OCD Counseling

Nope. We all have these neurological “junk thoughts” or “sticky thoughts” that are sometimes labeled as bad because they can bring our horror, disgust, shame, humiliation and other taboo emotions. The reality is that these thoughts are opportunistic and will attach themselves to what you care most about (i.e. love, family, health, being liked) no matter what kind of person you are.

However, following the content of a sticky thought to judge your ‘goodness’ as a person will be very misleading. We only define obsessions and compulsions by how they act and how they feel, not the content of what they are. Therapy helps parse out these important ideas and move you away from trying to over analyze and out-logic what has proven to be ineffective. What is most important is getting tailored help from someone who is specialized in knowing the tricks that OCD can play!

Exposure and Response Prevention (ERP) is the gold standard for treating OCD. It is usually completed between 17-20 sessions of about 60-90 minutes each. The exposures are the way we test theories— in real and imagined ways—and then gradually increase our tolerance for uncertainty, doubt, discomfort, and unanswerable questions.

ERP is a systemized way of testing behaviorally what happens when you gradually expose yourself to what you fear. In tandem, we eliminate rituals, avoidance, and escapism. When we allow our distress to rise and fall naturally, without ritualizing, the urge to perform the rituals also goes away.

The structure, educational components, and materials introduced in therapy help refocus your energy back into the here and now. We are still willing to be uncomfortable as we face our fears, yes, but instead of trying to get rid of discomfort, we lean into it. We use this method because an obsession paradoxically gets stuck because of the energy used to fight it. ‘What you resist persists. Effort works backward.’ Gradual exposure and resisting rituals are all about withdrawing the fuel for the fire.

Self-compassion, humane goals, self awareness and committed action are how we ultimately discover our convictions and ourselves in order to live authentically.

Many times, OCD can masquerade as other conditions, such as depression, generalized anxiety, or even phobias, and/or exist at the same time as other conditions. OCD can be differentiated from other conditions based on the pattern of intrusive thoughts and repetitive, ritualistic behavior. A thorough clinical assessment by a provider who specializes in the identification and treatment of OCD will give you the most clear answer (and the quickest way to relief).

OCD can also be shown in the media in misleading ways, i.e. they only show you people who power-clean and check door locks, but OCD can take many different forms. In fact, OCD can create some very intense silent shame because of the ways we don’t see it talked about.

Intrusive thoughts can be around some of the most socially shaming topics we have like harm (such as worrying about driving your car through a crowd of pedestrians), sexual behavior (feeling disgusted that you might be attracted to someone of the same sex, someone other than your spouse, children, or a family member) or morality (feeling horror about the idea of going to hell, prison, or permanently be a bad person). If it affects multiple areas of your life, it may be OCD.

We differentiate OCD from other conditions by the level of distress somebody feels when they encounter an obsession and how they cope with it. Obsessions raise anxiety and compulsions temporarily lower them. We change your relationship to your thoughts as soon as possible so you can get back to living in the present, in control of your time, and not being bullied by your OCD.