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Online Treatment for Children and Teens with OCD across Ontario

Have you noticed that your child seems to do certain behaviours over and over again? Or perhaps your child is spending excessive amounts of time washing their hands or reorganizing items around the house and you notice that they get upset when you try to stop them. You’re not alone; approximately 1 in every 100 Canadians will experience OCD in their lifetime (CPA, 2021)

At the Ontario-Wide Psychology Clinic (OWPC), we have child psychologists and social workers who are experienced in working with children and teens with OCD as well as their family members. Over the past few years our child/adolescent therapists have supported many families across Ontario (e.g., Ottawa, Hamilton, Oakville, Windsor, etc) through virtual care and can’t wait to get started with you!

How do we treat OCD?

Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD) can be treated through therapy, medication, or a combination of both! At the Ontario-Wide Psychology Clinic (OWPC), we provide the following evidence-based therapies for OCD:

  • Exposure and Response Prevention (E/RP)

  • Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT)

  • Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT)

  • Parent-based interventions focused on reducing familial accommodation. While we may think that we’re helping a loved one by accommodating their OCD, research has shown that this actually maintains symptoms and that we need to reduce accommodations in order to help people overcome it.

Some great books for parents wanting to support a child/teen with OCD are:

What does OCD look like?

For example, Cindy has intrusive thoughts about bad things happening to her family. Sometimes, she’ll notice that when one hand touches something her OCD tells her that she needs to also touch it with her other hand in order to prevent the bad thing from happening. Some days, just tapping it once with the other hand feels like enough and Cindy’s anxiety goes down, and other days, her OCD makes her feel like she needs to keep tapping it with each hand until it feels “just right.”

People with OCD struggle with distressing and intrusive thoughts/images and compulsive behaviours. Often, this means that a thought or image may come into someone’s mind and make them feel uncomfortable or anxious. They then engage in a behaviour or ritual in order to feel better or get rid of the thought/image.

For Thomas, it’s something different. His OCD is focussed on contamination and germs. He’s not necessarily worried about getting sick, but if anyone coughs or sneezes near him, he feels very uncomfortable and has a strong urge to shower. His OCD makes it hard for him to go to family gatherings over the holidays. Thomas worries that someone may trigger his OCD and that he won’t be able to shower at relative’s home if needed, so he stays home instead.

These are only two examples; OCD can present in many different ways and is often illogical. We know that arguing with OCD or trying to rationalize with it is often unhelpful and we need to instead push OCD back through our actions.

To Get Started with Online OCD Treatment

Step 1: Browse our psychotherapists’ profiles OR connect with our Intake Team to find the perfect therapist for your child/family

Step 2: Book an appointment

Step 3: Complete the digital intake forms (we email these to you along with a link to access your first appointment).

Questions?

Visit our Frequently Asked Questions page or email us to learn more and get started!