OCD & Anxiety Intensive Treatment for Children & Teens in Los Angeles
Does your child or teen have OCD or anxiety that is significantly interfering with their life? Does once per week outpatient therapy not seem like the right option for your child/teen’s OCD or anxiety? An intensive outpatient program, where children and families participate in treatment for multiple hours per week for a few weeks may be a good fit for your child.
The OCD & Anxiety Intensive Treatment Program at WaveMind is a focused intensive program offering comprehensive care (e.g., child therapy, parent support, group therapy) in West Los Angeles, led by top experts in the field of OCD and anxiety.
What are OCD & Anxiety?
Obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD) is a potentially debilitating condition that can affect children, teens, and adults. It’s characterized by obsessive, unwanted thoughts and accompanying compulsive behaviors. Oftentimes affected children have a difficult time controlling these thoughts and actions. Similarly, severe anxiety is characterized by distressing thoughts and avoidance of anxiety-provoking situations.
The good news is that OCD and anxiety are treatable disorders, and with the right intervention most kids can get better. Cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) strategies and exposure and response prevention (ERP) are the gold-standard treatments for anxiety and OCD.
What does OCD & Anxiety Intensive Treatment Look Like at WaveMind?
While WaveMind currently offers weekly intervention, sometimes people can benefit from more intensive treatment.
Our OCD and Anxiety Intensive Treatment uses the same skills and therapy modalities as our outpatient clinic, but in a more intensive format. Children and teens come in-person to our West LA clinic Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and virtually on Friday from 2pm-5pm. There are typically 2-3 children in the program each day. Throughout the program, kids participate in a variety of activities, including: practices (i.e., “exposures”) one-on-one with a trained professional, group activities with other children/teens, multi-family group meetings, and individual family meetings. Parents participate in many of these activities, as well as a parent group offered once per week.
Our OCD and Anxiety Intensive Treatment Program is directed by Dr. Lindsey Bergman, who brings decades of experience running intensive treatment programs at UCLA and other behavioral health organizations.
What’s the schedule?
The program starts at 2pm at our office in West LA. We often ask that parents are in the building, or close-by, for some of the program hours to help with practices, or to participate in pre-scheduled parent meetings. Here is what the activities of the day typically look like.
Arrive & Check In
After your child/teen arrives, the first few minutes are spent reviewing how the past day(s) have gone, and reviewing home practices. Goals and a plan for the day are discussed.
Exposures
Your child/teen will participate in a series of practices accompanied by their clinician (i.e., "exposures") to gradually face their fears. Practice is the most important part of treatment, so a substantial part of the day will consist of exposure practices.
Child Group
Twice per week, all children and teens meet together with a therapist and participate in group activities (such as a mindfulness exercise, a group practice, or a fun game)
Parent Group
Once per week, all parents participate in a parent group with a therapist. During this group, parents will have the opportunity to meet other parents of children/teens in the program, and learn skills to support their child's OCD/anxiety.
Individual Family Meetings
Once per week, families meet with one of the team psychologists to review their child's progress and receive feedback in how to apply skills to support their child. Usually these meetings occur with just parents, though children/teens may join these meetings if appropriate.
Multi-Family Meetings
At the beginning and end of the week there is a multi-family meeting for all parents and children/teens. At the beginning of the week, we check in and set goals as a group, and at the end of the week we review goals met and participate in a fun activity together.
Wrap Up & Homework Assigning
Children/teens finish the day by debriefing with their therapist, and collaborating on designing "homework" (i.e. home practices) for the upcoming evening/morning before the next program day.
Is intensive treatment right for my child?
We recommend our intensive treatment program for any children or teens experiencing more severe OCD/Anxiety symptoms, or if you are looking to accelerate treatment results. Get in touch with us using the button below to see if our OCD/Anxiety intensive treatment program is right for your child.
Frequently Asked Questions
What makes the WaveMind Intensive Treatment Program different than other programs?
Our program is specifically focused on OCD and anxiety, and our clinicians have received specialized training in the treatment of these disorders.
WaveMind treatment consists of both individual and group treatment due to the belief that combining both modalities is the most helpful for young people.
WaveMind provides staff support during exposures, and never leaves children or teens to work on exposures on their own (unless it is clinically indicated).
WaveMind psychologists are actively involved in treatment and meet individually with families on a weekly basis.
WaveMind offers families a lifetime support group with other families following their successful treatment in our intensive program.
How long will my child be in the program for?
The length of treatment for an individual child or teen is based on their progress. Typically treatment lasts anywhere between 6 weeks and 12 weeks depending on the child/teen’s presentation and progress. Our treatment team will meet with your family each week to assess your child’s progress and make a recommendation about whether additional treatment is needed.
What are the program costs?
Please get in touch with us to learn about the costs of our program. We are not in-network with any insurance plan, but we may be able to help you get a portion of the costs reimbursed by your insurance company.
Who provides treatment at WaveMind?
We have a team approach to treatment and our team is comprised of several different professionals who support and treat each family. We always have a licensed psychologist (typically Dr. Bergman) on site who meets with families weekly. We employ a range of experienced, highly trained and specialized clinicians at several levels.
What about school?
Given the hours of our program, it may be that your child needs to leave school early to attend our program, and may also need to be exempt from additional schoolwork or homework. In our experience, schools are accommodating. Also, if your child’s symptoms warrant intensive treatment, those symptoms are likely interfering with school and need to be addressed to ensure academic success in the long term. Our program is short-term, and we will help your child transition back to full functioning and participation in school! Our team can provide you with documentation to provide to the school indicating that your child is attending our program; we can also speak directly to your child/teen’s school and give them information about our program.