Anxiety disorders and obsessive–compulsive disorder (OCD) are among the most common and most debilitating mental health conditions in children and adolescents. While evidence-based treatments such as exposure and response prevention (ERP) are effective, progress is often compromised by well intentioned family accommodations—which is the way in which families adapt to, enable, or reinforce anxiety-driven behaviours. Examples of accommodations include providing repeated reassurance, modifying and participating in routines and rituals, or avoiding triggers. Research consistently shows the way these examples offer temporary relief, but ultimately maintain symptoms, undermine treatment outcomes, and impact the whole family in unhelpful ways.
This presentation will explore practical strategies for reducing family accommodation since anxiety and OCD do not exist in isolation. This session highlights the importance of working beyond the individual child and embedding treatment strategies within the broader home system, ensuring that mental health care is not only clinically sound but also sustainable for families navigating the complexities of anxiety and OCD. Drawing on the framework outlined in Treating Childhood and Adolescent Anxiety: Addressing Parental Accommodation (Lebowitz, 2021), a key focus will be empowering families to take action on what they can control, in turn reducing helplessness and conflict.  Attendees will leave with knowledge to support families in making consistent, structured adjustments that can reduce accommodation, empower families, and create sustainable change at home, even if a child or young person is reluctant to engage in therapy.

Participants will learn to:
1. Identify patterns of familial accommodation. We will present examples across developmental stages of how reassurance, avoidance, or symptom monitoring can appear differently in children and adolescents.


2. Reframe support as acceptance and confidence. We explore ways families can drop the power struggle and shift from symptom-maintaining behaviours towards responses that communicate belief in their child’s capacity to cope, while maintaining connection and warmth.


3. Implement a whole-family approach. By engaging parents, siblings, and carers as collaborators, families learn ways to reduce accommodation while reinforcing resilience and independence.