Re: Question about ERP/CBT not working

December 26, 2008

you made some very good points. I know must have some ability to " talk

back " to her OCD, because otherwise she wouldn't be able to ignore it, right? I

mean, if she were being completely overwhelmed by the thoughts, she'd be totally

nonfunctional, so at some level, she's controlling it in her own way, I guess.

She saw her therapist again and they worked on another list. Since it's really

only the shoes bothering her, she ranked them from lowest to highest on her

anxiety scale. Hers were the lowest, then mine, then Dad/Grandpa's, then her

siblings at the top.

I made her a compromise that if she would do SOME kind of exposure (even

mentally), I would back off on the nagging. Like you said, her exposure might

be internal. She usually tells me, too, like " Mom, I worked on putting my hands

down today " . Of course, though, she hasn't picked up the workbook on her own.

Honestly, I think it's a little too advanced for her; her reading comprehension

is lacking; she understands better when either I read it out loud or she does.

As far as rituals, you know, she really doesn't have anything specific; she's

not a counter, or checker, or even a washer. The closest she comes is when

she's close to some shoes, she'll go wash her hands, BUT only once. I suppose,

though, that's a ritual in itself, just feeling like she has to wash after being

near shoes. The only other " ritual " she appears to have is simply avoidance,

like being on the computer, reading in her room, sitting away from people

wearing shoes in a house (doesn't seem to be as big an issue in public). But

since some of this is (I think) normal teenage stuff, too, it's really hard to

know what to work on and what to leave alone!

Debbie

Debbie Cavender

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