The Hidden Cost of Parenting Your Child’s Anxiety or OCD from Fear
AT Parenting Survival | Raising Kids with OCD & Anxiety
Natasha Daniels: Child Therapist, Child Anxiety and OCD Expert, Parenting Coach and Parent
4.8 • 1.2K Ratings
🗓️ 6 January 2026
⏱️ 51 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
When your child is struggling with anxiety or OCD, fear can quietly take over your parenting. Fear of making things worse. Fear of missing something. Fear of what the future might hold. In this episode, I explore the hidden cost of parenting from that place.
I talk about how fear often shows up in ways we don’t always recognize, such as agitation, constant anxiety, over-cheerleading, or swinging into punitive responses when we are exhausted and overwhelmed. While these reactions are completely understandable, they can unintentionally undermine trust and keep both parent and child stuck.
I also share how things shifted when I stopped parenting from fear and began meeting my child exactly where they were. That change did not mean doing less. It meant responding differently. By building trust and creating emotional safety, my child was able to feel more empowered and begin taking ownership of their own struggles.
This episode is for parents who are trying their best but feel stuck in survival mode. We talk about how to recognize fear-driven parenting patterns and how moving toward a more anchored approach can change the tone of your relationship and support your child’s growth.
Learn how to be a solid anchor for your child in my free series. Register here.
-Watch the Instagram reel on anchored vs unanchored parenting.
-Take the SPACE Study Guide Course here.
-Read: When a Loved One Won’t Seek Mental Health Treatment
Breaking Free of Child Anxiety and OCD
***
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 👇🏻❤️
Online classes for parents raising kids with anxiety and OCD:
https://atparentingsurvivalschool.com
Join the AT Parenting Community (A membership designed to support parents raising kids with anxiety or OCD):
https://atparentingcommunity.com
Take one of my FREE webinars:
www.Natashadaniels.com/webinars
Check out my books:
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http://www.facebook.com/ATparentingSurvival
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http://www.twitter.com/Parentingsurvival
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Transcript
Click on a timestamp to play from that location
| 0:00.0 | Before you jump into today's episode, I want to talk to you about overwhelm. Do you get overwhelmed |
| 0:06.4 | when your child's anxiety or OCD starts to spiral? I know that I have. Is your child's fear or |
| 0:12.7 | discomfort contagious? It can be. And one of the biggest gifts we can give our child is the skill |
| 0:19.6 | to anchor ourselves. When we learn how to shift |
| 0:23.3 | our mindset out of fear and panic, when we learn how to ground ourselves and calm our nervous system, |
| 0:31.6 | when we learn how to spot our own triggers and we learn how to address them. We become an incredibly effective anchor |
| 0:39.7 | for our kids and their struggles. And honestly, it's not as hard as you might think. I had to |
| 0:46.1 | learn how to navigate incredible life stress, like the sudden passing of my husband a couple |
| 0:50.9 | years ago, along with raising three kids with anxiety, OCD, pots, ADHD, |
| 0:57.2 | RFID, we've got alphabet soup over here. But this has become a daily practice for me. And because of it, |
| 1:04.4 | not only have I felt more calm, I feel healthier, my kids are noticing the remarkable shift as well. And now I'm going to teach |
| 1:13.5 | you these skills. Join me in my free series, how to be an effective anchor for your child with |
| 1:19.2 | anxiety or OCD. You can register at atyparenting survival series.com. All these videos are on demand so you can watch the videos and |
| 1:29.3 | the replay on your schedule while the series is running, which will be January 8th through |
| 1:35.2 | January 16th. I hope to see you over there. Now back to the show. |
| 1:43.3 | Welcome to the AT Parenting Survival Podcast, where you get help and guidance through the chaos of parenting a child with anxiety or OCD. |
| 1:52.3 | This show is for educational purposes and is not intended to replace the guidance of a qualified professional. |
| 1:58.8 | Here's your host, child therapist, Natasha Daniels. |
| 2:02.9 | Well, hello there, and welcome to another episode of the AT Parenting Survival Podcast. |
| 2:08.6 | Today, I want to talk to you about the hidden cost of parenting your child's anxiety or |
| 2:14.1 | OCD with fear. |
| 2:15.5 | And I want to talk to you about my parenting and how for so long |
... |
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