Children And Obsessions

Dear parent,

Obsessions are an expression of fear and a sense of helplessness. They are common at your child’s age. Find the cause of your daughter’s anxiety and eliminate it or, if not possible, help her to release the fear and realize her sense of power. 

Once your child feels secure, she might continue habitually with compulsive behaviors. At that point, you can talk to her about finding a way to break the habit. She may come up with ways to trick herself out of it or to make the conditions unfriendly for bathroom visits. You can go on a camping trip with extended family or friends, go skiing, or just leave the house daily to be with other people outdoors. At home use humor, make up songs about bathroom, and laugh together.

To discover and heal the cause of your daughter’s anxiety, observe the nature of the obsession. She wants to keep emptying herself. This may mean she does not feel safe to express herself. There is something inside that needs to get out. Or it could be about disgust with herself needing cleanliness. Listen to her, watch her play and see if you can find the source.

It is not always easy to detect the source of a child’s anxiety. You may want to book yourself a phone session with me so I can assist you in finding the core issue for your daughter: http://authenticparent.com/guidance.html

Warmly, Naomi Aldort, http://authenticparent.com/index.html