In this powerful and deeply personal episode, Dr. Jenn Rapkin shares her remarkable journey living with obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) while also parenting a child navigating the same condition. As a naturopathic physician specializing in mental health and mind-body medicine, Dr. Jenn brings both clinical expertise and lived experience to a conversation that is honest, hopeful, and incredibly insightful.
She opens up about the early signs of OCD in her own life, the loneliness and stigma that often surround the disorder, and how those experiences shaped the way she supports patients and her family today. Dr. Jenn also discusses how the pandemic intensified OCD symptoms for many children and why giving OCD a name—like “annoying brain talk”—can help kids recognize intrusive thoughts and begin building resilience.
In this episode, we explore evidence-based treatments such as Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT), Exposure and Response Prevention (ERP), and the role medication can play in recovery. Dr. Jenn explains how family dynamics often become intertwined with OCD behaviors, the challenge of accommodation, and how parents can begin gently untangling those patterns while supporting all children in the home. She also shares the transformative impact of specialized residential treatment programs and highlights the crucial role family involvement plays in long-term healing.
Dr. Jenn offers practical guidance for parents navigating similar challenges, including how to advocate for understanding and support in schools, set healthy boundaries, and care for themselves through the emotional weight of supporting a child with mental health struggles. Finally, she gives us a glimpse into her book, The Feeling Muscle: How Felt Emotion Can Help You Sit with and Outlast Hard Feelings (https://a.co/d/0grm03jh), which explores how developing emotional awareness through the body can strengthen resilience and help both children and adults face difficult feelings with courage.

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Episode 133: Dr. Jenn Rapkin, Mom, Author, and Naturopathic Physician