Being a Parent with Ocd - by Jon Hershfield (Paperback)

About the Book

Parenthood magnifies everything, including the struggles and symptoms related to obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD). From intrusive thoughts to endless checking, fears of contamination, and moral scrupulosity, OCD can transform ordinary parenting moments into high-stakes internal battles. Being a Parent with OCD offers compassionate, practical, and evidence-based guidance to navigate every developmental stage, from pregnancy through the teen years. Parents with OCD will learn to calm intrusive fears, manage compulsions, and stay connected to what matters most: love, presence, and joy in the parenting journey.

Book Synopsis

How do you manage intrusive thoughts, obsessions, and compulsions and be the parent you want to be when you have OCD?

Parenthood can bring extraordinary joy and extraordinary anxiety, especially if you live with obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD). The thoughts, rituals, and fears you manage daily may suddenly attach to the people you love most. You might worry about harming your baby, spreading contamination, or making a catastrophic parenting mistake. These fears can feel isolating and shameful. But you are not alone, and recovery is possible.

Being a Parent with OCD provides compassionate, evidence-based support at every stage of the parenting journey. Drawing on proven-effective cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT), exposure and response prevention (ERP), and mindfulness-based techniques, this book helps you recognize how OCD interacts with parenting demands and transitions, and offers real tools to help you confront your fears and reclaim meaningful family moments.

This go-to parenting guide will help you:

• Face intrusive thoughts without giving in to compulsions
• Reduce hyper-responsibility and guilt while staying present with your child
• Handle common triggers like contamination, harm fears, and scrupulosity
• Develop mindful awareness and self-compassion to quiet the inner critic

From deciding to become a parent through raising infants, children, teens, and young adults, this book offers tools to manage your OCD symptoms however and whenever they show up, so you can experience love, happiness, and connection with your children.

Review Quotes

"Being a Parent with OCD is a gift to any parent navigating the uncertainty, responsibility, and vulnerability of raising a child, and especially to those living with doubt. In classic Jon Hershfield style, humor and compassion make even difficult and taboo topics feel approachable and deeply human. He thoughtfully explores the many obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) themes that can become entangled with parenting, offering practical guidance across stages of parenthood. Grounded in self-compassion, this book helps parents release shame, loosen the grip of certainty and perfection, and trust their influence. Most powerfully, OCD can't take away the privilege of being a parent--ever."
--Josh Spitalnick, PhD, ABPP, owner and CEO of Anxiety Specialists of Atlanta and coauthor of The Complete Guide to Overcoming Health Anxiety

"Being a Parent with OCD is a compassionate, insightful, and practical guide for parents struggling with OCD. Jon Hershfield combines clinical expertise with warmth and humor to help readers better understand their minds, face uncertainty with courage, and reconnect with what matters most--their families and their values. This book is a terrific resource for parents, loved ones, and clinicians alike."
--Jonathan S. Abramowitz, PhD, clinical psychologist and professor at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

"Jon Hershfield has been a prolific and important voice in the literature on OCD, but with this book on parenting with OCD, he has truly outdone himself. As the first book devoted to this important and often overlooked subject, it is a much-needed addition to the field. With his characteristic humor, insight, and compassion, Jon draws on both his professional expertise and his personal experience to show how those of us with OCD can keep the disorder from stealing one of life's greatest joys: parenthood."
--Jonathan Grayson, PhD, director of The Grayson LA Treatment Center for Anxiety & OCD and author of Freedom from Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder

"Jon Hershfield's book for parents navigating OCD offers his personal understanding of OCD and parenting paired with practical tools for recovery. Jon is known for his compassion, humor, and clinical expertise, which are used throughout this text to help parents break free from fear, anxiety, and compulsions. This book will guide you to become the present, connected parent you want to be, rather than the parent controlled by OCD."
--Elizabeth McIngvale, PhD, LCSW-S, director of the OCD Institute of Texas

