COUNSELING AND THERAPY SERVICES

Clinical services are provided to help resolve concerns related to:

Depression
Anxiety (including Post-Traumatic Stress, Obsessive Compulsive Behaviors, Tics, and Hair Pulling)
Barriers to learning and school adjustment
Behavioral or attention problems
Social Skills Training
Temper tantrums
Problems with daily routines
Parenting strategies (e.g., parenting toddlers or noncompliant children)
Teasing and bullying
Family stress
Divorce and the blended family
Psychosomatic Illnesses (e.g., persistent stomachaches without a medical cause)
Chronic medical illness
Physical disabilities
Cognitive or Neuropsychological impairments
Poor self-esteem
Grief and loss
Developmental delays or pervasive developmental disorders

Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD) Treatment for Children & Adolescents

Dr. Mark Bowers, Pediatric Psychologist, provides a cognitive-behavioral treatment program that has been proven effective in eliminating or alleviating OCD symptoms in children and teens with a variety of presenting symptoms. Children with obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) suffer intensely from recurrent, unwanted thoughts (obsessions) or rituals (compulsions), which they feel they cannot control. Rituals such as hand washing, counting, checking, or cleaning are often performed with the hope of preventing obsessive thoughts or making them go away. Performing these rituals, however, provides only temporary relief, and not performing them markedly increases anxiety. Left untreated, obsessions and the need to perform rituals can take over a person's life. Children and their families are taken through four stages of treatment-education, cognitive training, 'mapping' OCD, and graded exposure and response prevention (ERP) - over the course of clearly structured treatment sessions. Exposure and response prevention (ERP) is essential for treating OCD. In this approach, a child is voluntarily exposed to whatever triggers the obsessive thoughts, and then is taught techniques to avoid performing the compulsive rituals and to deal with the anxiety.

To learn more about this exciting treatment offering, please contact our office. To read more about the difference between OCD and the repetitive behaviors found in autism, read Dr. Mark's blog