Part of the Reading Well scheme. 35 books selected by young people and health professionals to provide 13 to 18 year olds with high-quality support, information and advice about common mental health issues and related conditions.

Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) is a potentially life-long debilitating disorder, which often emerges during teenage years and affects as many as 1 in every 50 people. Young people living with OCD experience recurrent obsessions or compulsions that are distressing and interfere with their social lives, relationships, educational functioning and careers.

Written by leading experts on OCD, this step-by-step guide is written for adolescents with OCD and their families, to be used in home treatment or as a self-help book. Using the principles of cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT), which is the proven method for helping those with OCD, it offers teenagers a structured plan of treatment which can be read alone, or with a parent, counsellor or mental health worker. The guide provides useful advice and worksheets throughout.

This self-help book for young people is an invaluable resource for adolescents who have suffered from, or know someone who has suffered from, OCD, their families, teachers, carers, and mental health professionals.

Jo Derisley, ClinPsyD, AFBPsS, DipCogTher, is Honorary Senior Lecturer at the University of East Anglia, and Consultant Clinical Psychologist at the Norfolk& Waveney Mental Health Care Trust, UK. She has written several articles on the subject. Isobel Heyman, MBBS, PhD, MRCPsych, is Honorary Senior Lecturer at the King's College Institute of Psychiatry, London, and Consultant Child and Adolescent Psychiatrist at the Maudsley Hospital, UK, where she leads the national and specialist OCD and related disorders clinic for children and young people. She has published numerous articles on this subject. Dr Heyman and Dr Derisley represented childhood OCD in the NICE Guideline Development Group, and contributed to the written national UK guidelines for the management of OCD. Sarah Robinson, BSc, is Assistant Psychologist at the national and specialist OCD and related disorders clinic for children and young people at the Maudsley Hospital, UK. Cynthia Turner, PhD, MClinPsych, is Honorary Lecturer at the King's College Institute of Psychiatry, London and Senior Clinical Psychologist at the national and specialist OCD clinic for children and young people, Maudsley Hospital, UK. She specialises in the treatment of OCD and anxiety disorders in young people, and has written treatment programs for these disorders, as well as book chapters and scientific articles.

Part A: Understanding Your OCD. 1. About this Book. 2. What is OCD? 3. Can I Get Better from OCD? 4. What is Cognitive Behavioural Therapy? 5. Understanding My OCD. Part B: How To Recover from Your OCD. 6. How to Use this Book to Change Your OCD. 7. Understanding the Role of Anxiety. 8. What Does My OCD Look Like? 9. Designing Exposure and Response Prevention Exercises. 10. Making Progress with Exposure and Response Prevention Exercises. 11. Overcoming Difficulties. 12. What is the Role of My Thoughts? 13. How Can I Challenge My Thoughts? 14. How Can I Test Whether My Thoughts Will Come True? 15. How to Maintain the Gains I Have Made. Part C: OCD and the Bigger Picture. 16. OCD and My Family. 17. OCD, School and Friends. 18. Where to Go for More Information. Appendix: Questionnaire. Subject index. Author index.