Child and Teen OCD Therapy in San Marino
In-person treatment in San Marino, minutes from Pasadena, with online therapy available across California.
Evidence-based OCD treatment for children and teens using ERP, ACT, CBT, and SPACE.
When Your Kid Struggles with Obsessive Compulsive Disorder…
The entire family struggles.
You may see your child getting stuck in fears, rituals, reassurance-seeking, avoidance, or intrusive thoughts that they cannot seem to let go of. Things that used to be simple can start taking longer. School, bedtime, friendships, family routines, or everyday activities may become harder.
You know they’re suffering, but you aren’t sure how to help. Reassuring them can calm things down for a moment, but the same fear often comes back. Pushing too hard can lead to more distress. Over time, it can feel like the entire family is organizing around OCD.
The good news is that OCD is treatable.
With evidence-based treatment, children and teens can learn to respond differently to obsessive thoughts, reduce compulsions, and gradually reclaim more freedom, confidence, and independence.
Specialized OCD Treatment for Children and Teens
I have completed specialized ERP training through the Cognitive Behavior Institute and training in SPACE (Supportive Parenting for Anxious Childhood Emotions) with Dr. Eli Lebowitz, who developed the parent-based treatment at the Yale Child Study Center.
My approach is grounded in Exposure and Response Prevention (ERP), one of the most strongly supported treatments for OCD, while also drawing from ACT, CBT, and parent-based strategies when useful.
With younger clients, treatment often works best when parents are part of the process. Depending on your child’s age, symptoms, and needs, treatment may include ERP, parent-directed sessions, or a combination of both.
I also work with young people whose OCD overlaps with ADHD, autism, or other neurodivergent traits. When helpful, I coordinate with psychologists, psychiatrists, or other providers to ensure continuity of care.
What OCD Can Look Like in Children and Teens
OCD can look very different from one child to another. Common signs may include:
Repeated questions or a constant need for reassurance
Checking, washing, tapping, counting, or repeating behaviors
Mental rituals such as reviewing, repeating phrases internally, or trying to erase “bad” thoughts
Long delays getting ready for school, completing homework, going to bed, or leaving the house
Avoiding people, places, objects, foods, or activities because they trigger anxiety
Intense distress when rituals are interrupted
Confessing thoughts or actions repeatedly
Needing things to feel “just right”
Getting stuck trying to achieve certainty about something that never quite feels settled
Sometimes OCD is obvious. Sometimes it can look more like generalized anxiety, perfectionism, rigidity, avoidance, or a child who simply seems unusually stuck.
How Therapy Can Help
A major part of treatment is Exposure and Response Prevention (ERP).
ERP helps children and teens gradually approach situations, thoughts, or uncertainties that trigger OCD while reducing the rituals and avoidance that keep the cycle going.
Treatment may include:
Helping your child understand how OCD works
Building a collaborative exposure plan
Gradually approaching feared situations at a manageable pace
Reducing checking, reassurance-seeking, avoidance, and other compulsions
Using ACT strategies to help your child keep doing what matters even when anxiety is present
Helping parents recognize and reduce family accommodation
Practicing exposures outside the therapy office when clinically useful and logistically possible
Good ERP should not feel like forcing a child into their worst fear.
The goal is to help them build confidence through purposeful, manageable practice while learning that they do not have to obey everything OCD tells them to do.
Parent Involvement and SPACE
When a child has OCD, parents can end up carrying an enormous amount of the burden.
You may be answering the same question over and over, changing routines to prevent meltdowns, helping your child avoid situations that feel impossible, participating in rituals, or trying to keep the household functioning while everyone is exhausted.
You may also feel trapped between two bad options: reassure your child and worry that you are feeding the OCD, or say no and watch their distress skyrocket.
That can be incredibly draining.
I use SPACE (Supportive Parenting for Anxious Childhood Emotions) when parent-based work is helpful.
I completed training in SPACE with Dr. Eli Lebowitz, who developed the treatment at the Yale Child Study Center.
SPACE helps parents learn how to stay warm and supportive while gradually reducing the accommodations that may unintentionally keep anxiety and OCD going.
The goal is not to become harsher, less available, or less compassionate.
It is to help parents respond in a way that communicates both:
“I understand that this is hard.”
and
“I believe you can handle hard things.”
Depending on the family, parent work may be used alongside direct ERP or as a primary focus of treatment.
Session Frequency and Fees
My fee is $250 for a 50-minute psychotherapy session.
During active OCD treatment, I may recommend meeting more than once per week when greater frequency is clinically useful. For other clients, one weekly session is appropriate.
With younger children in particular, treatment may also include separate parent sessions in addition to the child’s sessions. These parent sessions are billed at the same rate of $250 for 50 minutes.
Longer appointments may also make sense for extended exposures or off-site work.
When clinically useful and logistically possible, ERP may take place outside the office in real-world settings, including the home or other environments where OCD is getting in the way.
Additional travel fees may apply for off-site sessions and would always be discussed in advance.
I am a private-pay, out-of-network therapist and can provide superbills when appropriate.
Getting Started
If you’re interested in working with me, or would like to learn more about whether I may be a good fit for your child, the first step is a free 20-minute phone consultation.
In almost all cases, if we decide to move forward, the first full session will be a parent session without your child present. This gives me a chance to learn more about your child, understand how OCD is showing up at home and in daily life, and decide what course of treatment is likely to make the most sense.
That initial parent session is billed at my regular rate of $250 for 50 minutes.
From there, treatment may involve direct sessions with your child, additional parent sessions, or a combination of both. With younger children in particular, parent involvement is often an important part of treatment.
If your child is unwilling or unable to participate directly in therapy, parent-based treatment for your child’s OCD may still be an option through SPACE.