For parents, children & teenagers
Help for children and teenagers with OCD and anxiety
You can usually see what is happening. What is much harder is working out which of the things you are doing to help are quietly keeping it going. That is where this work starts.
At a glance
- Ages
- Children, teenagers and parents
- Treatment
- ERP, CBT and parent-based treatment
- Where
- Online across the UK · in person near Nottingham and Mansfield
- When
- Weekdays to 9pm — after school and after work
- First step
- A free 30-minute call for parents, no obligation
- HCPC-registered Clinical Psychologist
- Chartered Psychologist (BPS)
- Board certified by the ABPP
- Former Assistant Director, Child Anxiety Center (Seattle)
- Recognised by BUPA, AXA Health, Aviva, Vitality & WPA
What is usually going on
Childhood anxiety is a family pattern, not just a child’s problem
By the time parents contact me, the household has almost always reorganised itself around the anxiety. That is normal, it is not a failure, and it is one of the most useful things to change.
The reassurance at bedtime, the lift to school so they do not have to take the bus, the food you buy because it is the only thing they will eat, the question you answer for the fifth time in the same words — each of those works, in the moment. Repeated across months, they teach a child that they could not have coped without you. Clinicians call this accommodation, and reducing it carefully is often where the biggest gains come from. The first appointment is about working out what is actually maintaining the problem in your family, rather than assuming.
OCD in children & teens
Rituals, repeated questions, bathroom routines and rage when a step is interrupted. Treated with ERP.
Read moreAnxiety in children
Worry, stomach aches, tears at bedtime, avoidance — and the responses that unintentionally feed them.
Read moreSchool refusal
When mornings have become a battle and the absence is building. A graded, structured route back.
Read moreSeparation anxiety
Sleeping alone, being left with anyone else, or simply you leaving the room. Common well beyond the early years.
Read moreARFID & food-related anxiety
Extreme restricted eating driven by fear, sensory difficulty or lack of interest — not by body image.
Read moreOCD with ADHD
A combination that is easy to miss and that changes how ERP needs to be delivered at home and at school.
Read moreSocial anxiety in teenagers
Often mistaken for shyness until it starts closing down friendships, activities and sixth-form choices.
Read moreSkin picking & hair pulling
Body-focused repetitive behaviours in young people, which need habit reversal rather than exposure alone.
Read moreEverything I treat
The full list for children and adults, and an honest account of what I do not take on.
See the full listParent-based treatment
What to do when your child will not attend
This is one of the most common reasons parents contact me, and it is not the end of the road. Your child does not have to be willing, motivated or even present for treatment to begin.
SPACE — Supportive Parenting for Anxious Childhood Emotions — is a parent-based treatment developed at Yale. The parents attend; the child does not need to. We work on how you respond to the anxiety: reducing accommodation systematically, and replacing it with responses that say both that you understand how hard it feels and that you believe your child can handle it. A randomised trial comparing it with child-delivered CBT for childhood anxiety found the two comparable. It is a genuine treatment route, not a consolation prize.
Where your child is willing to take part, I also coach parents directly through parent training: what to say when the question comes for the fourth time, and how to hold a boundary calmly while your child is genuinely distressed.
How treatment works
Three steps, and no obligation at the first
- A free 30-minute call
Parents only. You tell me what has been happening, I tell you honestly whether this is work I do and what it would involve. No charge, no pressure.
- A 90-minute assessment
Usually parents first, then your child, then everyone together. We map the anxiety, the accommodation and what has been tried, and agree who the treatment will be delivered through.
- Active treatment
ERP and CBT with your child, parent-based work with you, or both. We set targets, track them, and work towards you not needing me.
Screens & technology
The question parents ask me most
Phones, gaming and social media tangle themselves up with anxiety, sleep and school avoidance in ways that are hard to separate. Some of it is a parenting problem. Some of it is a clinical one. I will tell you plainly which I think you have.
A self-guided option for parents
The Screen Balance Program
Most families worried about screens do not need therapy. They need a clear, structured plan and someone to tell them which changes actually matter. That is why I co-created the Screen Balance Program with Dr Jennifer Tininenko — a step-by-step programme parents work through themselves, at their own pace.
Disclosure: the Screen Balance Program is a paid programme I co-created and have a commercial interest in. It is not a substitute for assessment or treatment, and I will always tell you plainly if I think your family needs the latter.
Practical details
You do not need a GP referral. Appointments run to 9pm on weekdays, so sessions do not have to cost your child a school day. I see families online anywhere in the UK and in person near Ravenshead, Nottingham and Mansfield — and for school refusal and separation anxiety in particular, online work is often more useful, because the exposure happens in the actual hallway, at the actual front door.
Sessions are £120, with the 90-minute assessment at £180. I am recognised by BUPA, AXA Health, Aviva, Vitality, WPA and hold a small number of reduced-fee places. With your consent I will also speak to your child’s school, which is often where the most useful changes get made.
Not sure whether this is the right fit?
Start with a free 30-minute call. We will talk through what is going on, I will tell you honestly whether I think I can help, and if I cannot I will try to point you to someone who can. There is no obligation and no charge.