Finding Relief from OCD with Online Parent Therapy
As a parent and therapist, I’ve sat with many families affected by the unique challenges of Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD). In my work providing online parent therapy, I support parents who are navigating how OCD—whether in themselves, their child, or another caregiver—shapes the parent-child relationship. What we often discover together is that while OCD creates distress, it also creates opportunities for deeper connection, healing, and mutual understanding.
We live in a culture that misrepresents OCD. It’s portrayed as a personality quirk—being overly neat, anxious about germs, or obsessed with order. But OCD is much more complex. It’s an internal experience of intrusive thoughts and compulsions, often tied to fear, shame, and the desire to prevent something terrible from happening. For a parent, these compulsions can get in the way of presence, playfulness, and emotional availability. For a child, this might feel like unpredictability, detachment, or control.
When OCD Affects the Parent-Child Relationship
Parents with OCD are often loving, responsible, and deeply invested in their child’s well-being. Yet the very nature of OCD can pull parents away from connection. Whether it’s ritualized behaviors around safety, intrusive thoughts about harm, or mental preoccupation with things being “just right,” OCD can disrupt attunement in subtle and painful ways.
In online parent therapy, we don't focus solely on individual symptom management. We focus on the relational repair that supports both healing and growth. We talk about co-regulation—how your nervous system affects your child’s—and how to rebuild a sense of shared safety, even when OCD has created emotional distance.
If your child is neurodivergent, highly sensitive, or has their own struggles with anxiety or regulation, the interplay with OCD can become even more layered. Visit Family Counseling for Parents of ADHD and Neurodiversity to see how we can support these unique family systems with nervous system-informed strategies.
Repairing Ruptures and Restoring Safety
One of the most important things we do in therapy is acknowledge the impact OCD may have had on your child—not with blame, but with compassion and hope. Children benefit immensely from a parent who can say, “I see how my fear or anxiety affected you. I want to do things differently now.” That kind of vulnerability is the start of relational repair.
On my Parent Coaching Grounded in Brain Science page, I explore how the brain’s protection systems shape our behaviors—and how understanding these systems can help parents reduce reactivity and increase connection. For families impacted by OCD, this means learning how to shift from compulsive coping strategies to more relational ones.
Creating Connection, Even with OCD in the Room
The goal of online family therapy in California isn’t to eliminate OCD. It’s to help your family thrive with it. That starts with making space for your child’s emotional needs alongside your own. It might mean practicing attuned listening even when your mind wants to drift into rituals. Or it might mean learning to tolerate the discomfort of not fixing everything—so you can show up more fully for your child.
If OCD-related stress is affecting your co-parenting relationship, this can send confusing signals to children. In Co-parenting Therapy Near Me, we look at how to co-create consistency and calm between caregivers, even when anxiety or OCD shows up.
If you're parenting after adoption, it’s not uncommon for OCD to surface or intensify due to the weight of attachment pressures or unresolved trauma. On the Post-Adoption Services page, I discuss how adoptive parents can nurture connection while caring for their own mental health.
And if you’re raising a gifted or twice-exceptional child, you may notice their emotional world reflects the intensity of your own. Family Counseling for Gifted/2e offers ways to meet these children with attunement and emotional safety, especially when perfectionism or over-responsibility (common in OCD) plays a role in the family dynamic.
Building a Connected Path Forward
The truth is, OCD doesn’t have to define your relationship with your child. What matters most is that your child feels seen—not just in their strengths, but in the impact of your struggles—and that they know you are trying to show up differently.
Through online parent therapy, we create space for you to reflect, repair, and reconnect. We slow down, explore your nervous system, and co-create new patterns that invite more joy, attunement, and trust.
How do I get started?
Book a free discovery call. We will have a brief screening phone call and if it feels right, we will schedule an hour-long, free phone consultation to see if we are a good match for therapy. This is my offering to you, at a time when you are struggling the most.
FAQs: OCD and the Parent-Child Relationship
How does OCD affect the way I connect with my child?
OCD can make it hard to stay emotionally present. Intrusive thoughts and compulsions may interfere with playfulness, eye contact, or responsiveness. Over time, this can create distance or confusion in your relationship. Therapy focuses on repairing these ruptures by helping you co-regulate and rebuild trust.
Can therapy help if my child isn’t the one struggling with OCD?
Yes. Even when the child doesn’t have OCD, they are impacted by the parent’s stress patterns. Parent therapy helps you manage your internal experiences so that you can be a more emotionally available, regulated presence for your child. That shift can make all the difference.
What if OCD is creating tension between me and my co-parent?
OCD can heighten the need for control, routine, or certainty—sometimes leading to conflict around parenting decisions or caregiving roles. Co-parenting support focuses on creating clarity, collaboration, and emotional regulation between caregivers so that children aren’t caught in the crossfire.
I’m an adoptive parent. Is it normal to feel obsessive or anxious about parenting “right”?
Yes. Many adoptive parents experience intense pressure to get everything right, which can amplify obsessive thinking or compulsive patterns. Therapy creates a space to explore those feelings with compassion and re-center your parenting around connection rather than perfection.
My child is gifted or twice-exceptional.
Can that interact with OCD? Definitely. Gifted and 2e children often exhibit heightened sensitivity and emotional intensity, which can reflect or amplify a parent’s OCD symptoms. Therapy can help both of you better understand and regulate these emotional patterns in ways that support connection.
Is your therapy approach just about managing symptoms?
No. While symptom relief is important, my focus is relational. We work together to help you become more connected to yourself and your child. That might mean exploring your nervous system, identifying protection-based habits, and practicing co-regulation so your child experiences you as safe and available.
Do you work with the whole family or just parents?
I primarily support parents, but every family is different. Sometimes therapy includes other family members when it helps move the work forward. The core goal remains the same: restoring safety and connection in your family system.
What can I do while I am waiting for therapy to start?
Check out the podcast, "The Baffling Behavior Show," by Robyn Gobbel, who is my mentor. Listening to her show will give you an idea about how we will work together to bring more regulation into your nervous system. You can listen here.
You deserve support: Contact Abby
Book a free discovery call. We will have a brief screening phone call and if it feels right, we will schedule an hour-long, free phone consultation to see if we are a good match for therapy. This is my offering to you, at a time when you are struggling the most.