > > started this week after completing a psychiatric eval. We're hoping meds won't be > > needed > > > and are going to try CBT for awhile before making that call. > > > > > > She's probably had low lying OCD her whole life, but it rece > ntly flared noticeably at the > > > beginning of last month just after her grandfather spent 9 days in the hospital and was > > > then diagnosed with cancer. > > > > > > Mainly at home she's struggled with handwashing the most. Though with a stop watch > > > she's gotten it down from 45 min. to just over 2 min. There are also issues with using > > too > > > much TP and too many wipes after using the toilet. For awhile she was using too muc h > > > soft soap, but we rationed it and that helped a bit. > > > > > > Sometimes there's a morning making the bed ritual that's time consuming and if she > > gets > > > interrupted, has to start all over again, etc. > > > > > > Those are the main things she gets stuck on at home. > > > > > > Thanks again, > > > Jennie > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted November 8, 2008 Report Share Posted November 8, 2008 Hi I am a new (since Oct/07) private practice LC in Ottawa, On. Canada. I am one of only 2 LCs in my city who are not nurses. We have a thriving "lactation community" here with a very active ILCA/CLCA affiliate composed of PHN IBCLCs, hospital based IBCLCs, Community Health Ctr based IBCLCs, as well as pirvate practice LCs. It is a very active group but I am very interested in hearing about how things work elsewhere as well; all the little bits of info that can help me develop my practice. I work with a very experienced LC who has been a wonderful mentor to me. I currently do mostly home visits but have the use of my collegue's office 2 days/wk as well as working with another LC at a breastfeeding drop-in at an Early Years Ctr (hosts play groups, parenting workshops, child care child, care resources, etc...) one afternoon /wk. Really looking forward to getting to know you all and learning as much as I can. Beth McMillan in Ottawa Where we just had 3 or 4 days of unbelievably warm sunny weather (in Nov!!) and now on Saturday when the kids are home it is pouring rain! Where is the PP conference???? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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