Exposure-Response Prevention is a therapeutic behavioral technique that gradually exposes you to a feared situation, that will elicit your obsession purposely without using any escape behaviors such as avoidance, rumination etc. The key to ERP is the “response prevention” component—learning not to respond to the obsessions with the usual compulsive behaviors. With exposure to increasingly uncomfortable stimuli, clients will learn to tolerate the distress they generate without having to resort to rituals that only wind up perpetuating the obsessive-compulsive patterns.

Mental health coaching is helps improve client’s mental well-being, and can treat illnesses such as depression, anxiety, etc. A mental health coach uses methods and learnings from counselling and therapy. They empower their clients to manage their mental health. We cannot legally diagnosis a client or prescribe any medications. I would have to refer the client to a higher level of care to a qualified psychiatrist or psychologist if symptoms are too severe to treat.

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The focus of life coaching is one of the main things that distinguishes it from therapy. Life coaches identify and describe current problematic behaviors so the client can work to modify them. Therapists analyze their client’s past as a tool for understanding present behaviors. In other words, therapists focus on “why” certain behavioral patterns occur, and coaches work on “how” to work toward a goal.

Life coaching seeks to help individuals break negative cycles of behavior, become more decisive, and ultimately go after the things they want in life. Life coaches also helps clients achieve concrete goals, identify, and overcome obstacles to well-being and performance, and build skills that may be interfering with their success.

Unfortunately, since certified life coaches are not considered “healthcare professionals” we do not work with insurance claims for coverage. Services would have to paid for out of pocket.

Cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) is a type of psychotherapeutic treatment that helps people learn how to identify and change the destructive or disturbing thought patterns that have a negative influence on their behaviors, emotion and physical feelings. CBT includes the following: Learning to recognize one’s distortions in thinking that are creating problems, and then to reevaluate them in light of reality. Gaining a better understanding of the behavior and motivation of others. Using problem-solving skills to cope with difficult situations. Learning to develop a greater sense of confidence in one’s own abilities. Facing one’s fears instead of avoiding them. Using role playing to prepare for potentially problematic interactions with others. Learning to calm one’s mind and relax one’s body.

