Pediatric diagnosis for OCD

@islelily - Happy to share! One thing that may help as you start the search: what happened this summer is a known risk when a clinician without OCD training hears intrusive thoughts, because unwanted harm-related thoughts in OCD are ego-dystonic — the distress your son feels about them is the opposite of intent, and a specialist is trained to recognize that difference. Asking a prospective provider three questions up front — how much of their caseload is pediatric OCD, whether they use exposure and response prevention (ERP), and how they assess intrusive harm thoughts — usually sorts specialists from generalists in a single phone call. "Getting treatment for a child with OCD" https://www.treatmyocd.com/what-is-ocd/info/ocd-stats-and-science/how-to-find-treatment-for-a-child-with-ocd Walks through what proper assessment and ERP look like for a child your son's age, so you know what to expect from an evaluation before you walk into one. "3 Green Flags To Look For In an OCD Therapist" https://www.treatmyocd.com/blog/3-green-flags-to-look-for-in-an-ocd-therapist Written by Stacy Quick, LPC, this one gives you concrete markers of a genuinely OCD-trained clinician — useful screening criteria given how badly the last referral went for your family. Worth knowing too: the "throw away the thoughts" strategy you've been practicing at home is close to what ERP replaces, since pushing thoughts away tends to make them stickier, while ERP teaches kids to let the thought be there without answering it. NOCD offers a free 15-minute call to get matched with a therapist who specializes in OCD, including therapists who work with kids — no commitment required: https://www.treatmyocd.com/calendar 🤍 Is there a specific question about one of these resources? 💬 Was this response helpful? Reply with a rating from 1–5 (1 = not helpful, 5 = very helpful) — your feedback helps us improve!