It can be hard enough to help a child with OCD, but what if they are autistic as well? It can be confusing to figure out where autistic traits end and OCD compulsions begin. It can also be a struggle to navigate two worlds that don’t always intersect. That is why I was thrilled to invite Jan Stewart to the AT Parenting Survival Podcast. Jan is a highly regarded mental health and neurodiversity advocate and mom to two, now grown children with multiple diagnoses.  She is the author of Hold on...

We may not have full control over our child’s recovery around anxiety or OCD, but we can control how we show up to their struggles. This can be tricky when our mind is bogged down with what-if scenarios.  That is why it is so important to pay attention to the narratives we are spinning around our child’s anxiety or OCD and tap into what emotions are showing up for us, as we show up for them. In this week’s AT Parenting Survival Podcast I explore the stories that so many of us raising kids...

The number one struggle I hear from parents is, “My child won’t accept help for their anxiety or OCD.” What are we supposed to do when anxiety or OCD has hijacked the house and everyone who inhabits it? Dr. Alec Pollard has dedicated his career and research to this very question. He is the co-developer of the Family Well-Being Approach (FWBA) and is the founding director of the Center for OCD & Anxiety-Related Disorders at Saint Louis Behavioral Medicine Institute, and professor emeritus...

Anxiety and OCD can take a TON of resilience. So when we have kids who generally give up easily, this can impact how they handle their mental health struggles. Some kids have this go get’em attitude and get up every time they are knocked down, while other kids give up before they even begin. In this week’s AT Parenting Survival Podcast we’ll discuss why some kids give up so easily and what concrete things we can do to help them shift this behavior. Resources: People Who Failed Before They...

Many of our kids thrive in non-traditional learning environments. And some of our kids are not able to go to an in-person school due to the acuity of their anxiety or OCD. One of the cons of at-home learning is the isolation it can bring. Isolation can increase anxiety and OCD and make our kids feel disconnected. It is helpful to have a proactive plan on how to connect our kids with others so we reduce the impact of isolation. In this week’s AT Parenting Survival Podcast I discuss the risk of...

It is hard enough supporting our kids with anxiety or OCD, but what happens when they go away to college? We still need to support our kids, but our relationship and physical proximity has changed.  In this week’s AT Parenting Survival podcast I explore the many ways in which our mindset and role shifts when our kids go off to college. We’ll discuss effective ways to support them and foster independence. 🎉 To celebrate OCD Awareness Week families can get 50% off all my online courses on...

It is not uncommon for kids with anxiety or OCD to also have issues with picking their skin or pulling their hair. These behaviors are classified as BFRBs, body-focused, repetitive behaviors. Although BFRBs are a common comorbid condition to anxiety and OCD, it is a separate disorder with its own set of therapy approaches. In this week’s AT Parenting Survival Podcast, we celebrate BFRB week by having one of my favorite people on, Aneela Idnani from Habitaware. Aneela has struggled with...

Often parents who are raising kids with both PDA and OCD get conflicting advice. This can push a parent who is already stressed, over the edge. Are accommodations good or are they bad?  One set of advice talks about leaning into accommodations, while the other set says accommodations are something to eventually stop. The reality is PDA accommodations and OCD accommodations aren’t the same.  OCD accommodations are specifically talking about participating in a child’s OCD compulsions. Those are...

I had the pleasure of sitting down with Stuart Ralph, from the podcast The OCD Stories to talk about his journey from OCD sufferer, OCD podcaster to therapist. We explore how treating kids and teens with OCD requires a different, more flexible approach. Stuart also offers some helpful tips on how to navigate the UK mental health system. Stuart Ralph’s practice, Integrative Centre for OCD offers therapy to kids, teens and young adults regardless of where in the world they are located. To learn...

OCD doesn’t live in a bubble; it lives in our home. It lives in our families. It is not an isolated disorder. It involves the whole family system. That is why family involvement is key to a child’s OCD long term success. Often this is the missing component, even when a child is being treated for OCD. In this week’s AT Parenting Survival Podcast I explore how OCD involves the family and what parents can do to leverage their support. 🌸 Want more in-depth support? Check out my online courses at...

Anxiety and OCD can create hopelessness. It can feel like such an overwhelming task to overcome these struggles. Often we focus on the end goal. Get them to school. Get them to eat. Get them to be fully functioning. But there are a million smaller goals that get them to that bigger goal. It is easy to focus on the big picture instead of looking at the minute day-to-day goals. But it is in those small steps that progress is really made. In this week’s AT Parenting Survival Podcast I talk about...

OCD doesn’t just involve our kids, it involves us. OCD reassurance seeking is a sneaky compulsion. It gets us to do OCD’s dirty work. We often don’t even know we are talking to OCD. It can feel bad to pull back our reassurance, even if we know it is OCD. It can also be tough on our kids. In this week’s AT Parenting Survival Podcast I talk about a tool I created to help kids reduce their OCD reassurance seeking. Youtube video for kids on how reassurance can be a compulsion:...

