Integrative approach
Being an integrative therapist means I'm not tied to one method. I'm trained in several evidence-based approaches, and I'll draw on the ones that fit you best, based on your goals, what you're struggling with and what's going on in the rest of your life. We build your plan together, and it changes as you grow.
Modalities
These are the evidence-based approaches I use for OCD, phobias, panic and health anxiety. I choose and combine them based on you, your goals and what's keeping you stuck.
At the core
The first-line, most researched therapy for OCD, and a specialized form of cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT). Together, we gradually face the thoughts, situations and sensations you've been avoiding, and let go of the compulsions, checking and reassurance that keep the cycle going. The same approach is at the heart of treatment for phobias, panic and health anxiety, whether the fear is needles, flying, a racing heart or your health.
An approach developed specifically for OCD that looks at where obsessional doubt comes from. Instead of exposure, it helps you notice how “what if” reasoning and imagination can override what your senses are telling you, so you can trust your own perception again. It can be an alternative to ERP or work alongside it. Because it focuses on trusting your senses, it can also help with health anxiety, when “what if it's serious?” drowns out what your body is actually showing you.
Woven throughout
Helps you make room for difficult thoughts, feelings and body sensations instead of fighting them, and reconnect with what matters most to you. Whether it's an intrusive thought, a fear of flying or a worry about your health, ACT gives exposure its “why.” You face your fears for the sake of the life you want.
Practical skills for riding out intense emotions and urges without acting on them. They help you stay with discomfort instead of escaping it, whether that's the urge to do a compulsion, fear during an exposure or the pull to check a symptom.
Noticing thoughts, sensations and urges as they happen, without judging them or obeying them. It runs through all of this work and helps you tell the difference between what's actually happening and what your mind is predicting.
Along the way
Some distress is unavoidable. These supports help you get through it without turning to rituals, avoidance or reassurance, and they keep your progress going when life gets stressful.
Grounding through your senses, progressive muscle relaxation, breathing techniques and quick body-based skills from DBT for moments of high distress. They're for getting through distress, not for making a thought or sensation go away. Any calming tool can become a safety behaviour if you use it to feel certain, so we keep an eye on how you're using them.
When it fits your plan, I can coach you between sessions. That's usually during an exposure, or when you're really triggered and the tools you've practiced aren't helping. It's there to support your practice in real life, and it isn't crisis support.
Request a free 20-minute consultation. If I'm not the right fit, I'll help you find someone who is.