Treatment for Obsessive Compulsive Disorder and Phobias

Relief from Prolonged Suffering

People seeking help with Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder or help with a phobia are often suffering a great deal. When people first begin OCD treatment or treatment for a phobia, they have often been tormented for years. They know the agony of a mind that is flooded with anxiety. They have tried and failed repeatedly to stop the intrusive thoughts.

Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder and phobias are closely related mental health conditions. Both phobias and OCD involve fear and avoidance and are considered anxiety disorders. Phobias are characterized by a fear of a specific object or situation (for example, fear of flying, fear of spiders, fear of needles, or fear of vomiting). Somewhat differently, OCD involves intrusive thoughts and repetitive behaviors. For example, a person with OCD might have the thought “I must count every object in this room or my family members might die” and subsequently feel compelled to count every object in the room. The compulsive behaviors of OCD are sometimes referred to as rituals. Repeated hand washing, “checking’ (of door locks, for example), straightening and ordering objects, seeking reassurance, and counting are all examples of common OCD rituals.

The Emotional Impact of Phobias and OCD

People have told me that their OCD or phobia causes them to feel ashamed and self-conscious. Some people describe feeling concerned that others notice (or might eventually notice) their fear, rituals, and avoidance. Some OCD sufferers worry that others would be shocked to hear their OCD thoughts. They expect that others would see them as “weird”, “crazy,” “disgusting” or “a very bad person”. Because of the fear and avoidance involved in OCD and phobias, some people with OCD say that they consider themselves “a coward”.

Desperation can drive people with Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder and phobias to find help from a therapist. Sufferers may avoid treatment for a long time, but eventually arrive at a point of overwhelm—the OCD or phobia is simply stealing too much of their life from them.

Maybe My OCD or Phobia Isn’t That Bad

It is common for people with OCD and phobias to minimize the impact of the anxiety disorder on their lives. People may have become so used to their suffering, that they can convince themselves that it’s not that bad. They may read about someone else’s severe consequence, and think, “I’ve never been that bad!” To cope, they may also have convinced themselves that it’s “not important” for them to feel okay. In order to endure their anxiety, they’ve come to regard agonizing fear and repetition as normal.

Importantly, it’s not a requirement to be desperate before getting help with your OCD. Perhaps you find your OCD is only mildly annoying. Perhaps you never, or rarely, miss family gatherings or important life events. Perhaps you have plenty of friends, are good at your job, and successfully mask how frequently your mind is preoccupied with those intrusive, echoing thoughts. Perhaps you only wish that you could be more present in the company of the people you love. Perhaps you only wish to be able to notice how surprising, funny, absurd and enjoyable life can be when you aren’t stuck within the confines of the thoughts that control you.   

No matter how severe or how mild, you are welcome to come in for help with your anxiety. I will be happy to work with you.

Getting Help for OCD

People are sometimes skeptical of OCD treatment—they are worried that nothing will work. Sometimes people feel this way because their individual attempts to control the anxiety, thoughts or the rituals have failed. Other people have tried different types of therapy that didn’t help, and they wonder why this treament would be different. The skeptical people sometimes come to treatment anyway, because they simply want to be free of this thing. They may notice the way it robs them of time with their school work, their hobbies, their kids or their spouse. They may have suffered some major consequence, like a lost a relationship, a lost a job. Sometimes, people around the OCD-sufferer become intolerant and annoyed. The OCD or phobia can impact the lives—not only of the person who has the OCD—but also the lives of family members, close friends, employers and lovers.

People sometimes avoid treatment for phobias and OCD because they fear that it will be too difficult or too uncomfortable. However, it is usually much less uncomfortable than they anticipate.  When a therapist has specialized training in treating OCD and phobias, the therapist is able to help the client manage the fear and discomfort so that the client never becomes too overwhelmed.

Clients who are able to “get over the hump” of starting treatment are usually very glad that they did. Clients report feeling that they’ve gotten their lives back, and say that they wish they had started treatment sooner. They report feeling pride at accomplishing something that had felt so difficult, and they feel enormous relief.

A Specialized Therapy for OCD and Phobias

For therapy clients with other, non-OCD concerns (such as depression, low-self-esteem or family problems), I use a traditional psychodynamic approach. That’s what I’ve found works best for those clients. Treatment for OCD and phobias, however, requires a different type of therapy. OCD sufferers who have tried traditional talk therapies for their OCD have often found that it works minimally or not at all.

We have very solid research showing that the best treatment for OCD and phobias is a specialized type of behavioral therapy that was designed specifically for treating Obsessive-Compulsive disorder and related phobias. Unfortunately, it can be hard to find a therapist who has been trained in this of treatment. As a result, too many people are deprived of the opportunity to recover from a condition that causes so much suffering.

I have specialized training to help people who struggle with the intrusive thoughts, overwhelming anxiety and ritualized compulsions that characterize this class of mental health concerns. It’s wonderfully gratifying to offer people this kind of help because it can have such a huge impact on people’s lives in a relatively short period of time.

If you are ready to begin therapy for an OCD or phobia, I encourage you to contact me.

You can schedule a time to talk, call 415-881-8260 or email me.