How to Defeat Bully Brain: A Story About OCD

Ella Kim

Jun 2023 · Gatekeeper Press

About this ebook

How to Defeat Bully Brain starts with James, the mayor of a peaceful town with no problems. However, James has a secret that not even his family knows about. There is a voice in his head called Bully Brain. When a jealous neighboring mayor sees an opportunity to ruin James' town, Bully Brain takes over. Will James be able to overcome Mayor Lucas and Bully Brain? Or will he give up? This is the perfect book for kids ages five to eight to learn about OCD.

Book Review 1:

“How to Defeat Bully Brain offers young kids a colorful glimpse at how OCD can take over, and better yet, a roadmap for dealing with it: support of family and friends, a science-based step-by-step plan for challenging it, and building lasting feelings of empowerment.” -- Sandra S. Pimentel, PhD

Chief of Child and Adolescent Psychology at Albert Einstein College of Medicine

Book Review 2:

“This story - about an adult struggling with his ‘Bully Brain’ - destigmatizes the experience of obsessive thoughts and compulsions and provides a framework about how to start to work on them. This book would be great for parents to use with their children or as a tool in therapy for mental health professionals.” -- Renata K. Martins, PhD

Licensed clinical psychologist in private practice

Book Review 3:

“How to Defeat Bully Brain captures the internal struggle that individuals with OCD face when they have bothersome intrusive thoughts (obsessions) that bully them into doing and/or avoiding things that interfere with the things they want to do. It would be a nice complement for kids and parents learning about OCD and participating in Exposure and Response Prevention (ERP) therapy.” 

-- Daisy Jackson, PhD

Licensed clinical psychologist in private practice

About the author

Ella Kim is a high school student who lives in New York City. She is interested in studying psychology and treatment for mental and behavioral disorders. Her brother was diagnosed with OCD at a young age, which has made her interested in these topics. She decided to write How to Defeat Bully Brain in order to help young children and their families combat OCD.