OCD Phychologists/therapists in Chicago?

[Guest guest]

My daughter (13) was diagnosed in September with OCD and is under care of

phychiatist/phychologist and on Zoloft /Lorazepam for 6 weeks without much

progress. I am pursuing PANDAS testing as it came on very suddenly.  Right now,

Im being told shes too depressed to begin exposure therapy. We've been going 2

times a week.   I am wondering if  anybody in the Chicago area who have had some

positve success with therapy and could sugguest any local phychs/therapists who

have helped them or know of  local proven OCD experts/therapists? 

 

Also, what should I reasonably expect from the phych/therapist?  I keep on

asking for practical suggestions on what to do with outbursts, refusal to get

out of the bathtub, exccessive fears ect. and I'm not getting any answers back. 

Should the therapist walk us through Exposure Response session to show us how it

works?  Should the therapist provide suggestions for dialog so I can help/coach

my daughter through some of these things?  Should they provide more practicle

info and how to's?  All I have been told is that she will have to do the

opposite of what the OCD tells her to do and I need to read Dr. Chansky's

book. (which I have)

 

Please let me know.

[Guest guest]

Hi I'm from Chicago suburbs but very new to this would love to talk

Sent from my iPhone

> My daughter (13) was diagnosed in September with OCD and is under care of

phychiatist/phychologist and on Zoloft /Lorazepam for 6 weeks without much

progress. I am pursuing PANDAS testing as it came on very suddenly. Right now,

Im being told shes too depressed to begin exposure therapy. We've been going 2

times a week. I am wondering if anybody in the Chicago area who have had some

positve success with therapy and could sugguest any local phychs/therapists who

have helped them or know of local proven OCD experts/therapists?

>

> Also, what should I reasonably expect from the phych/therapist? I keep on

asking for practical suggestions on what to do with outbursts, refusal to get

out of the bathtub, exccessive fears ect. and I'm not getting any answers back.

Should the therapist walk us through Exposure Response session to show us how it

works? Should the therapist provide suggestions for dialog so I can help/coach

my daughter through some of these things? Should they provide more practicle

info and how to's? All I have been told is that she will have to do the

opposite of what the OCD tells her to do and I need to read Dr. Chansky's book.

(which I have)

>

> Please let me know.

>

>

[Guest guest]

Where do u live? I'm in Woodridge

Sent from my iPhone

> Hi I'm from Chicago suburbs but very new to this would love to talk

>

> Sent from my iPhone

>

>

>

> > My daughter (13) was diagnosed in September with OCD and is under care of

phychiatist/phychologist and on Zoloft /Lorazepam for 6 weeks without much

progress. I am pursuing PANDAS testing as it came on very suddenly. Right now,

Im being told shes too depressed to begin exposure therapy. We've been going 2

times a week. I am wondering if anybody in the Chicago area who have had some

positve success with therapy and could sugguest any local phychs/therapists who

have helped them or know of local proven OCD experts/therapists?

> >

> > Also, what should I reasonably expect from the phych/therapist? I keep on

asking for practical suggestions on what to do with outbursts, refusal to get

out of the bathtub, exccessive fears ect. and I'm not getting any answers back.

Should the therapist walk us through Exposure Response session to show us how it

works? Should the therapist provide suggestions for dialog so I can help/coach

my daughter through some of these things? Should they provide more practicle

info and how to's? All I have been told is that she will have to do the opposite

of what the OCD tells her to do and I need to read Dr. Chansky's book. (which I

have)

> >

> > Please let me know.

> >

> >

[Guest guest]

I have nothing to add other than I am also in the Chicago area (Clarendon Hills)

and would love to hear any positive feedback/recommendations regarding

psychologists/behavioral therapists in the area. The psychiatrists don't seem to

think that OCD can be treated effectively without medication, but they have a

financial interest in that opinion so I'm not sure what to believe. My

7-year-old son was diagnosed with OCD and ADHD over the summer, and we're not

having much success with medication or therapy. I'm also investigating the

PANDAS possibility because he did have a particularly bad case of Strep a couple

of years ago.

Re: OCD Phychologists/therapists in Chicago?

