Specialized therapy and parent support for children, teens, and families navigating Pediatric OCD, PANS, and PANDAS.
When OCD or PANS/PANDAS changes your child’s world overnight, you need more than traditional therapy. Our trauma-informed, family-centered approach helps children heal while supporting the parents who walk alongside them.
When Everything Changes Overnight
When a child is wrestling with obsessive-compulsive behaviors, it can feel like an uninvited, aggressive weed has taken over your family’s life. Every day becomes an exhausting effort to manage rituals, fears, and sudden behavioral shifts. If you are noticing these symptoms appear overnight, or if your child’s OCD seems deeply intertwined with intense physical and emotional flares, you aren’t just looking for standard behavior management; you need a team that understands the complex interplay between the brain, the body, and the family ecosystem.
At our practice, we provide specialized, evidence-based care for children navigating Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD), with a dedicated, comprehensive focus on families navigating Pediatric Acute-onset Neuropsychiatric Syndrome (PANS) and Pediatric Autoimmune Neuropsychiatric Disorders Associated with Streptococcal Infections (PANDAS). We know that healing a child requires more than just a weekly therapy appointment. It requires a wrap-around approach that holds the entire family system.
Why Families Choose Creative Counseling Connections
✔ Specialized Pediatric OCD Therapy
✔ Parent Coaching
✔ Trauma-Informed Care
✔ SPACE Parent Training
✔ CBT & ERP
✔ Local & National PANS/PANDAS Resources
✔ Collaboration with Medical Providers
✔ Family-Centered Care
Our Four-Phase Treatment Framework
Phase 1: Prepare the Soil
Medical Stability First
Healing begins by ensuring your child has the medical support they need.
While we are not medical providers, we help families navigate available resources and connect with experienced physicians and specialists familiar with PANS/PANDAS.
We ensure the biological foundation is supported before asking your child’s brain to do the heavy lifting of behavioral therapy.
Phase 2: Water and Sunlight
Nurturing the Caregiver
Parents carry an enormous emotional burden.
Through specialized Therapeutic Parent Coaching with an individual therapist, we help you process the unique grief and anxiety that comes with this journey.
For deep communal support, we also offer our trauma recovery parent group—run by Sara Rodriguez, LCSW-C. Here, you find validation, somatic regulation tools, and a community that truly gets it.
Phase 3: Gentle Pruning
Strengthening the Family System
Using the SPACE (Supportive Parenting for Anxious Childhood Emotions) model, we help parents reduce accommodations that unintentionally reinforce OCD while maintaining warmth, connection, and safety. This shifts the home environment and weakens OCD’s grip before direct child therapy even begins.
Phase 4: Harvesting the Skills
Helping Your Child Heal
Once the soil is prepped, the caregiver is supported, and the home environment is stabilized, the child is finally ready to actively participate in their own growth. Our therapists provide individualized therapy to your children using evidence-based approaches including:
- Exposure & Response Prevention (ERP)
- Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT)
Understanding Family Accommodations
Many parents naturally try to reduce their child’s distress by participating in rituals or changing family routines.
Although these responses come from love, they can unintentionally strengthen OCD over time.
We’ll teach you practical, compassionate strategies that support your child without reinforcing anxiety.
Created by a Clinician Who Understands This Journey
Our program was developed by Sara Rodriguez, LCSW-C, a therapist and mother of three children with PANS/PANDAS.
Her personal and professional experience allows her to guide families with both clinical expertise and genuine understanding of the challenges this diagnosis can bring.
Resources for Families
Looking for trusted information?
Families can request our curated PANS/PANDAS Resource Guide, which includes:
- Medical providers
- Treatment resources
- Educational materials
- Community recommendations
- Next steps after diagnosis
You Don’t Have to Navigate This Alone
Whether your child has recently developed symptoms or your family has been living with PANS/PANDAS for years, we’re here to help.
Together, we’ll create a plan that supports your child, strengthens your family, and moves you toward lasting healing.
CREATIVE COUNSELING CONNECTIONS
Helping individuals and families heal, connect, and grow