"Of all of Jon's masterpieces, this is by far my favorite. At one point, I found myself laughing, tearing up, and feeling completely understood, all in the same moment. If you have OCD and you are a parent, this book is going to feel like the hug you've needed for the longest time. Parenting with OCD can be incredibly lonely, and Jon will make you feel deeply seen while also giving you the tools and courage to stop letting OCD make your parenting decisions. This book is kind, hilarious, and practical, and has officially earned a spot on my list of favorite OCD books."
--Kimberley Quinlan, LMFT, host of the Your Anxiety Toolkit podcast

"Parenting with OCD can be a uniquely painful experience: The person you most want to protect can become the focus of the thoughts, doubts, and fears you most desperately want to escape. Jon Hershfield understands that from the inside out, and he writes about it with an expert's knowledge, a fellow sufferer's empathy, and a friend's reassuring voice--and, thankfully, a healthy dose of humor. By looking past the endless variations of OCD to the common process beneath them, he offers parents a simple, powerful way to understand their minds and respond differently. You don't have to be a parent without OCD to be a great parent."
--Reid Wilson, PhD, author of Quiet Your OCD Brain

"Reading Being a Parent with OCD brought tears to my eyes. As a parent who struggles with my own anxiety, and as a psychologist who works with parents with OCD, I see every day how OCD can rob families of their most precious moments--and sometimes even years. This book tugs directly at the heart because of Jon Hershfield's unique blend of professional insight and personal experience. No one deserves to have these irreplaceable times stolen from them, and this book serves as an essential guide to help save those precious moments."
--Marisa T. Mazza, PsyD, clinical psychologist, founder of choicetherapy, faculty at the International OCD Foundation's Behavior Therapy Training Institute Faculty Member, and author of The ACT Workbook for OCD

"This is, full stop, a wonderful book. It is witty, warm, and wise, and fills a massive hole in the literature with clear, evidence-based information for parents who struggle with OCD. Being a Parent with OCD will comfort, validate parents' experience, and offer practical, immediately useful tools to help them--and not their OCD--make parenting choices. It is essential reading for parents, caregivers, and clinicians alike. I can't wait to get it into the hands and hearts of my clients."
--Lisa Coyne, PhD, assistant professor at McLean/Harvard Medical School and CEO of the New England Center for OCD and Anxiety.

"You know a book is going to be good when it's dedicated to the dog. Being a Parent with OCD is one of those rare self-help books that actually meets you where you are. Maybe you're postpartum and scared. Maybe you've had OCD for years, and parenting a teenager has somehow made it worse than ever. Hershfield writes with real clinical knowledge and genuine humor. Like someone who has lived this, worked with people through this, and actually cares about the person reading the book. He takes one of the loneliest things a parent can go through and makes you feel, chapter after chapter, that you are not broken. You are not alone. You are just a parent with a faulty alarm system doing your best. Then he gives you real tools to prove it."
--Nathan Peterson, LCSW, author of Your OCD Will Hate This Book and creator of the YouTube channel @ocdandanxiety

About the Author

Jon Hershfield, MFT, is director of The Center for OCD and Anxiety at Sheppard Pratt in Towson, MD. He specializes in the use of mindfulness and cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) for obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) and related disorders. Jon is a member of the Scientific and Clinical Advisory Board of the International OCD Foundation, and is on the faculty of their Behavioral Therapy Training Institute. He is author of Overcoming Harm OCD, When a Family Member Has OCD, and The OCD Workbook for Teens; and coauthor of The Mindfulness Workbook for OCD, Everyday Mindfulness for OCD, and The Unwanted Thoughts and Intense Emotions Workbook.

Pamela Brown is an award-winning CNN anchor and chief investigative correspondent. Known for her journalistic tenacity, Brown now anchors CNN Newsroom. Brown previously served as the network's Justice and Supreme Court correspondent, covering law enforcement, as well as issues related to the Department of Justice and the US Supreme Court.