Julie Derrick

Julie Derrick is a mum passionate about helping children with anxiety and OCD.

She felt compelled to start writing her Mind Monsters books after having experienced, first hand, the impact that OCD and anxiety can have on children and their families.

She published the first book in her series, 'Hank the Hungry Monster' during lockdown, after receiving so many messages from parents asking for advice on how to help children with OCD.

The central character in her books, Hank, represents OCD, and the obsessions and compulsions side of the illness are portrayed as commands that Hank uses as part of his 'game'.

The second book in the series, titled, "Trixie the Treat Monster' aims to demonstrate how powerful distraction methods can be in combatting intrusive thoughts.

Trixie represents distraction and how to replace worrying thoughts with happier ones. She also introduces how to introduce rewards as a way of helping children get on board with therapy.

Julie's books aim to help parents and teachers to recognise early signs of OCD, as well as to demonstrate the importance of confiding in others and learning to speak up to anxious thoughts via exposure therapy.

Julie also regularly blogs about child OCD on her "Copy What I Use' and "Mind Monsters" blogs.