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UCLA Health - When and How to Treat Childhood OCD | UCLA CARES Center

Thumbnail of the video “UCLA Health - When and How to Treat Childhood OCD | UCLA CARES Center”
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Author: UCLA Health
Categories: Psychology Lifestyle Health
Tags: psychology, lifestyle, health
Views: 2 · Last viewed: 2026-10-16 15:02 UTC

Short Summary

Main recommendation: For childhood obsessive-compulsive disorder, the evidence base points toward exposure and response prevention (ERP) as first-line psychological treatment, a type of cognitive behavioral therapy in which the child gradually faces fears and refrains from compulsions. The treatment is family-based, with parents or caregivers acting as the therapist or coach at home.

Key Points

  • Exposure means asking the child to face their fears in a gradual, systematic way; response prevention means asking them to refrain from their OCD-related compulsions.
  • Treatment typically begins with psychoeducation to clear up misconceptions about OCD and help everyone understand why the child behaves as they do.
  • Parents are also guided on which responses to OCD symptoms are helpful or unhelpful.
  • Homework is assigned so that skills learned in sessions generalize to many different situations.
  • Family accommodation (helping the child avoid triggers, performing rituals for them, or reorganizing the schedule around OCD) can reinforce anxiety and persist over time, so the treatment works to break these patterns.

Details Worth Noting

  • Concrete instructions: In practice, parents should learn what is helpful and unhelpful in responding to OCD symptoms, reinforce the skills practiced in session, and cheer the child on during homework done at home.
  • Concrete instructions: Parents should avoid accommodating OCD, including: helping the child avoid triggers, doing the child's rituals themselves, or changing family schedules around obsessions and compulsions.
  • The speakers describe a family-based approach, so all household members are brought into treatment to stay on the same page and avoid reinforcing anxiety.
  • The video does not give specific session counts, durations, or dosing for exposures; it describes ERP only in general terms.
  • The speakers are UCLA CARES Center clinicians (the Center for Child Anxiety Resilience, Education and Support), and the video is presented as general information rather than individual clinical advice.

Bottom Line

Effective childhood OCD treatment centers on exposure and response prevention with the whole family involved, and parents are central to carrying the skills forward at home.