Therapy for OCD
What is OCD?
Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD) is a mental health condition that is marked by an intense preoccupation with particular feared events (obsessions) which leads the person to attempt to eliminate the possibility of the events occurring through repetitive mental or physical actions (compulsions.)
OCD can cause tremendous suffering when not treated, often making you feel like you are caught in endless thought spirals, constant self-doubt and questioning, and feeling trapped by compulsions that feel totally uncontrollable.
What types of OCD do you work with?
I have most experience working with harm OCD, real event OCD, compulsive rumination (“pure O”), relationship OCD, sensorimotor OCD, and religious/moral scrupulosity OCD.
My approach
The most commonly used treatment for OCD at this time is Exposure and Responsive Prevention (ERP). While the manualized and highly structured nature of ERP is effective for many people with OCD, it is not the right fit for everyone, and in my experience it is limited in its scope.
I draw heavily from the work of psychologist Michael J. Greenberg, who has combined a psychoanalytic perspective with cognitive and behavioral techniques for exposure and learning concrete skills to stop compulsions. From a psychoanalytic lens, we will work together to process underlying emotional conflicts and formative experiences in relationships that have shaped OCD symptoms.
In our work together, I am considering all the aspects of you as a whole person because I firmly believe that OCD symptoms are not random. They are rooted in your unique emotional and relational history and they intersect and interact with all the many facets of your life. They are not somehow isolated and separate from the rest of you as a whole person.
Here’s a snapshot of what our work together will look like:
Identify your obsessions (what are the events you are most afraid of) and compulsions (what do you do to try to prevent those events from happening.)
This will help us to identify the core fear that is driving your symptoms. We will also explore formative events and relationships that made you feel this way.
Practice gradual exposure to feared outcomes while not engaging in compulsions, always going at your pace and making the process as comfortable as possible.