OBSESSIVE-COMPULSIVE DISORDER (OCD) affects as many as one in 200 children, and can cause severe difficulties for the child in school, with friends and family. About half the adults who have OCD develop it during childhood. Fortunately, recent scientific advances have established that OCD can often be treated successfully, offering great hope for children and their families. Sadly, many children and teenagers are ashamed to disclose their symptoms, and therefore suffer in silence. UP AND DOWN THE WORRY HILL describes OCD clearly and simply from a child’s perspective. It attempts to give children with OCD a sense of control and hope in their lives. Hope and optimism are major factors in building the motivation and persistence that it takes to gain mastery over OCD. Children with OCD will identify with Casey’s initial struggle with OCD, his sense of hope when he learns about treatment, his relief that neither he nor his parents are to blame, and eventually, his victory over OCD. This book is designed for parents or professionals and children to read together. It offers parents, educators and clinicians the chance to engage in an open discussion of a difficult topic, and to provide accurate information about OCD. It is intended to help children dispel fears and uncertainties and prepare to engage in treatment. In particular, Up and Down the Worry Hill focuses on describing Behavior Therapy for OCD in a manner than children can comprehend. This book uses real-life metaphors to describe OCD and its treatment. Metaphors simplify difficult and abstract concepts by comparing them to situations that children can easily understand. The metaphors used in this book evolved over the years in Dr. Wagners' work with children with OCD. Up and Down the Worry Hill is part of the only integrated set of resources for children with OCD, their parents and their therapists. The companion book for parents is What to do when your Child has Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder: Strategies and Solutions. The companion book for professionals is Treatment of OCD in Children and Adolescents: A Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy Manual
Expert Reviewers' Comments "... It's a masterpiece! Many of us write for adults. You have written for children with OCD who will become adults, for adults with and without OCD and for the child within all of us. Stories beat statistics and you've captured and conveyed the essence of effective behavior therapy for OCD for children and adults. Your metaphors are perfect, permitting each reader to find his path to understanding and successful treatment of OCD. Parents, teachers, clinicians and, most importantly children will all benefit enormously from reading and rereading your book. Thanks so much for writing it." -- John H. Greist, M.D., CEO, Healthcare Technology Systems, LLC, Clinical Professor of Psychiatry University of Wisconsin Medical School, author of "Anxiety and Its Treatment, Help is Available" and many other books on OCD Member of the Scientific Advisory Board of the Obsessive Compulsive Foundation About the Author: AUREEN PINTO WAGNER, Ph.D., is Clinical Associate Professor of Neurology at the University of Rochester School of Medicine & Dentistry, Director of The Anxiety Wellness Center in Rochester, NY and a member of the Scientific Advisory Board of the Obsessive Compulsive Foundation. Dr. Wagner is a Clinical Child Psychologist whose unique Worry Hill approach to making cognitive-behavioral therapy accessible to youngsters has gained her international recognition. | 