Where do u live? I'm in Woodridge

Sent from my iPhone

> Hi I'm from Chicago suburbs but very new to this would love to talk

>

> Sent from my iPhone

>

> On Nov 4, 2011, at 10:17 AM, N Brennan < brennan155713@... > wrote:

>

> > My daughter (13) was diagnosed in September with OCD and is under care of

phychiatist/phychologist and on Zoloft /Lorazepam for 6 weeks without much

progress. I am pursuing PANDAS testing as it came on very suddenly. Right now,

Im being told shes too depressed to begin exposure therapy. We've been going 2

times a week. I am wondering if anybody in the Chicago area who have had some

positve success with therapy and could sugguest any local phychs/therapists who

have helped them or know of local proven OCD experts/therapists?

> >

> > Also, what should I reasonably expect from the phych/therapist? I keep on

asking for practical suggestions on what to do with outbursts, refusal to get

out of the bathtub, exccessive fears ect. and I'm not getting any answers back.

Should the therapist walk us through Exposure Response session to show us how it

works? Should the therapist provide suggestions for dialog so I can help/coach

my daughter through some of these things? Should they provide more practicle

info and how to's? All I have been told is that she will have to do the opposite

of what the OCD tells her to do and I need to read Dr. Chansky's book. (which I

have)

> >

> > Please let me know.

> >

> >

[Guest guest]

Although I am in NY.........my CBT therapist a LSW was trained by the BTTI

(Behavioral Therapy Training Institute) and my son is not on any anti-psychotic

meds although he was and I had to fight to get him off (he was admitted to a

mental hospital when this first started in April and they put him on meds I

didn’t want him on) long story short he is on Augmentin long term as we delve

into the PANDAS theory but nothing else. He has been doing CBT for almost 5

months and it has worked wonders. I think the medication depends on the severity

of the OCD and how much it affects daily life. My son gained 20 lbs in less than

6 months on anti-psychotics and I was scared to see as his mom that it was a

fight to get the psychiatrist to take him off. I ended up switching

psychiatrists because of it. As parents we look for the magic pill or magic wand

to help our children and this has been life changing/family changing/something

that will never be the same again. I am saddened to see these children suffer

and the medical professionals (some of them) do not have the patience or

understanding.

From: nbk64@...

Sent: Friday, November 04, 2011 3:00 PM

To:

Subject: Re: OCD Phychologists/therapists in Chicago?

I have nothing to add other than I am also in the Chicago area (Clarendon Hills)

and would love to hear any positive feedback/recommendations regarding

psychologists/behavioral therapists in the area. The psychiatrists don't seem to

think that OCD can be treated effectively without medication, but they have a

financial interest in that opinion so I'm not sure what to believe. My

7-year-old son was diagnosed with OCD and ADHD over the summer, and we're not

having much success with medication or therapy. I'm also investigating the

PANDAS possibility because he did have a particularly bad case of Strep a couple

of years ago.

Re: OCD Phychologists/therapists in Chicago?

Where do u live? I'm in Woodridge

Sent from my iPhone

On Nov 4, 2011, at 12:06 PM, mailto:krispesola%40yahoo.com wrote:

> Hi I'm from Chicago suburbs but very new to this would love to talk

>

> Sent from my iPhone

>

> On Nov 4, 2011, at 10:17 AM, N Brennan < mailto:brennan155713%40yahoo.com >

wrote:

>

> > My daughter (13) was diagnosed in September with OCD and is under care of

phychiatist/phychologist and on Zoloft /Lorazepam for 6 weeks without much

progress. I am pursuing PANDAS testing as it came on very suddenly. Right now,

Im being told shes too depressed to begin exposure therapy. We've been going 2

times a week. I am wondering if anybody in the Chicago area who have had some

positve success with therapy and could sugguest any local phychs/therapists who

have helped them or know of local proven OCD experts/therapists?

> >

> > Also, what should I reasonably expect from the phych/therapist? I keep on

asking for practical suggestions on what to do with outbursts, refusal to get

out of the bathtub, exccessive fears ect. and I'm not getting any answers back.

