Can a parent do harm when their child has ocd?

Not permanent.: It's most important that your child be getting support from a licensed therapist trained in exposure and response prevention. As long as you a re working in conjunction with that therapist and your child's md (psychotropic meds are often needed to do successful exposures depending on the severity of the ocd), you will not be doing any irreparable harm. Be sure to get support for yourself, too!

Child with OCD: When a child has obvious symptoms of OCD it is important not to keep focusing on the symptom and to not point out the behavior to the child. All that does is raise the child's anxiety, which increases the possibility of the OCD symptom. Counseling would go a long way to help reduce anxiety and raise self-esteem. Medication may also be necessary if the symptoms are too intrusive.