How to cope when your child has OCD

Resources for parents
There are many resources available for parents who have children with obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD).

Check out these community services. 
• Your local phone book, for a community services referral number.
• A local community health centre.
• The Canadian Mental Health Association. Every province and territory has at least
one office.
• Your Employee Assistance Program, if you have one at your work.

If you have a child with Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder, you might find some of these books and web sites helpful.
• Brain Lock (HarperCollins, 1997) by Jeffrey M. Schwartz

• Freedom from Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder: A Personalized Recovery Program for Living with Uncertainty (Berkley Trade, 2008) by Jonathan Grayson

• Freeing Your Child from Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder: A Powerful, Practical Program for Parents of Children and Adolescents (Crown, 2001) by Tamar E. Chansky

• Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder: Help for Children and Adolescents (O’Reilly Media, 2000) by Mitzi Waltz

• OCD in Children and Adolescents: A Cognitive-Behavioral Treatment Manual (Guilford, 1998) by John S. March and Karen Mulle

• What to do when your Child has Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder: Strategies and Solutions (LightHouse, 2002) by Aureen Pinto Wagner

• Up and Down the Worry Hill: A Children's Book About Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder and Its Treatment (LightHouse, 2004) by Aureen Pinto Wagner

• Talking Back to OCD (The Program That Helps Kids and Teens Say "No Way" – and Parents Say "Way to Go") (Guilford, 2006) by John S. March with Christine M. Benton

Dr. Sandra Mendlowitz, a psychologist specializing in obsessive compulsive disorder in children at the Hospital for Sick Children, in Toronto, is in the process of completing the guidelines for two professional treatment manuals: Step on a Crack, for children, and Lucky Charms, Little Habits, Bigger Problems: Why Can't I Just Snap Out of It? for adolescents.

Web sites to check out:
• www.childhealthpolicy.sfu.ca
• www.kidsmentalhealth.ca (specifically Ontario)
• www.anxietybc.com/resources/ocd.php 
• www.parentsforchildrensmentalhealth.org
• www.worrywisekids.org
• psychcentral.com/lib/2006/when-your-child-has-obsessive-compulsive-disorder/
• www.ocfoundation.org
• www.mentalhealthchannel.net 
• www.psychguides.com
• www.healthyplace.com
• www.camh.net
• www.hope4ocd.com

Read more:
• Depression in teens
• Mom's stress guide: Teens and tweens
• When your child is unhappy at school

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