Overcoming an Obsession Cycle

A couple of years ago, my son became fixated on washing dishes in the kitchen sink and arranging them in a very specific way. He began repeating this routine several times a day. It was important to address the behavior before it intensified, but I also had to be mindful not to upset him.

I decided to try delaying—a sensory strategy used in RPM. Here’s how we started: the moment I saw him heading toward the sink, I gently intervened with something like, “I understand you want to do the dishes, but could you help me fold a couple of kitchen towels first?” We would quickly fold the towels together, and then he could proceed to do the dishes.

The next time he moved toward the sink, I said, “Before you get busy with the dishes, do you mind helping me open these living room windows so we can get some fresh air?”

In this way, I gradually introduced small tasks to delay the action a little more each time. Within about a week, we were able to postpone it by almost two minutes—and once that happened, the urge to return to the routine simply faded.

It’s truly remarkable how something as simple as postponing an action can have such a powerful effect in helping a child break free from an obsessive cycle