My 12 B is seeing a SW for Ocd. I think we may need medication as he is struggling and not making much progress. I know his therapist can’t prescribe medicine, what is the process I do.? I’m not sure of next steps, we like the therapist and don’t want to start with someone new.
Thank you.
Jackie
My regular family doctor prescribed for me. Good luck - medication might really help him make more progress with the therapy.
You can have a therapist and psychiatrist! It might be nice if a psych can see him but you can go to your physician and talk to them and they'll decide if they would feel more comfortable with a psych referral or if they're willing to handle his meds. Alternatively a therapist usually has connections to psychs or nurse able to give prescriptions after an evaluation and meeting. You don't need to rebuild an entire relationship with a psych, thats more a therapist thing
I agree with the other commenters. First, tell the SW that you think your child needs a medical eval. If the SW doesn't have a regular psychiatrist to collaborate with, you can talk with your child's doctor. Your son can still continue with therapy with the SW. Psychiatrists usually do brief check-ins for patients on medications. They don't take over as therapists. I might also look at books directed at parents of young people with OCD, like Dr. Bridget Walker's book, "Anxiety Relief for Kids," which has a lot of very practical, in-the-moment strategies. Sounds like you're being a good advocate for your son. Best of luck.
The therapist should be able to recommend a psychiatrist that will be able to access his needs and prescribe the right meds. I think most of us will agree that the combo of meds and therapy is the best. Is his therapist an OCD therapist???? This is absolutely crucial. I can speak from experience because I fooled around for YEARS AND YEARS before I learned how important it is to go to a therapist trained in OCD. I had therapists that had no clue what was going on, nor did they admit it and help me. If you look on the iocdf.org website you will see OCD specialists. I know you said you like the therapist (which is very admirable), but just question them as to their techniques they use for OCD patients. They should talk about ERP. This is the most effective OCD treatment known.
Great suggestions from the others. Here's another idea: perhaps it would be helpful at this juncture to request a parent appointment, and ask his therapist to share his/her clinical impressions and treatment plan. Sometimes a kid starts out well with a therapist and then plateaus. If the therapist has trouble answering your questions, then it might be worth considering making a change. With children, it's important to take a team approach, therapist plus family.
Also note, when my son was getting started with ERP exercises to do at home, after a few weeks we figured out that he wasn't making progress doing his ERP "homework" exercises on his own. He did better when I helped, as a parent coach. Mainly I just held the clipboard, asked him for his number at suitable intervals, and charted his answers for him. He really benefited from having a parent coach keep him company while he was doing his daily ERP exercise -- which, let's face it, is incredibly hard work, even when each new exercise is just a baby step harder than the one before.
You have to keep your own emotions out of it while you're accompanying the child during an exercise.
When the therapist assigned a new exercise, she would call me in for the last 3 minutes of the session so she could explain the new exercise to me.
Hello. I am back. My 12 b was prescribed Prozac yesterday, I’m hoping it brings him some relief. He has been struggling a lot. Rituals, compulsive behavior, hours to get dressed, his OCD is involve with his daily dressing. I’m m so frustrated. I’m looking for advice, words of wisdom from parents in a similar situation. Some days I see little hope, so many people do respond to medicine or need multiple ones. I want him to get well but am frightened at times And angry about what is happening to him and the fact that it can’t just be fixed. I feel he is losing his childhood.
Thanks for any thoughts.
Jackie
My kids have been on anxiety meds for years. A child psych prescribed them.. This runs in our family.. I have OCD, my 2 other kids have anxiety and my 3rd kid suffers from depression and anxiety. There all married now and live normal lives.
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