Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder/ OCD

Everyone experiences unwanted “intrusive” thoughts from time to time. For people with Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD), however, these thoughts can become persistent, distressing, and difficult to ignore. It can feel like the mind won’t let go. It needs to search for more and more information to feel certain, but there’s never enough.

OCD is much more than being organized, clean, or particular about how things are done. It is a cycle of intrusive thoughts, fears, doubts, uncertainty, and behaviors that are intended to reduce anxiety but often end up keeping the cycle going.

Many people with OCD recognize that their fears/ doubts may not fully make sense, yet still feel unable to stop the worry or the urge to seek certainty. This can be exhausting, frustrating, and isolating.

The good news is that OCD is highly treatable, and therapy can help you break free from the patterns that keep you feeling stuck!

What Is OCD?

Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD) involves two main components:

Obsessions

Obsessions are unwanted thoughts, sensations, images, urges, or doubts that create anxiety, doom, uncomfortable sensations, discomfort, guilt, or fear.

Some examples include:

  • "What if I accidentally hurt someone?"

  • "What if I made a mistake and didn't notice?"

  • "What if I'm a bad person?"

  • "What if I become contaminated or make someone else sick?"

  • "What if I don't actually love my partner?"

  • "What if I lose control?"

  • "What if I don’t do things just right and can’t handle it?"

  • "What if I'm responsible for something terrible happening?"

  • What ifs can also show up as playing out images/videos in your mind of bad things happening

These thoughts can feel incredibly real and important, even when they are unlikely or inconsistent with your values.

Compulsions

Compulsions are behaviors or mental actions used to reduce anxiety, gain certainty, prevent something bad from happening, or feel reassured.

Examples may include:

  • Repeated checking

  • Excessive researching

  • Seeking reassurance from others

  • Replaying situations in your mind

  • Mental reviewing

  • Counting or repeating actions

  • Avoiding triggers

  • Ruminating

  • Excessive cleaning or washing

  • Trying to "figure out" thoughts until they feel resolved

While compulsions may provide temporary relief, they often strengthen OCD over time by teaching the brain that uncertainty is dangerous.

How OCD Can Affect Daily Life

OCD can consume a significant amount of mental and emotional energy.

You may find yourself:

  • Spending hours caught in worry or mental rituals

  • Constantly seeking reassurance

  • Avoiding situations that trigger anxiety

  • Struggling to make decisions

  • Feeling distracted or unable to focus

  • Experiencing guilt, shame, or self-doubt

  • Feeling trapped in cycles of overthinking

  • Having difficulty trusting yourself

  • Feeling frustrated that logic doesn't seem to make the anxiety go away

Many people with OCD describe feeling like their brain is constantly looking for problems to solve, even when there isn't actually a problem that needs solving.

It can be very hard to talk to others about OCD due to fear of what they will think of your thoughts or actions. It can make people feel “crazy”. You are not!

What Therapy for OCD May Look Like

Many people come to therapy feeling trapped in a cycle of intrusive thoughts, anxiety, self-doubt, and compulsive behaviors. They may have spent years trying to get rid of unwanted thoughts, find certainty, or convince themselves that their fears are not true.

Rather than focusing on the content of the intrusive thoughts, our work often focuses on changing your relationship with them.

I draw from several evidence-based approaches, including Inference-Based Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (I-CBT), Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT), Internal Family Systems (IFS), Brainspotting, and Exposure and Response Prevention (ERP) when appropriate.

Together, we may explore:

  • How OCD creates doubt and pulls you away from what you actually know to be true

  • The difference between genuine concerns and obsessive doubts

  • The ways OCD impacts your relationship with yourself

  • The fears, beliefs, or protective patterns underlying compulsions

  • Learning to respond to uncertainty without becoming consumed by it

  • Building self-compassion rather than self-criticism

  • Processing experiences that may contribute to anxiety, fear, or vulnerability

  • Reconnecting with your values and the life you want to live

Treatment is collaborative and individualized. There is no expectation that you force yourself into overwhelming situations before you feel ready. Instead, we work together to understand how OCD operates in your life and develop tools that help you move forward with greater confidence and flexibility. Treatment can feel really scary for people with OCD, because OCD likes to share the scary “what ifs” that could go along with getting better. We will work through it together, step by step.

Understanding I-CBT

One approach I often use when working with OCD is Inference-Based Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (I-CBT).

I-CBT views OCD as a problem of reasoning rather than a problem of anxiety. Instead of focusing primarily on reducing fear, I-CBT helps people recognize how OCD creates imagined possibilities that pull them away from reality and into doubt.

For example, a person may know they locked the door, but OCD creates a story about what might have happened, leading them to question their own senses and experiences.

Through I-CBT, clients learn to recognize when OCD is operating, trust their direct experience, and step out of cycles of endless doubt and rumination.

How Treatment Can Change Everyday Life

As OCD symptoms improve, many people notice changes that extend beyond anxiety reduction.

Clients often report:

  • Spending less time trapped in obsessive thinking

  • Feeling more confident making decisions

  • Less need for reassurance

  • Greater freedom to engage in meaningful activities

  • Improved relationships

  • Increased trust in themselves

  • More flexibility when things feel uncertain

  • Better concentration and focus

  • Reduced guilt, shame, and self-criticism

Instead of constantly trying to achieve certainty, many people learn how to live more fully alongside uncertainty.

Recovery is not about never having intrusive thoughts again. It is about learning that intrusive thoughts do not have to control your choices, your relationships, or the direction of your life. You get to take control of your life!


You Are More Than Your OCD

Living with OCD can feel exhausting, especially when others don't understand what you're experiencing behind the scenes.

Therapy can provide a supportive, nonjudgmental space to understand your symptoms, build new skills, and create lasting change. Recovery does not mean never having another intrusive thought. It means learning that they don’t have to have power over you.

If OCD is affecting your daily life, relationships, work, or sense of peace, support is available. Together, we can work toward helping you reclaim time, energy, and freedom from the OCD cycle.

Reach out today to schedule a consultation or learn more about working together!