Who would you be without OCD?
Imagine a life where you’re no longer crippled by questions like:
What if I have a serious disease?
What if I start a fire and kill my family?
What if I drop my baby?
What if I accidently harm myself?
Am I a bad person?
What if I drive off a cliff?
Do I truly love my partner?
You’re not alone and you’re not a bad person for having these thoughts. OCD isn’t casual anxiety. It rips you away from the things you care most about. OCD latches onto every horrible thought and controls the things you must do to get 100% certainty.
Imagine those thoughts being like rain clouds that are here for a second and then they’re gone. We will help you manage your thoughts every step of the way so they’ll be like clouds passing by so you can get your life back.
We can help you overcome your fears so you’ll feel like yourself again.
We were tired of seeing people caged by their fears and getting the wrong treatment. We help individuals with intense OCD, anxiety, and phobias to overcome their fears and live their values. In our approach, we typically use Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR), Exposure Response Prevention (ERP), and Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) to provide you with the tools you need to manage your OCD in a safe and effective way.
The people we have helped were in the same exact spot as you. They felt alone, ashamed, and trapped by their fears. We promise you that there is a way out. With a specialized OCD therapist by your side, you can live the life you want regardless of your fears.
How we help you fight OCD:
First, we will do a free 15-minute consultation call to learn about your struggles and goals with OCD. You’ll be in a safe, confidential space without any exposures that could trigger your fears. This gives us a chance to see if you and the therapist are a good fit moving forward.
Next, We will typically meet in weekly sessions where we will take an active role in managing your OCD. Our OCD specialist has developed a 5-step process that guides you from crippling fear to a fulfilling life.
Every step of the way, you’ll have a compassionate therapist guiding you to be your best self and reach your goals.
The steps we take to help you get your life back:
Setting Recovery Goals: First, we will explore your life experiences, strengths, and where you are right now. We will also learn about your goals for recovery, so we know exactly where we are headed.
Core Fears: Here, we’ll learn about your earlier life experiences. This will help us find the core fears behind your intrusive thoughts so we can rewire your thought patterns.
Mindfulness Skills: At this stage, you’ll learn key coping skills so that you can accept uncertainty. We’ll work together to practice mindfulness skills that will give you the space to breathe and think clearly.
Exposure to Fears: In this step, we’ll help you safely expose yourself to your fears and reframe your negative beliefs. This stage helps intrusive thoughts lose their grip on you.
Living Your Values: Last, we’ll help you live your life in a way that aligns with your values. This gives you the tools to do what you love, regardless of the fear.
These steps are not a one-and-done list of things. OCD therapy is a personal process that takes daily commitment. It takes strength to look at your fears and it takes commitment to walk through those fears. You don’t have to walk through it alone. Together, we can help you choose joy in the face of fear.
Is OCD therapy right for you?
Treatment with an OCD therapist might be for you if you have unwanted thoughts that feel impossible to let go of and do compulsive things to get rid of the uncertainty.
You might ask a friend “Do you think I would actually hurt someone?” You might not drive because you fear the urge to crash the car. You might try to rewrite your thoughts to convince yourself you’re a good person.
OCD makes you look for the “perfect system” to avoid anxiety. The problem is that your system becomes a set of compulsions that reinforce your fears and make you more anxious.
Having these intrusive thoughts and compulsions makes it nearly impossible to enjoy anything. It seems that every thought is catastrophic and that nothing you say or do can overcome your fears. You can’t relax around your partner or your family. You can’t focus on work. You can’t focus on anything you love doing.
You could have had OCD without knowing it.
People have OCD for many years and don’t even know it. Many people get diagnosed with Generalized Anxiety Disorder or Panic Disorder. The problem is that this can lead to treatment that doesn’t address your core fears.
Other forms of therapy teach people to discuss their thoughts to push them out of their heads. To someone with OCD, this is like throwing gas on a fire. It can make the thoughts worse and harder to get rid of. Focusing on the meaning of your thoughts keeps you trapped longer when you could be in recovery today.
In therapy sessions, we’ll help you to challenge OCD while living a values-based lifestyle. You’ll be able to align what you do with the values you care about. You’ll learn that your thoughts don’t have power–you do.
Treatment is hard, but living with OCD is harder.
Facing your innermost thoughts and feelings is scary, but it’s also liberating. We work together at your own pace to make sure you’re comfortable and safe at every stage of recovery.
We promise you – you’re more resilient than you think you are.
There is no such thing as a ‘perfect’ recovery or treatment. As long as you commit to taking the steps, you’ll have the skills you need to manage OCD for the rest of your life.
Imagine the day you can brush those thoughts off easily. It’s closer than you think.
Make the choice to take your life back.
Learn more about our OCD specialist here, or contact us to schedule a free 15-minute consultation today.
Frequently Asked Questions:
Some common forms of OCD:
Health OCD
Hoarding
Harm Obsessions
Symmetry Obsessions
Contamination OCD
Relationship OCD
Scrupulosity
Ordering compulsions
Obsessions with no compulsions
What is OCD?
OCD is a hereditary disorder with biological roots. It is caused by chemical and structural differences in the brain that causes the brain to overreact and excessively worry and then engage in compulsions. Compulsions are learned behaviors that the brain uses to attempt to reduce the anxiety.
What kinds of thoughts or behaviors do people with OCD typically engage in?
Individuals struggling with OCD tend to have many “What if?” questions running through their head. These typically tend to express their deepest fears. If a person finds themselves struggling with OCD, they may think in absolutes or believe if they do not engage in a ritual or compulsion, that something terrible will happen that is unrelated to the compulsion.
Some examples of this could be:
What if this cut gets infected and I die?
What if I accidently harm myself or others?
If I don’t do this just right, something bad will happen?
I need to wash these bottles again because they are somehow contaminated and will harm my baby.
What are common treatments for OCD?
Exposure Response Prevention (ERP) is probably the most common treatment for OCD. ERP helps the client formulate a plan based on their fears, to gradually expose them to the thoughts or things that are causing the anxiety. The second part of this is response prevention which means the client does not engage in rituals but allows themselves to be okay with their “What if?” thoughts. Avoidance and engaging in rituals strengthen OCD, whereas controlled, intentional exposure to stress tends to lead to lower instances of fear and anxiety.
Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) has also been research for the use in individuals experiencing OCD and can be helpful. Learn more about EMDR here.
Can medication be helpful?
As with many things, medications, such as SSRIs, can be helpful to some individuals to reduce symptoms. The American Psychological Association recommends therapy and SSRIs as the first line of treatment of OCD. However, not all individuals want or have success with medication, which is okay, too!