OCD and TSG

Hello Nicholeen!

I apologize that these questions are coming I do so late. I understand if you can’t get to it until next week.

My family has been implementing TSG for about a month now. Though rocky roads in the beginning, I’m finding that the skills we’re learning are a blessing to our family, and myself as we are experiencing more structure and peace in our home! Thank you.

I’m writing today with a questions regarding my fifteen year old daughter who is a beautifully brilliant and creative gal, who experiences high levels of anxiety and OCD behaviors (recently). When we first began TSG, her anxiety, anger outbursts, and refusals sky rocketed. I questioned momentarily if these were signs of ODD, but friends and family encouraged that these were typical teenage girl responses!

We got to the rule of 3 a couple times in the first week. When instructed to take calming breaths, my dear daughter goes into a panic, and doesn’t seem to be able to follow a basic instruction to breath. Also, the continuous reading of script for the rule of 3 is overwhelming to her. She’s already in downstairs brain at this point, and doesn’t seem to be able to make an intentional decision to follow basic instructions. I want to set her up for success.

What other in-the-moment calming instructions can you recommend? Or ideas for getting back to the upstairs brain?

We’ve found it helpful to use additional other tools, like time in her room to journal her thoughts, before she escalate even higher. It’s not efficient, but helps. However, my dear daughter will write for hours long to avoid having to do chores etc. I realize that I’ll need to set some limits. Do you recommend this tool and have any suggestions on how to use it, and at with what step in the TSG process?

Also, how do you recommend adjusting the TSG program for a child who has high levels of anxiety and OCD?

When she’s stuck in an OCD behavior, it seems next to impossible to get her to follow simple instructions. This OCD monster is trying to rule to our home. I refuse to let it, but need more skills and tools for how to conquer this intrusive beast! Any suggestions for how to implement TSG with OCD would be much appreciated!

Thank you for your time.