Should the therapist walk us through Exposure Response session to show us how it

works? Should the therapist provide suggestions for dialog so I can help/coach

my daughter through some of these things? Should they provide more practicle

info and how to's? All I have been told is that she will have to do the opposite

of what the OCD tells her to do and I need to read Dr. Chansky's book. (which I

have)

> >

> > Please let me know.

> >

> >

[Guest guest]

A book I found very helpful was " What to do when your Child has Obsessive

Compulsive Disorder " by Aureen Pinto Wagner. This book was great, and I knew I

had found a dtr experienced in treating ocd, when he was telling me everything

that I had already read in the book.

On the first visit, psychologist explained ocd to us, explained erp and

estimated how long treatment might be and set a goal of improvement. Dtr was

also very helpful when I had questions about my role in handling ds's ocd.

Seems like you should be getting answers to your questions.

>

> My daughter (13) was diagnosed in September with OCD and is under care of

phychiatist/phychologist and on Zoloft /Lorazepam for 6 weeks without much

progress. I am pursuing PANDAS testing as it came on very suddenly.  Right now,

Im being told shes too depressed to begin exposure therapy. We've been going 2

times a week.   I am wondering if  anybody in the Chicago area who have had some

positve success with therapy and could sugguest any local phychs/therapists who

have helped them or know of  local proven OCD experts/therapists? 

>  

> Also, what should I reasonably expect from the phych/therapist?  I keep on

asking for practical suggestions on what to do with outbursts, refusal to get

out of the bathtub, exccessive fears ect. and I'm not getting any answers back. 

Should the therapist walk us through Exposure Response session to show us how it

works?  Should the therapist provide suggestions for dialog so I can help/coach

my daughter through some of these things?  Should they provide more practicle

info and how to's?  All I have been told is that she will have to do the

opposite of what the OCD tells her to do and I need to read Dr. Chansky's

book. (which I have)

>  

> Please let me know.

>

>

[Guest guest]

What dose of Zoloft is your dd on?  The dose usually has to be increased

gradually to a fairly high (200 mg/day) dose for it to be effective although you

should see some improvement before then if she is responding to it.  It is true

that if your dd is quite depressed, it will be more difficult for her to have

the strength and energy to go through exposure and response prevention.

Hopefully, the meds will help with that too.  The therapist should be giving you

some answers or more suggestions than " just read this book, "   although both

Wagner and Chansky have great books.

When you say your dd is having outbursts, is she screaming, yelling, hitting,

throwing, and/or completely out of control?  If so, the only thing you can do at

that time, is to keep her from hurting herself or anyone else.  She will not be

able to reason with you, hear your soothing words, etc.  When my older dd was at

her worst, at age 8.5 yrs, I often had to " bear hug " her.  You sit behind or

stand behind the child with your arms pinning her arms to her body.  She should

be facing away from you.  This reduces her ability to hurt you or herself and

helps her to physically contain her fear and anger.  OCD is scary and if she is

being told to fight the fears (which she will have to do), she may initially

find it much easier to fight you.  She can see you and you are not " inside "

her.  For my own sanity, I had to learn to mentally check out and not respond to

the things dd was saying as it was like fueling the fire.  With our dd, we knew

a more

receptive time was coming when she started to cry.  It sounds awful, but this

was when she could begin to be comforted and to hear us.  This also does not

mean that she got away with everything.  When our dd broke a window in a rage,

we made her pay for the repair; when she trashed her bedroom, she had to help

pick it up after she calmed down.

What you will have to do with ERP is to gradually stop accommodating the demands

of her OCD. When our dd's washing was worst, we were cutting up the soap and

keeping it away from her.  She would go into rages if the piece of soap we gave

her was too small.  My husband initially felt we needed to comply with her

wishes.  This was a natural impulse, but the wrong thing to do.  OCD is greedy. 

If you give in to one demand, it starts making more and more.  You do also need

to remember--as hard as it is--that it is your dd's OCD making these demands not

her conscious willful mind.  You can't really dialog with the OCD.  When your

child is feeling better, she may know that the obsessions and compulsions are

irrational, but in the heat of the moment, she will not.  A useful analogy in

some of the books, is that obsessions are like junk mail, spam, pop up ads, in

your brain.  It can also help to point out that everyone sometimes has weird

thoughts, but

most people are able to say " oh, that doesn't make sense. "   Those of us with

OCD get stuck on the junk thought (like a DVD that is skipping, since I doubt

she'll know what a broken record is!)  You don't want to promise her that what

she fears will never happen; people do get sick, have have house fires, make

mistakes, and die.  What she needs to hear is that " with help, she can handle "

whatever does happen.

