Supporting a child struggling with obsessive compulsions and perfectionism can be incredibly challenging as the desire to move the child out of their rigidity and rituals can overshadow the deeper issues and stressors driving the behaviors. Obsessive Compulsive Disorder is a complex disorder as the reasons behind the behaviors vary from managing anxiety to past traumas to focused energy inside of a child driving them towards their genius and that which is most meaningful. Due to the complexity, therapists often mis-label, mis-understand and mis-guide these children in how to work with and understand their rituals and need for perfectionism. Without an understanding of this disorder and how play therapy is able to support the integration of the underlying drivers of the behaviors, play therapists can inadvertently intensify the inner struggle that is often experienced by these children as they attempt to stop, control and even deny the urges in their bodies.
This webinar is a glimpse on the path to understand the perfection in these children’s perfection. With a look at the regulatory function of the behaviors to manage the internal conflicts and anxieties these children often carry, play therapists will learn how to separate the underlying drivers from the wisdom of the rituals themselves.