Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder

Thoughts, thoughts, and more thoughts... the endless loop of OCD.

Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD) is a mental health disorder made up of obsessions and compulsions. In popular media, it is often portrayed as a quirky personality trait, where every needs to be just right, but it is in fact a debilitating disorder, causing great hardship both to the sufferer and their loved ones.

Treatment for a Serious Condition

Individuals with OCD have worries that repeat over and over, such as "if I don't wash my hands, I will get sick and die." This is the obsession. The compulsion is then washing ones hands. Unfortunately this only offers temporary relief of the obsession, which then comes back stronger and in the long run further entrenches the OCD.

Exposure and Response Prevention (ERP)

The gold standard treatment for OCD is exposure and response prevention (ERP), a short term form of cognitive behavioral therapy consisting of 16-20 sessions, that treats OCD. If done correctly this is a highly successful treatment, with long lasting results and can be done without medication. With ERP, the patient is systematically exposed to fears, which are managed in a methodical way, so anxiety can be tolerated and eventually dissipate.

Choosing the correct therapy

Sadly there are many therapists who attempt to treat OCD with other therapuetic techniques. However, some of these forms of therapy can actually exacerbate OCD symptoms, and result in years of fruitless treatment. All of our therapists are trained specifically to treat OCD the correct way, which is ultimately a short term treatment via ERP.

Initial evaluation

Oftentimes individuals with OCD will have comorbid conditions, so during an initial consultation, as assessment and treatment plan will be created, that determines the order of treatment. As noted above, it is very important when getting OCD treatment to find a specialist.

OCD at it's core is all the same, i.e. obsessions and compulsions. But, these can manifest differently depending on the individual. Thus OCD is commonly divided into different types, with some having their own letter placed in front of the OCD, i.e. SOCD for "sexually-themed OCD".