Types of Treatment

Cognitive-Behavior Therapy (CBT) helps by providing the person with OCD the tools necessary to manage their obsessions and compulsions. The “cognitive” in CBT refers to specific methods and techniques that help change the faculty ideas/thoughts and beliefs prevalent in OCD. “Behavior” in CBT refers to specific methods for changing behavior such as the compulsive rituals/actions of OCD.   The CBT technique considered most effective in the treatment of OCD is exposure and response prevention (ERP).  

ERP has the strongest evidence base and is the mostly widely utilized psychosocial treatment for OCD.  ERP involves two (2) main components: (1) direct or imagined, controlled exposure to situations, objects, or other triggers of the individual's obsessive thoughts that create anxiety and; (2) prevention of the patient from engaging in any rituals aimed at reducing the anxiety caused by the exposure.  These components allow the individual to get used to the anxiety caused by their obsessions.  Through response/ritual prevention, it weakens the connection between experiencing the obsessions and needing to engage in a compulsion to neutralize either the thought or the anxiety, or both, that the obsession generated.  Thus, over time the individual learns that the anxiety caused by the obsession will diminish on its own and that the feared consequences do not come true.

The aim of Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) is to help you create a rich, full, meaningful life while accepting the pain that life inevitably brings. This is a unique behavior therapy approach that aims to address concerns about anxiety, OCD and other anxiety-related disorders in a mindful, compassionate way. In ACT, psychological health is not defined by the absence of difficult thoughts and feelings, it is defined by they way you respond to difficult thoughts and feelings.  You will learn and develop psychological skills to handle anxious thoughts and feelings effectively. We will help you clarify your values to help guide, inspire, and motivate you to set goals and take action that enriches your life.

(1) Accept Thoughts and Feelings

(2) Choose Directions

(3) Take Action

Accelerated Resolution Therapy (ART) is a form of psychotherapy with roots in existing evidence-based therapies but shown to achieve benefits much more rapidly (usually within 1-5 sessions). Clients suffering from trauma and other mental health problems such as Anxiety, Phobias, Panic Attacks, Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD), Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), Performance Anxiety, Family Issues, Poor Self Image, Relationship Issues/Infidelity, Codependency, Grief, Job-Related Stress, Pain Management, Memory Enhancement and many other mental and physical conditions can experience remarkable benefits starting in the first session.

The treatment is grounded in well-established psychotherapy techniques, and the end result is that traumas and difficult life experiences will no longer trigger strong emotions or physical reactions. Importantly, clients do not even have to talk about their traumas or difficult life experiences with the therapist to achieve recovery.

Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) is an approach to psychotherapy that has been practiced in the U.S. and around the world for the past 25 years.   It integrates many of the successful elements of a range of therapeutic approaches, yet there are aspects of EMDR that are unique. In particular, the therapist leads a patient in a series of lateral eye movements while the patient simultaneously focuses on various aspects of a disturbing memory.

The left-right eye movements in EMDR therapy are a form of “bilateral stimulation." Other forms of bilateral stimulation used by EMDR therapists include alternating bilateral sound using headphones and alternating tactile simulation using a handheld device that vibrates or taps to the back of the patient’s hands.

EMDR therapy is applicable for a wide range of psychological problems that result from overwhelming life experiences. For example, a person fearful of driving due to a terrible car accident in the past may end the session feeling safe to drive again.

More to come!

- ACT Group for OCD

- Taming Your Social Anxiety Workshop Series 

- Time-limited Behavioral Group for Treatment of OCD