It can be so hard to see our kids tumble and fall. No one wants to see their kids fail. But we rob our kids the ability to learn when we protect them from failure. This can impact how we show up for their anxiety or OCD. It can impact how much freedom we give them. It can also decipher how much we micromanage what they eat, how much they sleep and how long they are on electronics. In this week’s AT Parenting Survival Podcast I explore the idea that we have to let our kids fail in order to...

Sometimes we have to do something really scary in order to be our true selves. I started working on a memoir about social anxiety about five years ago. I finally finished the memoir but then six days later my husband passed away.  The memoir collected dust as I tried to piece myself and my family back together. A year and a half after he passed, I revisited the project. I wrote an epilogue detailing my grief journey and how it got even more complicated by my fear of being alone. In this...

If we are openly discussing our child’s anxiety or OCD with them, we might assume that we aren’t missing anything. But it is important to note that just because we see the tip of the iceberg, doesn’t mean we see everything. I am constantly missing, and then discovering, yet another thing that is actually my child’s anxiety or OCD in disguise.  In this week’s AT Parenting Survival Podcast,  I explore why kids will continue to hide anxiety and OCD struggles and some concrete tips on how to...

She was visibly shaking. Her hands were trembling and she was asking me to help. Her face was so pale that my own panic started to set in.  This was the start of an anxiety attack. Anxiety and panic attacks can overwhelm both the person having them and the person trying to support them. In this week’s AT Parenting Survival Podcast I’ll explore how anxiety and panic attacks grow and what we can do to support our kids who have them. 🛟 Let us support you, as you support your child or teen. Join...

Anxiety and OCD are hard enough to deal with, but when you sprinkle ADHD into the mix everything can be magnified. As parents raising kids with comorbid conditions, this adds another layer of struggle. You might find things that work for other kids with anxiety or OCD doesn’t work as easily for your child. It can require a different way to approach anxiety or OCD. In this week’s AT Parenting Survival Podcast I explore five areas where ADHD complicates anxiety and OCD progress. I’ll break down...

It is already tough trying to help our kids with anxiety or OCD, but it is even harder stomaching unhelpful comments and advice. Sometimes people are trying to be helpful and don’t mean to be upsetting. Some people are uneducated. And some people are judgemental and critical. Some people deserve education. Some people deserve boundaries. And some people should just be ignored. In this week’s AT Parenting Survival Podcast I explore the different reasons why people give us unhelpful comments...

It has been so nice to see all these films addressing our children’s mental health issues. The more these struggles can be normalized, the less stigma they’ll be for our kids! A couple of week’s ago I discussed whether you should show your child with OCD the film Turtles All the Way Down. If you missed that one, you can check it out here. In this week’s AT Parenting Survival Podcast I explore how parents can use the movie Inside Out 2 to discuss and motivate their kids to work on anxiety and...

Raising a child with anxiety or OCD can bring with it so many struggles, including our own grief and overwhelm. It is easy, and tempting, to bury our own raw emotions around our child’s anxiety or OCD struggles. But honoring and processing our feelings is equally important. In this week’s AT Parenting Survival Podcast I have an honest conversation about the thoughts many of us struggle with but hate to admit. I talk about having compassion for your own journey while developing insight into...

John Green’s new movie Turtles All the Way Down goes a long way in helping the OCD community educate the world about OCD. But should your child or teen with OCD see the movie? Well, I have mixed thoughts on that. In this week’s AT Parenting Survival Podcast I dive into the pros and cons of the movie Turtles All the Way Down and which kids would benefit from watching it. 🌸 Sign up for my FREE series, Self-Care for Parents Raising Kids with Anxiety or OCD. *** This podcast episode is sponsored...

It can take so much energy to find a qualified OCD specialist to finally assess and diagnose your child with OCD. But what are you to do when your child rejects the OCD diagnosis?  In this week’s AT Parenting Survival Podcast I talk about some common reasons why a child might reject an OCD diagnosis and where to go from there. 🌸 Get in-depth support to help your child with OCD in my online courses at AT Parenting Survival School. *** This podcast episode is sponsored by NOCD. NOCD provides...

Anxiety and OCD can rob our kids of so many things, including their self-esteem and self-worth. It is easy for them to feel hard on themselves when their anxiety or OCD is knocking them down. Often kids are extra hard on themselves during these times. As parents we are intensely focused on helping our kids navigate anxiety or OCD, but there are some things we can do to boost their self-esteem as well.  In this week’s AT Parenting Survival Podcast I’ll explore some simple ways you can help...

What will your anxious kids look like when all grown up? Amanda Stern and I are two possibilities. Amanda Stern is the author of the beautiful and raw memoir, Little Panic, a story about growing up with an undiagnosed panic disorder. I invited Amanda back onto the AT Parenting Survival Podcast to discuss what it was like growing up with anxiety. We discuss what we wish our parents did differently and how parents today can help their anxious kids. Check out Amanda’s fantastic newsletter and...