OCD THERAPY
Do You Want To Learn How To Manage OCD More Effectively?
Have your OCD behaviors started to interfere with your ability to enjoy life?
Do you feel embarrassed or ashamed of your rituals and obsessions, as if something is wrong with you?
Are you experiencing intense feelings of sadness or hopelessness because of your struggles?
Maybe your obsessive-compulsive disorder has begun to impact your functioning at work and in your social life. Perhaps significant portions of your day are spent fighting your obsessions and performing rituals to alleviate them. After a while, this could take away from valued activities like childcare, homework, exercising, and intimacy. Perhaps you’re so preoccupied with your fears that you’re unable to simply be present in the moment. As a result, you may be asking yourself if it’s time to seek professional support.
The More You Try To Satisfy Your Compulsions, The More Powerful They Grow
Although engaging in rituals or avoidance behaviors can help control obsessions in the short term, doing so tends to make things worse in the long term. Over time, these patterns can end up occupying too much space in your life. After all, performing your rituals—whether they involve constantly washing your hands, reassurance-checking with others, or making sure the house is in order before you leave—can reduce your anxiety and restore your sense of safety and certainty. So it’s incredibly hard to let go of these behaviors.
Thankfully, there is another way to live. As a therapist who specializes in treating OCD in children, teens, and adults, my goal is to empower clients to overcome feelings of shame, reduce their distress, and find freedom from rituals and compulsions. Whether you’re seeking support for yourself or your child, I’m confident that I have the expertise and compassion to help.
If You’re Struggling With OCD, You’re Not Alone
In the National Comorbidity Survey Replication, over 28 percent of respondents reported having suffered from an obsession or compulsion in their lifetime (1). For some of these people, their obsessions and compulsions are so extreme that they experience functional impairment at work and school. Their OCD can even impact their relationships, as they spend so much time performing rituals and alleviating fears that they end up neglecting friends and family.
Oftentimes, people with OCD suffer from depression or anxiety as well. These conditions tend to go hand in hand with OCD. After all, most obsessive-compulsive behaviors are rooted in anxiety—e.g., “If I don’t wash my hands, I’ll catch some terrible illness,” or, “If I don’t seek reassurance from others, I’ll never know if what I did was wrong.” And when these fears spin out of control, they can become so all-consuming that they cause depression. Because of how OCD compounds other mental health challenges, it’s vital for people with obsessive-compulsive behaviors to see a counselor.
Many People Try To Hide Their OCD Symptoms Because Of Shame And Embarrassment
Although there is more awareness around OCD than there was in the past, the truth is that most people aren’t psycho-educated about the realities of OCD. They tend to think that their symptoms are strange or embarrassing and that they’re the only ones struggling with them. As a result, they often go to great lengths to hide their obsessions and compulsions. Yet OCD, like many mental health challenges, tends to grow more powerful in isolation.
The truth is that there is no need to feel ashamed about your symptoms. Nor is there any need to continue hiding them and fighting OCD in isolation. I have lots of experience helping folks with OCD, and I provide a safe, nonjudgmental space where clients can share their struggles knowing that I understand them and accept them wholeheartedly.
Therapy Can Empower You To Manage Your OCD Symptoms And Improve Your Quality Of Life
Many of my clients come to therapy feeling like OCD’s in control of their lives. When they are done, they usually find that they are able to regulate their symptoms with greater ease and live life without the constant need to give in to their compulsions. That’s because I use an evidence-based approach to the healing process, drawing from reputable modalities like Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) and Exposure and Response Prevention (ERP). The strategies I use help those with OCD find other ways to reduce their stress besides engaging in their rituals, allowing them to live with less anxiety and greater peace of mind.
What To Expect In OCD Counseling Sessions
In the beginning, I will focus on building rapport with you and establishing an atmosphere of trust and acceptance. I will collect information about the specific features of your OCD, explore the onset and course of your symptoms, and identify triggers that elicit your obsessions. I’ll help you outline your compulsions and avoidance patterns and monitor them on a daily basis.
Together, we’ll create a hierarchy of situations and activities that trigger your distress and rate them on a discomfort scale. Then I’ll teach you ritual prevention strategies, which means helping you refrain from doing the behavioral or mental acts that you do now to reduce your obsessional distress.
If you’re a parent seeking OCD therapy for your child or teenager, I will make sure that you play an active role in their healing process. I generally meet with the parent and child together, but this is adjustable depending on the age and preferences of your child. Throughout treatment, I will help you keep track of your child’s distress levels and give you parenting tools so that you can support them at home.
Tailoring My Approach To OCD Treatment
I specialize in Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) and Exposure and Response Prevention (ERP), both of which are incredibly powerful at helping clients manage and reduce their OCD symptoms. The goal of CBT is to challenge the negative thought patterns that lead to your OCD behaviors (e.g., “If I don’t wash my hands, I might catch a serious illness”). Once you reframe your negative beliefs, it becomes much easier to control the behaviors that stem from them.
ERP focuses on gradually exposing you to sources of distress in a safe and controlled environment. Together, you and I will design real and imaginary exposures to help you confront objects, words, images, or situations that make you anxious or distressed. I will be there the whole time, ensuring that you have the skills and support necessary to work through, accept, and better tolerate your discomfort and distress.
I also utilize mindfulness strategies like deep breathing and progressive muscle relaxation to help clients manage their anxiety when they feel triggered by their obsessions. Ultimately, my hope is that all the skills I teach can be used in your day-to-day life outside of sessions. This way, you can maintain the gains made in treatment, prevent relapsing in the future, and embrace a brighter and happier future.
You May Have Some Questions About OCD Therapy…
What if I’m too anxious to do exposure therapy?
Exposure therapy doesn’t mean white-knuckling your way through your fears. It’s a safe and controlled process that happens at a pace that’s right for you. You and I will start by creating a hierarchy of fears and rate them all on a scale of one to ten. If one fear is a 4/10, we may start by confronting that fear, and if another is a 10/10, we will wait to confront it until we have gone through all the others. In this way, we will rack up small wins and slowly build your distress tolerance until you are able to face your fears without feeling overwhelmed.
I have so many obsessions and compulsions. How could we possibly address them all?
I use gold standard approaches to help clients overcome their OCD symptoms. And the good news with OCD treatment is that, when you address one specific obsession or compulsion, all the others generally become more manageable. Many of my clients with OCD feel like they’re suffering in a myriad of ways—my approach enables them to alleviate all the areas of distress simultaneously.
How long will OCD treatment take?
The answer is different from person to person depending on their needs and goals. That said, CBT and ERP are considered the gold standards of OCD therapy for a reason, as many clients who try these therapies find relief after just twelve weeks of treatment. I am confident that you will find relief within a short timeframe, but it’s important to be patient with yourself and go at your own pace.
OCD Does Not Have To Control Your Life
If you want to find relief from obsessive-compulsive disorder and improve your quality of life, I encourage you to pursue therapy with me. To begin your journey of healing and empowerment today, you can email me or call 925-236-0967. I look forward to hearing from you!
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