Also, you can look up the International OCD Foundation website. They have lists

of therapists who treat OCD.  You will want to talk with anyone you call and

make sure what their qualifications are, but it's a starting point.

Finally, remember to take care of yourself.  It is too easy to forget, but you

cannot help your dd if you yourself are overwhelmed.

hope this helps a little bit.  This listserve is a great place for advice and

venting.

(mom w/OCD, 11.5 yo dd w/OCD, 9 yo dd w/tic disorder and/or just right

OCD?)

________________________________

[Guest guest]

Greetings,

I live in the south suburbs and found a wonderful therapist that was a good fit

for my daughter. Feel free to contact me privately to discuss. This therapist

told me up front her experiences with OCD and also suggested an OCD specialist.

She was not. The specialist told me my daughter needed residential/special

school because she had other diagnoses and it was " complicated " by that. I

really didn't want that because the rages only occurred at home. She was fine

at school. I think sometimes specialists see everything through their rather

narrow perspective. When my DD was diagnosed BP they said it couldn't be OCD

because of the violence. Hmmm, anyone here think OCD rages can't get violent?

The BP psychiatrist to this day thinks the OCD is only evident now that the BP

is being controlled by meds. The brain is complex and I don't think anyone

knows exactly how it works. It's still trial and error which is so frustrating

to us with a child that is suffering.

In hindsight (2.5 years later) I can say I made the right decision. The

therapist did a more informal ERP. She used a rewards/consequence behavioral

plan and progressed at what seemed like a snail's pace. When we tried to

quicken the pace, it didn't work. My DD had very black/white thinking and when

we tried to draw a line in the sand it only made matters worse. Yes, to an

outside observer it looked like we were giving in to DD. In reality there were

always consequences. The therapist saw things so clearly. She knew when we

were reacting in a way that was triggering issues my DD was not yet able to deal

with effectively and other times when our expectation was reasonable and DD

needed to feel the discomfort and not soothe herself with destructive OCD

behaviors.

The lesson I learned is that it takes a long, long time and there are ups and

downs along the way. The books and the experts are an excellent source of

information but each child is different and therapy has to be tailored to the

child. What I liked about this therapist is that I could email her a detailed

account of the week prior to my DD's session. If needed, she would talk to us

(parents alone) prior to meeting with DD but not too long because the waiting

would cause DD to escalate in anxiety. Often, we would meet as a family at the

end of the session. She developed a good rapport with DD and could summarize

the session and set a weekly goal. I trusted her, respected her and liked her.

I did refer a friend who chose not to use her services. She felt the therapist

was too " child friendly " and being manipulated by the child. I found living

with a child with OCD gave me a case of PTSD and my own responses to my DD were

not always healthy. The therapist seemed to " get this " . It's not that I was

the cause of my DD's OCD. It was that sometimes I was too tired or my own

insecurities were triggered and that caused me to respond inappropriately. I

think, those of us on this list know, that " normal " kids can give parents some

slack and just mumble something like " you're tripping " . OCD kids don't.

Dor

[Guest guest]

HI!

I don't know if this will be helpful or not, but there is an interesting group

on Facebook, called OCD Chicago. I haven't fully investigated them, but I did

" like, " them, and their articles and links are usually interesting and seem

pretty on target. Check them out (everybody!) and see what you think. Since it

is your area, maybe it will be a useful resource!

Best,

Diane

[Guest guest]

Good to know will do!

Sent from my iPhone

> HI!

>

> I don't know if this will be helpful or not, but there is an interesting group

on Facebook, called OCD Chicago. I haven't fully investigated them, but I did

" like, " them, and their articles and links are usually interesting and seem

pretty on target. Check them out (everybody!) and see what you think. Since it

is your area, maybe it will be a useful resource!

