PANDAS/PANS Therapy for Children, Teens, Young Adults, and Parents
If your child, teen, or young adult has PANDAS/PANS, you may be searching for answers while trying to manage symptoms that affect your entire family.
I provide specialized virtual therapy for children, teens, and young adults with PANDAS/PANS, as well as support for parents navigating the chronic stress, uncertainty, and emotional impact of their child’s illness. Therapy is available throughout New York, Connecticut, and Delaware.
PANDAS/PANS can turn your family's world upside down.
Watching your child suddenly seem like a different person can take an enormous emotional toll on your entire family.
You may feel overwhelmed, exhausted, heartbroken, or unsure how to respond to the OCD, anxiety, emotional outbursts, eating restrictions, school refusal, and other symptoms that can seem to appear overnight.
You don’t have to navigate PANDAS/PANS alone.
With more than 25 years of clinical experience and extensive experience supporting PANDAS/PANS families, I understand how complex, isolating, and overwhelming this journey can feel. You shouldn’t have to spend all your time explaining why your child’s needs may be different—or why typical approaches haven’t always helped.
Therapy for children, teens, and young adults
Alongside appropriate medical care, therapy may help with OCD, anxiety, emotional regulation, trauma, nervous-system awareness, and reconnecting with school, relationships, and everyday life.
Support for parents
Parents may need support navigating uncertainty, responding to changing symptoms, adjusting expectations, coping with chronic stress, and processing the emotional impact PANDAS/PANS has had on them and their family.
Whether I’m working directly with your child, teen, or young adult—or supporting you as a parent—therapy is tailored to what you and your family need right now.
How I Support PANDAS/PANS Families:
PANDAS/PANS can affect each child and family differently. Therapy is tailored to your child’s age, current symptoms, stage of recovery, and your family’s needs.
Support may include education about PANDAS/PANS, help with OCD and anxiety, low-demand and nervous-system-informed approaches, parent support, and therapy for the emotional impact of what your family has experienced.
-
PANDAS/PANS affects the entire family. Parents may need support managing changing symptoms, making difficult decisions, adjusting expectations, and coping with chronic stress and uncertainty.
Therapy provides a place to focus on what you and your family are carrying, develop practical ways to respond to difficult situations, and process the emotional impact of the experience. Depending on your family’s needs, support may involve parents, children, teens, or young adults.
-
OCD, anxiety, and intense emotional reactions are common and often misunderstood symptoms of PANDAS/PANS. Intrusive thoughts, compulsions, reassurance seeking, avoidance, and emotional outbursts can be frightening for children and overwhelming for families.
I help children, teens, young adults, and parents understand what may be driving these symptoms and develop practical, nervous-system-informed ways to reduce distress and support regulation. Depending on the person’s needs, current capacity, and stage of recovery, therapy may draw from Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT), Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT), Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT) skills, and Exposure and Response Prevention (ERP) when appropriate.
-
Some children and teens with PANDAS/PANS become overwhelmed by demands that previously felt manageable. What looks like refusal or pushback may reflect anxiety, nervous-system overload, reduced capacity, or a need for greater safety and control.
Drawing from low-demand, PDA-informed, and collaborative problem-solving approaches, I help parents adjust expectations, reduce unnecessary pressure, communicate more collaboratively, and respond in ways that support connection and regulation.
-
SPACE is an evidence-based, parent-based treatment for children and teens with anxiety and OCD. Because the child does not need to participate directly, it can be especially helpful when they are not ready or able to engage in therapy.
I help parents respond supportively to anxiety and OCD while gradually changing patterns that may be maintaining distress. For PANDAS/PANS families, the approach is adapted to the child’s current symptoms, medical needs, and capacity.
-
Parenting a child with PANDAS/PANS can leave you carrying chronic stress, grief, guilt, helplessness, or a lingering sense that you always need to be prepared for another crisis.
EMDR may help parents process frightening or overwhelming experiences that continue to feel emotionally present. IFS-informed therapy can help you understand protective parts of yourself—such as the part that constantly scans for danger, feels responsible for fixing everything, or has difficulty allowing you to rest.
This work is paced carefully and tailored to what feels most important and manageable for you.
What is PANDAS/PANS?
PANDAS (Pediatric Autoimmune Neuropsychiatric Disorders Associated with Streptococcal Infections) describes a group of children whose sudden onset or worsening of OCD or tics is associated with a streptococcal infection.
PANS (Pediatric Acute-onset Neuropsychiatric Syndrome) involves the sudden onset of OCD or severely restricted eating, along with other significant neuropsychiatric symptoms.
Symptoms can appear quickly and affect nearly every part of a child’s daily life, leaving families searching for answers and unsure where to turn.
Common Symptoms May Include:
OCD or restricted eating: Intrusive thoughts, compulsions, reassurance seeking, avoidance, food restriction, or highly selective eating may begin or intensify suddenly.
Anxiety: Children may experience intense anxiety, panic, separation anxiety, or fears that seem out of character.
Mood and emotional changes: Irritability, sadness, rapidly changing emotions, rage episodes, or difficulty calming may occur.
Regression or changes in functioning: A child may suddenly act younger, lose previously mastered skills, or experience a decline in school performance.
Cognitive changes: Problems with attention, concentration, memory, handwriting, or executive functioning may arise.
Motor, tic, or sensory symptoms: Motor or vocal tics, unusual movements, and increased sensitivity to light, sound, touch, or taste may appear or worsen.
Sleep, urinary, or physical symptoms: These may include disrupted sleep, frequent urination, bed-wetting, joint pain, or other sudden physical changes.
Because these symptoms can have many possible causes, a thorough evaluation by a qualified medical professional is important. Therapy does not replace medical care, but it can help children, young adults, and parents cope with symptoms, reduce distress, and navigate the emotional impact on the family.
Frequently Asked Questions About PANDAS/PANS Therapy
-
Yes. I provide virtual therapy to clients located in New York, Connecticut, or Delaware at the time of their appointment. Online therapy allows children, teens, young adults, and parents throughout these states to receive support from home.
-
Yes. Parent-focused therapy can be helpful even when a child isn’t ready or able to participate—or when they already have their own therapist. Our work may focus on responding to symptoms, adjusting expectations, navigating uncertainty, managing chronic stress, or processing the emotional impact PANDAS/PANS has had on you and your family.
-
Yes. I work directly with children, teens, and young adults, as well as with parents. The best approach depends on the person’s age, symptoms, current capacity, medical needs, and goals. A free consultation can help us determine whether I may be a good fit.
-
PANDAS/PANS requires evaluation and care from qualified medical professionals. Therapy does not treat the underlying medical causes, but it can complement medical care by helping with OCD, anxiety, emotional regulation, trauma, family stress, and the challenges of daily life. Therapy is adapted to the person’s current symptoms, capacity, and stage of recovery.