Therapy in Los Angeles and virtually in California
Therapy for OCD
Reclaim your time, energy, and peace
Does stress make it feel like all the hard work you put into managing your OCD just flew out the window?
You’ve been here before
The intrusive thoughts show up unbidden and make you feel SO ANXIOUS. There was a point where it felt more manageable; you could get through daily life without the thoughts taking over. But lately you’ve been so stressed, and these thoughts aren’t helping. And then the compulsions kick in. The anxiety and worry about the never ending “what ifs?” lead you to completing little rituals here and there.
Double checking, no, make that triple checking the stove (or the door, or the flat iron, or…).
Washing hands with super hot water and extra soap.
Avoiding that tv show so the “off limits thought” doesn’t pop into your head.
Getting stuck in repetition of something until it feels “just right”.
Research, research, research. Did I mention research?
You know how those little rituals end up not so little anymore and you don’t want to end up there again.
You start noticing that the compulsions and rituals make you feel better in the moment but in the long run they’re starting to steal your life.
You’re EXHAUSTED from worrying all the time, you feel edgy around other people, you start avoiding things that could be in any way triggering, and you literally just don’t have enough time in the day anymore.
Those not so little rituals are slowly but surely eating away at your ability to get anything done and making you feel a little bit bonkers. Sometimes you’re not even sure if this is really an OCD thought or if you’re just being extra cautious. The doubt is invasive.
You just want your life back.
Gold Standard Therapy For OCD
In our work together we will utilize Exposure Response Prevention (ERP), the gold standard for OCD treatment. This behavioral therapy focuses on recognizing how intrusive thoughts and compulsive behaviors are directly impacting your quality of life and then RECLAIMING that quality by reengaging with all the awesome behaviors you’ve dropped, and putting down the compulsive behaviors that make you feel trapped. You’ve likely done this before - built up your distress tolerance so when the intrusive thought pops into your brain, you can move right along. But stress can really wear you down and sometimes you need that extra boost of help.
ERP falls under the category of Cognitive Behavioral Therapy with a heavy emphasis on behaviors. Together we will look at the way your intrusive thoughts are influencing your behaviors (and probably making life miserable) and find ways to challenge and change those behaviors. This looks like finding situations that make you anxious (starting with easier stuff first) and exposing you to it, while staying away from the compulsions (aka response prevention). This lets you build distress tolerance over time so those scary things don’t feel as intense anymore.
Therapy for OCD can help you…
Reclaim your time so you actually do things you enjoy.
Step away from the reassurance seeking and the tension it’s putting on your relationships.
Reconnect with your values instead of OCD manipulating them to control you.
Be PRESENT in your life - family, friends, work - instead of stuck in your head about the current obsession.
Sit with uncertainty instead of constantly trying to control everything.
Frequently asked questions about therapy for OCD
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Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD) is a mental health disorder that is made up of intrusive thoughts (obsessions) and a strong drive to do behaviors (compulsions). These intrusive thoughts create significant distress and anxiety for the person experiencing them. Those compulsive behaviors (sometimes called rituals) are an attempt to avoid or escape that distress.
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OCD can really hone in on things we care about, leading to intrusive thoughts around areas of importance. Some common themes of OCD include:
Contamination OCD: fear of things being contaminated or of getting sick from contamination
“Just Right” OCD - intrusive thoughts that things are not right or are incomplete
Harm OCD - fear of causing harm to yourself or others
Pedophilia OCD - fear of becoming a pedophile
Sexual Orientation OCD - doubts and fears about your sexual orientation
Scrupulosity - fears around religion and morality
This is not an exhaustive list and many people experience other themes with OCD.
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Distress tolerance is a skill where one learns how to handle difficult emotions and situations in their lives rather than trying to avoid or escape them.
I like to think of distress tolerance as a muscle that you can strengthen. If you’re only used to lifting 5lb weights, when a 25lb situation comes along, it’s going to be really challenging to stick with it. So, to build this muscle, we work on slowly increasing the weight you exercise with over time. Eventually, you’re lifting 25lb weights and the 5lb weight you started with isn’t so difficult anymore. That 5lb weight situation didn’t change. Your ability to handle it changed.
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Obsessions are unwanted thoughts that intrude on a person, resulting in significant emotional distress. Most people have intrusive thoughts at some point or another, but someone with OCD gets sucked into worrying about the thought rather than being able to dismiss it and move on.
Compulsions (aka rituals) are the behaviors that a person engages in to alleviate the emotional distress caused by the intrusive thought. Compulsions can be physical, like hand washing, double checking locks, researching information, completing things a certain number of times, doing something until it feels “just right, etc.. Compulsions can also be mental, like counting to a certain number, repeating a phrase over and over in your mind, imagining doing a behavior, recalling something over and over again to make sure it happened the way you think it did, etc.
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Unfortunately, the jury is still out on this one. Current research suggests some differences in the way the brain operates and/or genetics for people with OCD. Research is ongoing to better determine the cause or causes of OCD.