Somatic (Sensorimotor) OCD People with somatic OCD become hyperaware of their bodily sensations such as breathing, swallowing, blinking, heartbeat, urge to urinate (anything physical). They can fear that these automatic bodily functions will cease to work properly, that there is something "wrong," or just hyper-focus. The obsession then becomes the sensation itself and when/why it's happening or if it will continue to happen. This can lead to additional obsessions over one's health and morbidity. The compulsions then become checking for the sensation or the lack thereof, analyzing or trying to get it to stop, excessive trips to the doctor, etc. Sexual Orientation OCD (SOOCD) People with sexual orientation OCD experience intrusive (unwanted, disturbing, or anxiety provoking) thoughts or images (aka obsessions) about their sexuality or gender. Following these thoughts are compulsions or coping mechanisms designed to ease the anxiety such as looking at one's body to check or question how they feel or identify, avoiding thinking about or seeing stories of those who may be gay or transgender, looking at pictures of attractive men or women to see how you feel, Googling or searching the Internet for articles about the subject. Moral Scrupulosity or Religious OCD People with scrupulosity OCD experience intrusive (unwanted, disturbing, or anxiety provoking) thoughts or images (aka obsessions) about beliefs, morals, faith or religion. While this is common with those who grow up with a religious background, it can also manifest in those without such history. Following these thoughts are compulsions or coping mechanisms designed to ease the anxiety such as hand washing, avoiding people/places/things/words/etc., frequent sterilizing, changing clothes often, not allowing others in their space, and even avoiding leaving home. Mental compulsions also exist with contamination OCD such as checking and reassurance seeking. Relationship OCD (ROCD) People with relationship OCD (ROCD) experience intrusive (unwanted, disturbing, or anxiety provoking) thoughts or images (aka obsessions) about the incompatibilities or flaws of their relationship or their partner. While someone without OCD understands that there are going to be incompatibilities in all relationships and flaws in all people, someone with ROCD has trouble letting these go and experiences a lot of anxiety and discomfort when these thoughts come up. Additionally, this can cause them to have unrealistic expectations of their partner or relationship. Examples of these thoughts include "what if I don't love my partner enough?" or "what if I'm not in the right relationship?" and MANY others. Following these thoughts are compulsions to ease the discomfort, such as avoidance of the person, situations, or feared objects/places. Reassurance seeking, from friends, family, or the partner as to whether or not they're in the right relationship. Confessing of thoughts and fears, googling about relationships, and mental compulsions such as overanalyzing, reviewing past memories/future scenarios. Real Event OCD This is just another "name" given to someone who has OCD and obsesses over a real event that happened in the past. The person will obsess about what happened, what they did in response, whether or not it was "wrong" or not, or what they should do currently or what they should have done then. The compulsions are mental and include replaying the situation over and over in the mind, thinking about what happened and what should or could have been done differently. Compulsions here can also be physical by asking reassurance seeking questions or rehashing the event with friends and family. Avoidance of this thing happening again is another way the person may try and get certainty around this topic. It's important to understand that OCD can attach to anything, and often does attach to current or real life events, no matter the subset. It's not the situation or the thoughts that are the problem, it's the reaction you have to it that causes the suffering with OCD. Pure Obsessional OCD (Pure-O) Pure O, also known as purely obsessional OCD, is a form of OCD marked by intrusive, unwanted, and uncontrollable thoughts (or obsessions). While someone experiencing Pure O may not engage in obvious behaviors related to their intrusive thoughts, such as counting, arranging, or hand-washing, the disorder is instead accompanied by hidden mental rituals. It is usually easier for most to eliminate physical compulsions before fully eliminating mental compulsions, but both usually exist until treatment is started. All compulsions need to be completely stopped, so learning yours is crucial to getting to the recovery stage for OCD. Perfection, Symmetry or "Just Right" OCD Perfectionistic tendencies are a common trait of those who struggle with OCD, but people with this subset experience intrusive (unwanted, disturbing, or anxiety provoking) thoughts about the "rightness" of things often saying "it just doesn't feel right" or a sense of incompleteness. This sense of incompleteness creates more feelings of discomfort and tension, as opposed to physical symptoms of anxiety, than other subsets. Additionally, someone with this subset will feel a lot of discomfort and anxiety if things are not in the right order or arranged the way they see perfect. Following these thoughts are compulsions, coping mechanisms that our brain creates to ease the discomfort, such as the need to put things in order or in the "right" place, rearranging, reassurance seeking over mistakes, checking repetitively for completeness, mental rehearsal, counting rituals, procrastination due to imperfections, etc. Pedophilia OCD (POCD) People with pedophilia OCD (POCD) experience intrusive (unwanted, disturbing, or anxiety provoking) thoughts or images (aka obsessions) about children and the possibility that they might do something inappropriate with one. While these thoughts can be very disturbing, they are just thoughts and the intention to do anything harmful or inappropriate with children is not actually there. Unfortunately, the thoughts themselves persist when it goes untreated, further convincing the sufferer that they may actually do something to act on them, despite the desire not to. Following these thoughts are compulsions or coping mechanisms designed to ease the thoughts and anxiety such as mentally reviewing time spent with children in the past, avoiding being around children alone or all together, trying to "get rid of" or "argue with" the thoughts. Harm OCD People with harm OCD experience intrusive (unwanted, disturbing, or anxiety provoking) thoughts or images (aka obsessions) about harming oneself or others. Examples of these thoughts include "what if I stab myself?" or "what if I drown my child?" Images of these, or similar scenarios, can also seem to just pop into one's mind. While these thoughts are not uncommon to those without OCD, people who struggle with OCD get "hooked" into these thoughts and fear that they may actually act on them. Following these thoughts are compulsions, coping mechanisms that our brain creates to ease the discomfort, such as avoidance of the person, situations, or feared objects/places. Reassurance seeking, from others or repeating reassurance statement to ourselves, is another common compulsion. Mental rituals are also common such as reviewing past memories looking for evidence that their thoughts are or are not true. Existential OCD This subset of OCD involves intrusive (unwanted, disturbing, or anxiety provoking) thoughts (aka obsessions) about the meaning, purpose, or reality of life. Additionally, you may question the existence of the universe or even your own existence. While everyone has these questions from time to time, you may spend hours contemplating this topic and the feelings following these episodes cause high levels of anxiety and discomfort. Following these thoughts are compulsions or coping mechanisms that our brain creates to ease the discomfort, such as the need to mentally contemplate these ideas, looking at yourself in the mirror and questioning your existence, or physically doing things to prove that you (or the universe) actually does exist. Contamination or Health OCD Contamination OCD is the most widely known subset of OCD and consists of the fear of being contaminated by germs, bodily fluids, food, or any other substance. Some people with this subset of OCD also struggle with the fear that they can be contaminated by words, names, places, images, people, colors, etc. Health OCD is the fear of something being wrong with one's own health, or that of someone they care about. Following these thoughts are compulsions or coping mechanisms designed to ease the anxiety such as hand washing, going to the Dr., googling symptoms, avoiding people/places/ things/words/etc., frequent sterilizing, changing clothes often, not allowing others in their space, and even avoiding leaving home. Mental compulsions also exist with contamination OCD such as checking and reassurance seeking. Hoarding OCD Hoarding obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) is an OCD subtype characterized by ongoing intrusive thoughts and compulsive behaviors around acquiring possessions and having difficulty discarding them. People with hoarding OCD experience frequent intrusive thoughts around either acquiring/keeping possessions (e.g., “I need to have this item. I won’t be able to handle my emotions if I don’t get it”) or throwing them away (e.g., “If I get rid of this shirt I got as a birthday gift, something terrible might happen to the person who gave it to me”). The majority of the OCD subtypes mentioned, will unfortunately have you engaging in compulsions to offer temporary relief, that will only keep you in the maladaptive cycle of OCD and fuel more intrusive thoughts and anxiety. Get the effective treatment you deserve and book an appointment!

Ages 14 and up.

Each individual presents differently when it comes to their challenges with OCD. It could take at least a few weeks to a few months to see noticeable improvement in your OCD symptoms. It also depends on the severity of your symptoms, whether your taking specific medications from an outside provider, whether or not you have already received treatment from a previous program, and if you are willing and open to utilize all of the skills and tools daily, to decrease your symptomatology as much as possible.

Obsessive-compulsive disorder is characterized by unreasonable or irrational thoughts and fears (obsessions) that lead to compulsive behaviors or rituals. These compulsive behaviors are usually a way to counter the obsession temporarily but would only increase your obsessions further.