Aureen Wagner, PhD, explains that sometimes teachers might not understand OCD at first. One way to help your teacher understand is by asking if you and your parents can meet with teachers to explain what OCD is.

Aureen Wagner, PhD, discusses how it can be hard to decide if you want to tell your friends about your OCD. Maybe you or your family member is worried about what other people will think if they know you have OCD. She explains that you don't have to tell your friends about it right away, and the best time to tell your friends about your OCD is when you're doing well. Think carefully about who your want to tell and when you want to tell them.

Aureen Wagner, PhD, gives advice on what to do if you're unsure if your worry is your OCD or not. She says to ask yourself if you want to have this worry and if you like having this thought or worry. If the answer to those two questions is no, than it is your OCD. You might also look around and see if anyone else has this thought or worry. If nobody else has that worry, them your worry is probably your OCD.

Aureen Wagner, PhD, explains that OCD may take up a lot of your family's time. Your siblings may be upset with you because of this. Try to explain to them that you can't control it but are doing your best and working your hardest to get through your OCD.

Aureen Wagner, PhD, explains that there is treatment out there for OCD and that you can learn how to handle it. She shares some strategies for fighting your OCD.

Aureen Wagner, PhD, explains that it can be scary to face your fears. However, you are much braver than you think you are. Your therapist will understand that you are scared and will help you take small steps to facing your fear. You may also want to set up a system with your parents that allows you to earn "bravery tickets" every time you try to face your fear. You can then trade those tickets in for a reward.

Dr. McIngvale shares her personal experience living with OCD as a teenager.

Eric A. Storch, PhD shares an example of OCD treatment for children. He goes over explaining OCD, treatment, building a hierarchy, and relapse prevention and applying ERP tools in a way easy for children to understand.

Hannah Lovitt talks about her experience starting Exposure with Response Prevention (ERP). She says "refusing to do one exposure may seem like the easier thing to do in the short term but in the long run, doing the exposure is so much more beneficial to you"

Vanessa Baier talks about the onset of her first OCD symptoms and how her OCD fears have changed over time. She and her family also discuss how she was able to overcome some of these OCD fears with certain exposures.

Dr. Aureen Wagner explains how naming OCD can help children reframe it as something external from themselves.