>

> Best,

> Diane

>

>

[Guest guest]

There is also the OCD Chicago organization (maybe the Facebook group is part of

this). But they have a lot of great info including a section on finding a

provider.

Here is a link to that section:

http://www.ocdchicago.org/index.php/ocd-facts/choosing-a-therapist/

Good luck.

>

> HI!

>

> I don't know if this will be helpful or not, but there is an interesting group

on Facebook, called OCD Chicago. I haven't fully investigated them, but I did

" like, " them, and their articles and links are usually interesting and seem

pretty on target. Check them out (everybody!) and see what you think. Since it

is your area, maybe it will be a useful resource!

>

> Best,

> Diane

>

[Guest guest]

hi!

 

She is on only 50 mgs right now. (What dose is considered theraputic?) Were

slowly increasing it but last time I increased it to 60Mgs she had two really

bad days--lots of crying and hystarics where she was unconsolable and said she

wanted to die. I told the phych that since I was pursuing Pandas testing I was

leary of uping the meds too much since I read Pandas kids dont do well on high

doses.  Phych told me after the fact, that increasing it can cause temporary

issues until the body/mind get used to it. IS THAT TRUE? 

 After one long outburst (crying freaking out, dont touch me, Im gross/ Im

gross) session, when she finally was calming down I began rubbing her feet (she

does not want to be touched in the height of the outbursts) and I then was able

to massage her back to relax her.   I have tried that a few times since and it

seems to help.  I am now keeping track of the anxiety levels and fear levels

she has throughout the day to see if there is a pattern.

 

Yes, they talk.  I personally think that its causing her to wallow in her

depression.   I dont see any positve results from talking cause its seemed to

make it worse.  My theory is that she needs to do one exposure therapy and be

successeful so she can see for herself that it works and she can fight this. 

 

________________________________

To:

Sent: Friday, November 4, 2011 8:56 PM

Subject: Re: OCD Phychologists/therapists in Chicago?

 

With meds, it is suggested a trial of 12 weeks. But she also has to get to what

will be a " therapeutic dose " for her, the dosage that will help. How much Zoloft

is she on?

Yes, I think the therapist should be giving you a lot more guidance than that,

just like you said. I know therapists can be hard to find, but I'd be shopping

around for another. And, just me, wondering why 2x a week if she feels they

can't begin therapy yet, what is therapist doing during the appointments, just

talk? In our case, didn't have a therapist so just went through the process on

our own, with help from reading and suggestions from this group. Feel free to

ask any questions about what to try with certain behaviors since your therapist

isn't providing much guidance on this.

>

 

>  

> Also, what should I reasonably expect from the phych/therapist?  I keep on

asking for practical suggestions on what to do with outbursts, refusal to get

out of the bathtub, exccessive fears ect. and I'm not getting any answers

back.  Should the therapist walk us through Exposure Response session to show

us how it works?  Should the therapist provide suggestions for dialog so I can

help/coach my daughter through some of these things?  Should

they provide more practicle info and how to's?  All I have been told is

that she will have to do the opposite of what the OCD tells her to do and I

need to read Dr. Chansky's book. (which I have)

>  

> Please let me know.

>

>

[Guest guest]

I will check them out.  Thank you all for your advice and help!

________________________________

To:

Sent: Sunday, November 6, 2011 9:57 AM

Subject: Re: OCD Phychologists/therapists in Chicago?

 

There is also the OCD Chicago organization (maybe the Facebook group is part of

this). But they have a lot of great info including a section on finding a

provider.

Here is a link to that section:

http://www.ocdchicago.org/index.php/ocd-facts/choosing-a-therapist/

Good luck.

>

> HI!

>

> I don't know if this will be helpful or not, but there is an interesting group

on Facebook, called OCD Chicago. I haven't fully investigated them, but I did

" like, " them, and their articles and links are usually interesting and seem

pretty on target. Check them out (everybody!) and see what you think. Since it

is your area, maybe it will be a useful resource!

>

> Best,

> Diane

>

[Guest guest]

, hello!

 

She is only on 50mg so far. will be increasing slowly as Im having her tested

for PaNDas too and have read that they dont do well on high doses of meds.  

