Are You Talking to Your Child or Your Child’s OCD?!

One of the hardest parts of raising a child with OCD is figuring out who you’re actually talking to. Is it your child… or is it their OCD pulling you into another loop? In this episode, we talk about the different ways OCD ropes parents in—whether it’s endless reassurance seeking, constant confessing, permission checking, “just right” demands, or those sneaky checking questions like, “Do I look sick?” or “Is this bad?” I’ll walk you through how to spot when OCD is taking over the conversation: the circular back-and-forth that goes nowhere, the distress when you don’t answer the “right” way, or the need for more and more clarity tied to their specific OCD themes. Then we shift into what you can do. We’ll cover how to talk to your child about these patterns ahead of time, how to team up on a plan for responding, and how to use exposures and tools (like reassurance cards) to stop feeding the OCD loop. And finally, an important reminder: not talking to OCD does not mean ignoring your child. You can still validate, support, connect, and check in, just without fueling compulsions. Pulling yourself out of OCD’s conversations is often one of the first big steps toward real progress. Links Mentioned in this episode: PDF handout for this episode: Join my free series: How to Be an Effective Anchor for Your Child’s Anxiety or OCD — Youtube video: Reassurance can Be a Compulsion Youtube video: Confessions Can be a Compulsion Podcast: How to Use Reassurance Cards *** This podcast episode is sponsored by NOCD. NOCD provides online OCD therapy in the US, UK, Australia and Canada. To schedule your free 15 minute consultation to see if NOCD is a right fit for you and your child, go to This podcast is for informational purposes only and should not be used to replace the guidance of a qualified professional. Parents, do you need more support? 🌸 Here’s are resources I offer parents 👇🏻❤️ Online classes for parents raising kids with anxiety and OCD: Join the AT Parenting Community (A membership designed to support parents raising kids with anxiety or OCD): Take one of my FREE webinars: Check out my books: 🌸 Other social places I hang out: Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

You can listen to Are You Talking to Your Child or Your Child’s OCD?! online on Radio and Podcast. Open the player on this page to stream the available audio.

Are You Talking to Your Child or Your Child’s OCD?! is an episode from AT Parenting Survival Podcast: Parenting | Child Anxiety | Child OCD | Kids & Family by Natasha Daniels: Child Therapist, Child Anxiety and OCD Expert, Parenting Coach and Parent.

This episode is 57:32 long.

This episode was published on Dec 30, 2025.

Yes. Use the heart button on the episode page to add it to your favorite episodes list.

Yes. This page shows related episodes from AT Parenting Survival Podcast: Parenting | Child Anxiety | Child OCD | Kids & Family when more episodes are available from the podcast feed.