Therapy for OCD in Maryland and Washington, DC

OCD involves unwanted thoughts, images, or urges (obsessions) and the things people do to relieve the distress they cause (compulsions). Compulsions are not always visible. They can include mental review, checking, seeking reassurance, avoiding certain places or people, or carrying out routines in a particular way. Over time these can take up hours of the day and make life smaller.

The best-supported psychological treatment for OCD is exposure and response prevention (ERP). In ERP we work gradually and collaboratively with the situations and thoughts that trigger distress, while practicing not carrying out the compulsion. I also draw on ACT and mindfulness-based methods to support your willingness to stay with discomfort and your sense of what you are working toward.

I see adults and adolescents, and younger children in the context of family treatment. For children and adolescents, parents are often part of treatment, including how to respond to reassurance-seeking and rituals at home.