Uped it to 60mgs for 2 days and she had two really bad days of multiple

sessions. (Exhusting for both of us.) 

She is having what I call meltdown sessions of screaming, crying, uncolosable,

overcome by fear, dont touch me, sessions where she recectly began to hurt

herself but the sessions  can go on for an hour or more.  She often screams " I

dont know what to do " or Im so gross. "  repetedly.  I can see the anxiety

building up and know its comming its just to late to do anything about it.  

The new one is " Dont leave me "  

I do have to try to mentally detach or else I get caught up in her pain so I

completely get that.  I made her help me with the laundry after she had pulled

the bedspread off on the floor casue it was " contaminated " by water. (it was

washed 2 days prior). 

 

Weeks ago I did the bear hug thing when she was caught in an obsession that had

her up till 1:00 am.  Now she will not let me touch her until shes comming

down.  Have tried foot/back massage recently and it helps to calm her once the

brunt of the session is over. 

 

How do you handle all this with your other children?   I have another

daughter, younger that is totally left out.  (She has speach/muscle/school

issues so was always the one going to therapy but now its turned around.)  I

feel so gulity at times. Its been 2 months and I cant see a light at the end

of the tunnel yet. My duaghter with OCD tells me her sister causes stress and is

gross. Did you ever hear of that?  How should  I disci;ine her for that?  

Now I tell her to not say that since its hurtful.

 

Also, did your therapist/phych define the type of OCD for you?  I got a general

diagnosis and I see many people have specific ones.

 

Please let me know when you have a moment and thanks again for the info!

 

 

________________________________

To: " " < >

Sent: Friday, November 4, 2011 9:20 PM

Subject: Re: Re: OCD Phychologists/therapists in Chicago?

 

What dose of Zoloft is your dd on?  The dose usually has to be increased

gradually to a fairly high (200 mg/day) dose for it to be effective although you

should see some improvement before then if she is responding to it.  It is true

that if your dd is quite depressed, it will be more difficult for her to have

the strength and energy to go through exposure and response prevention.

Hopefully, the meds will help with that too.  The therapist should be giving

you some answers or more suggestions than " just read this book, "   although both

Wagner and Chansky have great books.

When you say your dd is having outbursts, is she screaming, yelling, hitting,

throwing, and/or completely out of control?  If so, the only thing you can do

at that time, is to keep her from hurting herself or anyone else.  She will not

be able to reason with you, hear your soothing words, etc.  When my older dd

was at her worst, at age 8.5 yrs, I often had to " bear hug " her.  You sit

behind or stand behind the child with your arms pinning her arms to her body. 

She should be facing away from you.  This reduces her ability to hurt you or

herself and helps her to physically contain her fear and anger.  OCD is scary

and if she is being told to fight the fears (which she will have to do), she may

initially find it much easier to fight you.  She can see you and you are not

" inside " her.  For my own sanity, I had to learn to mentally check out and not

respond to the things dd was saying as it was like fueling the fire.  With our

dd, we knew a more

receptive time was coming when she started to cry.  It sounds awful, but this

was when she could begin to be comforted and to hear us.  This also does not

mean that she got away with everything.  When our dd broke a window in a rage,

we made her pay for the repair; when she trashed her bedroom, she had to help

pick it up after she calmed down.

What you will have to do with ERP is to gradually stop accommodating the demands

of her OCD. When our dd's washing was worst, we were cutting up the soap and

keeping it away from her.  She would go into rages if the piece of soap we gave

her was too small.  My husband initially felt we needed to comply with her

wishes.  This was a natural impulse, but the wrong thing to do.  OCD is

greedy.  If you give in to one demand, it starts making more and more.  You do

also need to remember--as hard as it is--that it is your dd's OCD making these

demands not her conscious willful mind.  You can't really dialog with the

OCD.  When your child is feeling better, she may know that the obsessions and

compulsions are irrational, but in the heat of the moment, she will not.  A

useful analogy in some of the books, is that obsessions are like junk mail,

spam, pop up ads, in your brain.  It can also help to point out that everyone

sometimes has weird thoughts, but

most people are able to say " oh, that doesn't make sense. "   Those of us with

OCD get stuck on the junk thought (like a DVD that is skipping, since I doubt

she'll know what a broken record is!)  You don't want to promise her that what

she fears will never happen; people do get sick, have have house fires, make

mistakes, and die.  What she needs to hear is that " with help, she can handle "

whatever does happen.

