Often times, children and adolescents will have the psychological condition, Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD), for quite some time before parents, teachers, or mental health professionals will notice its effects on the child or adolescent.

That said, if you are a mental health professional, a school teacher, psychologist or counselor, or if you are a student pursuing a master’s degree to enter the workforce in one of those facets, it is incredibly important for you to have the skills to identify the signs, symptoms, and causes of OCD in children and adolescents as quickly as possible.

This course will help you understand OCD by studying it through the cognitive model. Likewise, this course will teach you how to use Cognitive Case Conceptualization to intentionally select and implement Exposure and Response Prevention interventions specifically tailored for individual children and adolescents with OCD. Every child and adolescent is different, and their conditions are all different. Therefore, you will also gain the knowledge and tools to tailor an Exposure and Response Prevention treatment plan from early treatment, all the way through relapse prevention for children and adolescents with OCD.

Due to the nature of OCD being rooted in obsessions that make children and adolescents then experience high levels of anxiety, they will work to relieve those obsessions by behaving compulsively. OCD can make itself tangible in various behaviors that can be disguised as normal tasks, which can, at times, make it difficult to notice, let alone diagnosed.