My daughter is 15 and has lived with obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD) for some time. Her compulsions change – counting, repetitive actions such as flicking light switches a certain number of times, showering/brushing her teeth in a particular order, placing things in her bedroom in a certain way …
She has had two courses of private therapy, but neither seemed to help. Both focused on the compulsions – for example, they’d encourage her to tackle one ritual at a time and try to eliminate it. It felt as though they were addressing the symptoms rather than the cause – new rituals can come to her in the moment and if one ritual is eliminated, it will quickly be replaced.