Also, you can look up the International OCD Foundation website. They have lists

of therapists who treat OCD.  You will want to talk with anyone you call and

make sure what their qualifications are, but it's a starting point.

Finally, remember to take care of yourself.  It is too easy to forget, but you

cannot help your dd if you yourself are overwhelmed.

hope this helps a little bit.  This listserve is a great place for advice and

venting.

(mom w/OCD, 11.5 yo dd w/OCD, 9 yo dd w/tic disorder and/or just right

OCD?)

________________________________

[Guest guest]

It sounds like you got stuck with a therapist who doesn't have a clue how to

treat OCD, and she is wasting your money. I got stuck like that two summers

ago, and I spent about 2 thousand dollars taking my daughter to see her twice a

week with no help, but just having my daughter have someone listen to her sagas

about how other kids treat her badly and how I don't indulge her OCD. Whenever

I told the therapist that my daughter needs her to explain how to handle the

social situations better, she said that my daughter needs to feel " heard " so she

is just letting her know that she understands. It was such a WASTE!!! UGH!!

We switched to an OCD specialist who does ERP and worked directly on her fears,

as well as helping her with her social issues, and my daughter is doing

amazingly better. I have always wanted to write the other therapist a letter

letting her know how annoyed I am by the money and time that I wasted on

ineffective treatment, unsupported by any research, but I know there would be no

point. Please look into finding a therapist who will work directly with you and

your daughter on her fears.

Re: OCD Phychologists/therapists in Chicago?

With meds, it is suggested a trial of 12 weeks. But she also has to get to what

will be a " therapeutic dose " for her, the dosage that will help. How much Zoloft

is she on?

Yes, I think the therapist should be giving you a lot more guidance than that,

just like you said. I know therapists can be hard to find, but I'd be shopping

around for another. And, just me, wondering why 2x a week if she feels they

can't begin therapy yet, what is therapist doing during the appointments, just

talk? In our case, didn't have a therapist so just went through the process on

our own, with help from reading and suggestions from this group. Feel free to

ask any questions about what to try with certain behaviors since your therapist

isn't providing much guidance on this.

>

>

> Also, what should I reasonably expect from the phych/therapist? I keep on

asking for practical suggestions on what to do with outbursts, refusal to get

out of the bathtub, exccessive fears ect. and I'm not getting any answers back.

Should the therapist walk us through Exposure Response session to show us how it

works? Should the therapist provide suggestions for dialog so I can help/coach

my daughter through some of these things? Should they provide more practicle

info and how to's? All I have been told is that she will have to do the

opposite of what the OCD tells her to do and I need to read Dr. Chansky's book.

(which I have)

>

> Please let me know.

>

>

[Guest guest]

Zoloft dose range for children/teens is in the range of 50 to 200mg a day. Does

sound like she is sensitive, but the doctor is correct that it can take a few

days, couple weeks, for initial " side effects " to settle down and the body

adjust. The OCD can also increase when first starting an SSRI or at each

increase. Anyway, doctors do like us parents to try and " wait out " any effects

those first couple weeks (unless there is danger to self/others thru impulsive

behaviors or harm, acting on thoughts, etc).

Talk therapy doesn't work for OCD. It may help build up a relationship with her

therapist until your daughter can participate with the CBT/ERP, but you don't

want to waste visits (and $) until that starts either. If you feel your

daughter is up to it, they should try something you & she feel is easy, just one

thing to try working on to boss back a thought, compulsion....

Quick thoughts (I say that in case I need to take something back, lol)

>

> hi!

>  

> She is on only 50 mgs right now. (What dose is considered theraputic?) Were

slowly increasing it but last time I increased it to 60Mgs she had two really

bad days--lots of crying and hystarics where she was unconsolable and said she

wanted to die. I told the phych that since I was pursuing Pandas testing I was

leary of uping