When Your Teenager’s Mind Gets Loud is a compassionate and practical guide for parents navigating the challenges of adolescent obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD). Clinical psychologist Marcus Lewton offers clear and relatable insights into the emotional and psychological experiences your teenager may be facing, helping you better understand and support your child during this difficult time.

Through real-life examples and accessible language, Dr Lewton explains how obsessive-compulsive behaviours develop and how your responses as a parent can reduce conflict and foster emotional growth. You’ll discover tools to break the reassurance loop, support your child’s treatment journey, and create a calmer, steadier home environment. By focusing on your teenager’s internal experience and the development of intrusive thoughts, this book empowers you to help your child separate from the fear driving their behaviours and move towards emotional growth.

Whether you are encountering OCD for the first time or searching for new ways to support your child, this book is here to guide you. It provides the understanding, clarity, and practical advice you need to help your teenager and your family find steadiness and hope. Professionals working with young people, including school staff, youth workers, and clinicians, as well as trainees in psychology, psychiatry, and education, will also find wisdom in its pages.

Marcus Lewton is a child and adolescent clinical psychologist based in the UK. His work in independent practice and public services focuses on a wide range of adolescent mental health issues, with a specialist interest in intrusive thoughts and OCD. He is the author of Intrusive Thoughts and Compulsions in Adolescent OCD: A Psychoanalytic Framework for Treatment (2026).