OCD Therapy (Obsessive Compulsive Disorder)
Intrusive thoughts are not the problem—the doubt they trigger is.
OCD (Obsessive–Compulsive Disorder) runs on “what-ifs,” mental loops, and rituals (visible or invisible) that temporarily lower anxiety but keep the cycle alive. You’re not “crazy” or dangerous. Your brain learned a threat-detection habit that we can retrain.
I specialize in Inference-Based CBT (I-CBT)—a neuro-affirming, evidence-informed approach that targets OCD at its source: obsessional doubt and the story it spins. I also integrate ERP-informed skills, somatic regulation, and parts-aware work when helpful.
How OCD often shows up
Intrusions: sudden “what if…” images/ideas (e.g., contamination, harm about loved ones, moral/scrupulosity, relationship doubts, health, sexual orientation, driving/accidents, perfection/exactness, sensorimotor).
Doubt narrative: “If I don’t check, I’ll be irresponsible/bad,” “A good mom would be 100% certain,” “If I had the thought, it must mean something.”
Compulsions (overt & covert): checking, cleaning, reassurance seeking, confessing, re-reading, redoing, scrolling, mental reviewing, praying “just right,” counting, neutralizing images.
After-effects: exhaustion, decision paralysis, guilt/shame, lost time, strained relationships.
Traditional CBT/ERP targets compulsions via exposure. That helps many people. **I-CBT goes one step earlier—before compulsions—**to the inference that convinces you the threat is real (“Maybe I could have hit someone without noticing”). We change how the doubt is built so you don’t need the ritual in the first place.
Core moves in I-CBT:
Map the obsessional chain: Trigger → Possibility-based doubt → Catastrophic story → Anxiety → Compulsion.
Devalue the doubt: Is this based on imagination or senses/records? What’s the reliability of this doubt source for me?
Reality-sensing & present evidence: Re-anchor in what’s verifiable now (body cues, context, memory records) instead of chasing hypotheticals.
Feared-self & values work: Name the theme (e.g., “fear of being careless/immoral/unloving”) and build a credible, values-based self-view that the doubt can’t hijack.
Rumination cut-off & redirection: Learn to catch mental checking early, then shift with planned, repeatable strategies.
Behavioral confidence building: Re-enter life guided by values (not certainty-seeking). When we use exposure, it’s to practice trusting reality, not to “prove you’re safe.”