Obsessive-compulsive disorder
If you're stuck in loops of intrusive thoughts, checking, reassurance seeking or mental reviewing, you're not alone. You're also not your thoughts. With the right help, OCD can take up far less of your life.
Is it OCD?
OCD has two main parts. Obsessions are the thoughts that show up uninvited. Compulsions are the things you do to make them stop. Here's what that can look like in everyday life.
Unwanted thoughts, images or urges that feel upsetting or disturbing, and that stick no matter how hard you try to shake them. They often go after what matters most to you, like your health, the people you love, your values or your sense of who you are.
Checking, washing, asking for reassurance or avoiding certain places, people or objects. Some compulsions are invisible, like reviewing memories, analyzing a feeling or mentally “figuring it out” until it feels settled.
A compulsion might calm things down for a moment, but the doubt soon finds its way back, often with a new “what if” attached. It can feel like you're never quite done.
Hours lost to rituals or rumination. Plans you cancel, things you avoid and loved ones pulled into reassuring you. Many people hide this for years because they feel ashamed or worry about what their thoughts mean.
If some of this sounds familiar, you don't need a diagnosis or the perfect words to reach out. We can figure out what's going on together, and whether I'm the right fit for you.
See the types of OCD I work with ↓Types of OCD
OCD can attach itself to almost anything you care about. These are some of the themes I work with, including the less talked-about ones that people often live with for years before recognizing them as OCD.
Fears of germs, illness, bodily fluids or chemicals, often with washing, cleaning or avoidance.
Repeatedly checking locks, stoves, appliances or messages to prevent something bad from happening.
Unwanted thoughts or images of hurting someone (or yourself), and a fear of losing control.
An overwhelming sense that it's up to you to prevent harm, illness or mistakes.
A strong need for things to be even, lined up or in a certain order. When they're not, it feels really uncomfortable, and sometimes like something bad will happen.
An uncomfortable sense that something feels incomplete or “off,” leading to repeating, rereading or redoing things until it finally feels right.
Religious or moral fears about sin, blasphemy or being a bad person, with confessing, praying or reassurance-seeking.
Constant doubts about whether you really love your partner or whether they're right for you, or getting stuck on their flaws.
Distressing, unwanted doubts about your sexual orientation, whatever your orientation is.
Unwanted sexual thoughts, images or urges that feel shocking or wrong, often about people or situations you'd never want, and fear of what they might mean about you.
OCD that runs mostly on invisible compulsions: reviewing, analyzing, neutralizing or mentally checking.
Intrusive thoughts about your baby's safety, often during pregnancy or after birth.
Unwanted, deeply distressing intrusive thoughts about children. They're a recognized OCD theme, and they cause distress precisely because they go against your values.
Getting stuck noticing automatic body processes like breathing, blinking, swallowing or your heartbeat.
Looping questions about reality, meaning, existence or death that feel urgent to answer.
Replaying something from your past and needing to know for sure whether you did something wrong.
Doubting whether something happened, or whether you did something you can't remember.
Feeling dirty or contaminated by a person, place, memory or word, without any physical contact.
Fear that you hit someone while driving, leading to retracing routes or checking the news.
Fear that thoughts, numbers or small actions could make something bad happen, along with rituals to prevent it.
Distressing, unwanted doubts about your gender identity, explored in an affirming way that doesn't assume any particular answer.
Worry that you're going crazy, losing touch with reality or about to lose control of yourself.
Many of these themes involve thoughts people are afraid to say out loud. They're common in OCD, they don't define who you are, and they're treatable. This isn't a complete list, just some of the more common themes.
The OCD cycle
OCD usually starts with a trigger that sets off an intrusive thought or doubt. The distress that follows feels urgent, so you do something to make it stop, like checking, washing, asking a question or going over it in your head.
That compulsion brings relief, but only for a moment. It also teaches your brain that the thought was dangerous and needed handling, so it comes back, usually louder. Treatment helps you step out of that loop.
How treatment works
OCD responds best to specialized treatment. Depending on what fits you, our work may draw on:
The most researched treatment for OCD. Step by step, you practice facing triggers while resisting the compulsions that keep the cycle going. The goal isn't to feel no anxiety. It's to learn that you can handle discomfort and uncertainty without doing what OCD demands.
Looks at the reasoning behind obsessional doubt, and how imagined possibilities can start to outweigh what your senses are telling you. It helps you trust your own perception again. It can work on its own or alongside ERP.
I weave in ACT, DBT skills and mindfulness where they help, and I organize treatment using the Wider Life Model™, which is built around self-trust and widening your life. Your plan is always built with you, not handed to you.
What to expect
A 20-minute call to talk about what's going on and whether we're a good fit.
We map out your OCD, what it's costing you and what you want back, and start building your plan together.
We plan exposures together, practice them in session and build toward what matters to you.
As OCD takes up less space, we make sure your progress lasts and plan for setbacks.
OCD often pulls loved ones in, like answering reassurance questions or helping with rituals. If that's happening, we can talk about bringing a partner or family member into a session (with your consent), so they can support you without feeding the cycle.
OCD questions
Request a free 20-minute consultation. If I'm not the right fit, I'll help you find someone who is.