Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD) Counseling


Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) falls under Anxiety umbrella. It is characterized by unreasonable thoughts and fears (obsessions) that lead you to do repetitive behaviors (compulsions) in hopes to minimize the fears. With OCD, you may realize that your obsessions aren’t reasonable, and you may try to ignore them or stop them. Attempt at suppresion only increases your distress and anxiety. This leads to more ritualistic behavior — and a vicious cycle that’s characteristic of obsessive-compulsive disorder.

How can counselling help OCD?

The earlier you seek treatment for obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), the faster and better results will be. Early treatment of OCD can reduce symptoms and reduce the disruption the illness can create in your life. A type of cognitive-behavioral therapy called exposure and response prevention is considered the most effective type of counseling for OCD. In the beginning of exposure and response prevention therapy, I may ask you to write a list of your obsessions, rituals (compulsions), and things that you avoid and then have you rank the amount of anxiety each of the obsessions causes from highest to lowest. Next I will encourage you to engage in the ritual but first recite the ABC’s. Although it sounds silly it is very effective. By breaking the compulsion slightly you start to feel like you are regaining control. In therapy we will combine exposure and response prevention therapy with cognitive-behavioral therapy to help overcome the faulty beliefs (such as fear of contamination) that led to OCD behaviors.