Therapy for OCD

Obsessive Compulsive Disorder is an extraordinarily painful, life-altering problem that often leaves people feeling hopeless, ashamed, and isolated. Many people with OCD feel that they cannot possibly be helped by therapy, because they have tried so many times on their own to change their symptoms without success, or because the fear that accompanies them is so overwhelming. So they tend to wait, on average, 17 years after the onset of symptoms to seek help, if they do at all.

This is truly unfortunate, since OCD is highly treatable.

While I generally practice psychoanalytically, that is not the ideal approach for effective treatment of OCD symptoms. 

Far superior and faster for this kind of symptom relief is a treatment called Exposure and Response Prevention.  This can be an extraordinarily powerful therapy which often takes only a few sessions to make a major difference for the patient. I have sought out additional training in in this approach and, when appropriate, now make use of it with my patients. 

ERP is widely known as the "gold standard" of treatment for OCD, and my approach to it is in line with the most recent developments in this field, integrating principles from ACT (Acceptance and Committment Therapy) with longer-standing ERP procedures.

Many practitioners of ERP will only provide ERP, and sometimes I will provide it on its own. But I have found that it is possible, in some cases, to engage in a course of ERP during the larger therapy, briefly suspending and then returning to the analytic work.  This depends on your needs, and how our work together is going in general.

Please learn more about OCD and ERP here, at the International OCD Foundation.