Inpatient treatment of obsessive compulsive disorder in childhood: a case study

Obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD) is now recognized as a relatively common disorder that often has its onset in childhood. Both behavior modification and newly available serotonin reuptake inhibitors have shown to be beneficial in reducing the primary symptoms of OCD in adults, but behavior therapy has not been well-studied in children. This paper presents a case of a 13-year-old boy admitted to a child psychiatric inpatient service with severe OCD, psychotic features, and a history of Tourette's syndrome. The integration of standard behavior therapy techniques on a child inpatient service and barriers to implementing these techniques are discussed.