Julie Cox, LCSW

07/03/2026

Have you ever felt like you've lost your connection with your PANS/PANDAS child or teen?

When every conversation seems to end in frustration, silence, or conflict, it's easy to wonder what happened.

But sometimes the problem isn't that your child doesn't want to connect.

Sometimes talking simply feels like too much for an overwhelmed nervous system.

In my newest blog, I share why communication can become so difficult during PANS/PANDAS and one simple, low-pressure way to help rebuild connection.

I hope it offers a little encouragement if you're feeling disconnected from your child right now. ❤️

📖 Read the blog here: https://www.juliecox.org/blogs/connecting-with-pandas-pans-child

Is talking with your PANS/PANDAS child or teen becoming more difficult? Learn why communication often breaks down during PANS/PANDAS and discover compassionate, low-pressure ways to rebuild connection and emotional safety.

06/26/2026

Is your PANDAS/PANS child, teen, or young adult pushing back on treatment?

What looks like resistance may actually be **treatment fatigue**.

Years of appointments, medications, procedures, flares, and setbacks can leave a young person's nervous system exhausted. Sometimes pushback isn't a sign they've given up—it's a sign they've simply been carrying too much for too long.

In my newest blog, I explore what treatment fatigue is, why it happens, and how a trauma-informed approach can help parents and clinicians better support PANS youth.

The blog also includes a link to my recently published ASPIRE article on this important topic.

📖 Read the blog here:

Is your PANS child, teen, or young adult resisting treatment? Learn how treatment fatigue, medical trauma, and chronic stress can affect the nervous system—and why a compassionate, trauma-informed approach can help. Read an overview and access Julie Cox's full ASPIRE article on treatment fatigue i...

06/15/2026

🧐 "Why do I keep reacting this way?"

This is one of the most common questions I hear from clients.

Whether it's anxiety, perfectionism, people-pleasing, emotional overwhelm, or feeling constantly on alert, many people become frustrated when they keep having the same reactions despite their best efforts to change.

I often see this in trauma survivors, adults struggling with anxiety, and parents navigating the ongoing stress of PANS/PANDAS.

In my newest blog, I explore why insight alone doesn't always create change—and how EMDR and Internal Family Systems (IFS) therapy can help create deeper healing.
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Do you understand why you struggle but still feel stuck? Learn how anxiety, perfectionism, people-pleasing, and hypervigilance often develop as protective adaptations—and how EMDR and Internal Family Systems (IFS) therapy can help create lasting change.

06/04/2026

Worried about the next PANS/PANDAS flare?

That makes sense.

Many PANS/PANDAS parents expect that as their child's symptoms improve, they will finally be able to relax.

But even when things are better, many parents find themselves still watching for symptoms, worrying about setbacks, and feeling unable to fully let their guard down.

After months or years of navigating uncertainty, treatment decisions, school struggles, and the ups and downs of PANS/PANDAS, it's understandable that your nervous system may still be operating as though the crisis is ongoing.

In my newest blog, I explore:

✔️ Why some PANS/PANDAS parents stay on high alert even when things are improving

✔️ Why this experience is so common

✔️ How approaches such as EMDR and Internal Family Systems (IFS) therapy can help parents recover from chronic stress

If this sounds familiar, I hope you'll find the article helpful.

🔗 https://www.juliecox.org/blogs/why-some-pandas-pans-parents-stay-on-high-alert

Many PANS/PANDAS parents remain on high alert even when their child's symptoms improve. Learn why chronic stress and hypervigilance can persist, and how EMDR and Internal Family Systems (IFS) therapy may help.

05/15/2026

Parenting a child, teen, or young adult with PANS/PANDAS often changes over time.

What families need during the early crisis stage is often very different from what they need later on during stabilization or recovery.

In my newest blog, I explore the 3 common phases of PANS/PANDAS parenting:

• Crisis, diagnosis, and survival mode
• Stabilization, flares, and ongoing management
• Recovery, processing, and rebuilding

I also discuss the kinds of therapy, parenting approaches, and emotional support that often help families during each phase.

Many parents tell me it helps to finally have language for what they’ve been experiencing.

You can read the full blog here:
https://www.juliecox.org/blogs/3-phases-pans-pandas-parenting

Parenting a child or teen with PANS/PANDAS often changes over time. Learn about the 3 common phases of PANS/PANDAS parenting, including crisis, stabilization, recovery, and the types of support families often need along the way.

05/08/2026

Many PANS/PANDAS parents feel enormous guilt about becoming frustrated with their child or teen.

Part of them understands:
“My child is struggling because of PANS/PANDAS.”

And another part thinks:
“Here we go again.”

In my newest blog, I share 4 practical Internal Family Systems (IFS)-informed shifts that can help parents approach these moments with more self-compassion and awareness.

Read the full blog here:

Feeling frustrated with your PANS/PANDAS child or teen can bring enormous guilt for many parents. Learn 4 helpful strategies inspired by Internal Family Systems (IFS) to reduce reactivity, increase self-compassion, and navigate difficult moments with more steadiness.

04/26/2026

There is a deep pain that many PANS/PANDAS parents carry.

It’s watching your child struggle in ways that don’t make sense.
Sometimes it’s sudden changes.
Other times, it’s a longer, ongoing pattern of symptoms that come and go.

At times, you may not recognize your child—and you may not be able to reach them in the ways you used to.

It’s trying to hold things together on the outside, while inside you’re carrying fear, confusion, and the constant question of what to do next.

And it doesn’t happen just once.

It happens over and over again.

For many parents, this becomes a quiet, constant weight they carry every day.

If this is something you’re going through, I want you to know you’re not alone in it.

I wrote more about this here, and ways to begin finding support within it:
https://bit.ly/4cQQTfC

04/12/2026

If you’ve been trying Exposure and Response Prevention (ERP) therapy for your PANS or PANDAS child or teen's OCD and it’s not working, you’re not alone.

I hear this from parents all the time:

“My child refuses to do exposures.”
“They get more upset when we try.”
“I don’t understand why this isn’t helping.”

ERP can be incredibly effective for OCD—but in PANS/PANDAS, it’s often not the first step.

When there is inflammation in the brain, kids may have a much harder time with flexibility, emotional regulation, and tolerating distress. That can make ERP feel overwhelming or even impossible.

In this blog, I talk about:
✔ Why ERP may not be working right now
✔ What can help first (including medical treatment and family support)
✔ How to support your child or teen during this phase
✔ How to know when your child may be ready for ERP

If ERP hasn’t been working, it doesn’t mean you’re doing anything wrong. It may just mean your child needs a different starting point.

You can read more here:
https://www.juliecox.org/blogs//erp-not-working-pans-pandas-child-teen

03/29/2026

Struggling with anger in your PANS PANDAS child or teen? It might be OCD

Is your child’s anger related to PANS or PANDAS? It may be OCD. Learn how OCD shows up and how to respond more effectively as a parent.

03/29/2026

What looks like anger in your PANS or PANDAS child…
may actually be OCD.

When something doesn’t feel “right” internally—and that distress can’t resolve—it often comes out as frustration or emotional outbursts.

In my newest blog, I explain what’s really happening underneath—and how this understanding can change how you respond.

You’re not alone in navigating this 💛

👉 Read more here:

Is your child’s anger related to PANS or PANDAS? It may be OCD. Learn how OCD shows up and how to respond more effectively as a parent.