Guest guest Posted April 3, 2012 Report Share Posted April 3, 2012 Rhonda, others may know better since we were on our own with therapy. But 20 minutes of just sitting seems long to me. Unless his anxiety was really high so he's, as you said, having to " feel " the anxiety and wait till it lessens a lot and it takes that long to, say, get from a 10 to a 3 or something. But...if he's past that in less time, seems they'd be going down on the time limit and then " great " when anxiety is over in 5 minutes or something.... If it's not bothering him so much, maybe they need to move on to another behavior that bothers him more. ....Quick thoughts, > > - > > I'm looking at how you did ERP with your son. It sounds like it was pretty quick -- just let him experience that he can do the thing he thought he couldn't. Our therapist has us doing a long, drawn out sequence of stuff, where my ds is supposed to sit and think about the dirt he got on himself for 20 minutes or so, waiting for the anxiety to come down. This is driving ds crazy - his mind isn't cut out to sit and think about dirt for 20 minutes, whether it's on him or on the moon. I don't see this in Audrey Wagner's book either - she has the child having fun & doing other stuff while experiencing the feared behavior.Sure, maybe talk about it some but not drive the child crazy. I mean, you didn't keep saying, " Look son you turned the light switch off once - now think about it til your anxiety comes down! " > > Your thoughts? Son is not wanting to do the ERPs because of this. I think he would be okay getting the dirt on and moving on. > > Rhonda > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted April 4, 2012 Report Share Posted April 4, 2012 I would have to sit with my son(14) for twenty minutes or longer. He had contamination type ocd. For example, he would have to hold the tv remote until his anxiety came down to half of where he started. But my son would try and wait me out and then want to wash his hands even after sitting a long time holding it. Then I realized that he would have to touch something else after touching a contaminated item, for example the dog. The dtr told me if he sat for a long time holding the item, and then just washed hands anyway, that was making the ocd stronger. To help with the waiting it out, we would sit and watch tv, while doing erp. It did take alot of time waiting it out (for sons anxiety to come down), but it worked. Sometimes my son would get tired of waiting, and then he would just go touch things, so that actually helped him progress faster. After about 3 months therapy, ds was able to overcome it. He has had no signs of ocd for over 6 mths now. Key for us was a great therapist, experienced in treating kids with ocd. It was not an easy road, many times I would be in tears after trying the erp, because I didn't think it was going to work. Sue > > > > - > > > > I'm looking at how you did ERP with your son. It sounds like it was pretty quick -- just let him experience that he can do the thing he thought he couldn't. Our therapist has us doing a long, drawn out sequence of stuff, where my ds is supposed to sit and think about the dirt he got on himself for 20 minutes or so, waiting for the anxiety to come down. This is driving ds crazy - his mind isn't cut out to sit and think about dirt for 20 minutes, whether it's on him or on the moon. I don't see this in Audrey Wagner's book either - she has the child having fun & doing other stuff while experiencing the feared behavior.Sure, maybe talk about it some but not drive the child crazy. I mean, you didn't keep saying, " Look son you turned the light switch off once - now think about it til your anxiety comes down! " > > > > Your thoughts? Son is not wanting to do the ERPs because of this. I think he would be okay getting the dirt on and moving on. > > > > Rhonda > > > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted April 4, 2012 Report Share Posted April 4, 2012 Thanks for thoughts, helps me understand more. Re: - ERP Rhonda, others may know better since we were on our own with therapy. But 20 minutes of just sitting seems long to me. Unless his anxiety was really high so he's, as you said, having to " feel " the anxiety and wait till it lessens a lot and it takes that long to, say, get from a 10 to a 3 or something. But...if he's past that in less time, seems they'd be going down on the time limit and then " great " when anxiety is over in 5 minutes or something.... If it's not bothering him so much, maybe they need to move on to another behavior that bothers him more. ....Quick thoughts, > > - > > I'm looking at how you did ERP with your son. It sounds like it was pretty quick -- just let him experience that he can do the thing he thought he couldn't. Our therapist has us doing a long, drawn out sequence of stuff, where my ds is supposed to sit and think about the dirt he got on himself for 20 minutes or so, waiting for the anxiety to come down. This is driving ds crazy - his mind isn't cut out to sit and think about dirt for 20 minutes, whether it's on him or on the moon. I don't see this in Audrey Wagner's book either - she has the child having fun & doing other stuff while experiencing the feared behavior.Sure, maybe talk about it some but not drive the child crazy. I mean, you didn't keep saying, " Look son you turned the light switch off once - now think about it til your anxiety comes down! " > > Your thoughts? Son is not wanting to do the ERPs because of this. I think he would be okay getting the dirt on and moving on. > > Rhonda > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted April 4, 2012 Report Share Posted April 4, 2012 Sue, thanks for sharing about the exposure time and what your son did. Happy he's doing so well!!!! > > I would have to sit with my son(14) for twenty minutes or longer. He had contamination type ocd. For example, he would have to hold the tv remote until his anxiety came down to half of where he started. But my son would try and wait me out and then want to wash his hands even after sitting a long time holding it. Then I realized that he would have to touch something else after touching a contaminated item, for example the dog. > The dtr told me if he sat for a long time holding the item, and then just washed hands anyway, that was making the ocd stronger. To help with the waiting it out, we would sit and watch tv, while doing erp. It did take alot of time waiting it out (for sons anxiety to come down), but it worked. Sometimes my son would get tired of waiting, and then he would just go touch things, so that actually helped him progress faster. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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