OCD treatments for children

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OCD treatments for children

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In children, OCD or Obsessive Compulsive Disorder, is treated in a couple of main different ways. The first is through therapy. The most common type of therapy used for OCD is cognitive behavioral therapy. What that usually involves is exposing a child to their obsessions or their compulsions, without allowing them to act on them. That can be a very anxiety provoking experience and a very stressful experience for children. Again, it's important to remember that parents should have a tolerance for their children to get a little bit worse, before they get better when they engage in that type of therapy. The second main treatment for OCD has to do with medication. Medications, like the seratonin reuptake inhibitors, actually can be helpful. They are fairly safe as an adjunctive treatment for children with OCD, or as a stand alone treatment. In my own opinion, I personally would seek the help of a therapist before starting medications, and possibly consider continuing therapy during treatment with medication.

View Preetpal Sandhu, MD's video on OCD treatments for children...

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Preetpal Sandhu, MD

Child & Adolescent Psychiatrist

Dr. Sandhu is a UCLA-trained, Board Certified Psychiatrist who has practiced Psychiatry at UCLA and in Beverly Hills for several years. He did his undergraduate work at UCLA where he was named to Phi Beta Kappa. He then completed medical school at the University of Southern California, Keck School of Medicine and was named a Dean's scholar. He also received a master’s degree in Business Administration from University of Southern California, Marshall School of Business where he was named to the Dean's list.

Dr. Sandhu then pursued training in Child, Adolescent, and Adult Psychiatry at the University of California at Los Angeles, Neuropsychiatric Institute (now named the Semel Institute for Neuroscience & Human Behavior). While at UCLA completing his residency and fellowship he was named the Chief Fellow of the Child and Adolescent Psychiatry training program. He then proceeded to work at UCLA as part of the Attending Staff on the Child and Adolescent Inpatient unit. He is a member in good standing of the American Psychiatric Association (APA), the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatrists (AACAP) and has served as the Southern California Regional Organization’s President.

His areas of interest include attention deficit hyperactivity disorders, mood disorders, anxiety disorders, and the roles coordinated psychiatry and psychotherapy can have in jointly improving outcomes.

Dr. Sandhu lives in the Los Angeles area with his family and is actively involved in teaching medical students, residents, and fellows at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA. In his free time, he enjoys surfing, snowboarding, basketball, golf, video games, and travel.

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