Professional Development Workshop Series Presents:
Beyond Stereotypes: Recognizing
and Treating Pediatric OCD
Presented by Dr. Muniya Khanna
Pediatric OCD is widely misunderstood through pop-culture stereotypes of handwashing and neatness, while real presentations, like intrusive harm thoughts, mental rituals, and reassurance-seeking, often go unrecognized. This workshop gives participants a clinically grounded framework for identifying OCD presentations across developmental stages, understanding the neurobiological and cognitive-behavioral underpinnings of obsessions and compulsions, and applying the gold-standard treatment approach of exposure and response prevention (ERP). Drawing on findings from the Pediatric OCD Treatment Study (POTS II and POTS Jr), participants will learn how family accommodation can inadvertently maintain OCD symptoms and how to guide families toward supporting exposure-based change rather than reinforcing avoidance. The session balances research evidence with practical, session-ready strategies for supporting children, families, and school teams.
Objectives:
1.Participants will be able to identify common presentations of pediatric OCD, including how obsessions and compulsions differ from typical developmental worries and rigidity.
2.Participants will be able to describe the core components of exposure and response prevention (ERP) and explain the research evidence supporting it as a first-line treatment for pediatric OCD.
3.Participants will be able to recognize patterns of family accommodation that maintain OCD symptoms and identify strategies to guide families toward supporting the child's useof ERP-based tools
NASP Domain:
Domain 4-Mental and Behavioral Health Services and Interventions
Domain 9-Research and Evidence-Based Practice
Domain 7-Family, School, and Community Collaboration
