Is Your Child’s “Defiance” Actually Caused by OCD?
AT Parenting Survival | Raising Kids with OCD & Anxiety
Natasha Daniels: Child Therapist, Child Anxiety and OCD Expert, Parenting Coach and Parent
4.9 • 1.3K Ratings
🗓️ 2 June 2026
⏱️ 52 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Defiance can be one of the most misunderstood signs of OCD in children and teens.
When kids refuse to touch certain things, avoid everyday tasks, struggle with homework, take excessive time completing routines, or seem resistant to basic expectations, it can easily look like oppositional behavior. But underneath that behavior may be intrusive fears, avoidance compulsions, contamination concerns, or “just right” OCD driving their actions.
In this episode, I explore how hidden OCD symptoms are often mistaken for defiance, difficult behavior, or laziness, leading parents, teachers, and even therapists to respond in ways that may unintentionally worsen the cycle. I break down common household, school, and daily life behaviors that may actually be rooted in OCD, and explain how parents can better identify the true source of the struggle.
You’ll learn how to dig deeper beneath the behavior, ask more effective questions, and determine whether your child needs discipline, boundaries, or therapeutic support through exposure and response prevention (ERP).
If you are a parent who has ever wondered whether your child’s “bad behavior” may actually be part of their OCD, this episode will help you better understand what may really be happening beneath the surface.
To get this episode’s PDF handout go to www.natashadaniels.com/handouts
Get the course: How to Handle Difficult Behavior Caused by Anxiety or OCD
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This podcast episode is sponsored by NOCD. NOCD provides online OCD therapy in the US, UK, Australia and Canada. To schedule your free 15 minute consultation to see if NOCD is a right fit for you and your child, go to
https://go.treatmyocd.com/at_parenting
This podcast is for informational purposes only and should not be used to replace the guidance of a qualified professional.
Parents, do you need more support?
🌸 Here’s are resources I offer parents 👇🏻❤️
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Join the AT Parenting Community (A membership designed to support parents raising kids with anxiety or OCD):
https://atparentingcommunity.com
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www.Natashadaniels.com/webinars
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Welcome to the AT Parenting Survival Podcast, |
| 0:06.0 | where you get help and guidance through the chaos of parenting a child with anxiety or OCD. |
| 0:12.0 | This show is for educational purposes and is not intended to replace the guidance of a qualified professional. |
| 0:18.0 | Here's your host, child therapist, Natasha Daniels. Well, hello there, |
| 0:23.3 | and welcome to another episode of the AT Parenting Survival Podcast. Today we're going to be talking |
| 0:29.3 | about something that happens often, where our kids become what appears to be defiant, |
| 0:37.3 | oppositional, difficult, hard to parent. |
| 0:42.2 | And it is really important for us to flush out what is developmentally appropriate |
| 0:49.7 | boundary pushing or just difficult behavior. |
| 0:57.5 | And what is actually being caused by OCD? Because how we handle those things will depend on what is causing it. But before we jump into this episode, |
| 1:04.1 | I do want to thank NoCD for sponsoring this episode. NoCD offers affordable, effective, |
| 1:09.4 | convenient therapy and they're available in the U.S. |
| 1:12.3 | and outside the U.S. |
| 1:13.8 | You can schedule your free 15-minute consultation to see if no-cd is a right fit for you and your child. |
| 1:20.6 | Just go to Treat MyOCD.com. |
| 1:23.3 | That is TreatmyocD.com. |
| 1:25.7 | I'll leave a link in the show notes as well. I also want to mention that I |
| 1:30.2 | have a course called How to Handle Difficult Behavior caused by Anxiety and OCD. So if after this |
| 1:35.6 | episode you're like, oh my gosh, that's actually not difficult behavior. That's OCD. I can help guide |
| 1:43.5 | you step by step. You can learn more at ATParenting SurvivalSeries.com |
| 1:49.5 | slash difficult dash behavior. I'll leave that link in the show notes as well. I did create a PDF for |
| 1:58.0 | this episode. So if you want a PDF handout that will outline the things I'm |
... |
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