OCD Treatment

Do You Have Trouble Controlling Your Thoughts Or Behaviors?

Are intrusive thoughts or the need to perform compulsive acts making it impossible to relax, be present in the moment, or feel good about yourself?

Is it becoming difficult to manage daily responsibilities because you’re too busy avoiding people or situations that make you feel anxious—or vulnerable to your compulsions?

Perhaps you’re straining relationships with friends, family, or your partner because you need frequent reassurance that everything is okay. Or maybe you’re so tormented by OCD that it feels like the only person who could truly understand would be a therapist.

Living With OCD Can Be Agonizing

Like many people struggling with OCD, you probably feel alone, misunderstood, and even guilty. At times, you may find yourself imagining scenarios or visualizing imagery that runs so contrary to everything you represent that you feel ashamed or even repulsed.

You may even see yourself as a bad person—someone who has to hide their thoughts and compulsions and suffer in silence. And while alcohol and self-medication may provide a temporary respite, overwhelming anxiety silently builds in the background.

At Key Counseling Group, our specialists understand just how devastating OCD can be, but there is a way to build a better life for yourself. With our support and guidance, you can learn to regulate thoughts and behaviors, let your guard down, and start living with greater freedom and presence.

OCD Is An Indiscriminately Common Anxiety Disorder

Most of us experience distressing or intrusive thoughts—even compulsions at times. Often, we can work through those ideas and impulses without acting on them. However, for those living with OCD, thoughts are so distressing and distracting—sometimes so fundamentally and painfully in contrast with the person—that it causes fear, anxiety, shame, and even self-loathing.

According to the International OCD Foundation, OCD affects approximately one in 100 adults and one in 200 kids or teens in the United States.* Many of those people struggle for several years or decades without receiving adequate treatment for obsessive-compulsive disorder. This can lead to feeling discouraged or hopeless on top of the painful emotions and symptoms that were already there.

What Causes Obsessive Compulsive Disorder?

Research indicates that OCD can develop as a result of problems in communication between the front part of the brain and its deeper structures. It can be triggered by trauma and stressful life events. It can also be inherited, so there are genetic factors involved as well.

The wealth of information online and in social media about OCD is overwhelming and can actually exacerbate symptoms. And most people feel so guilty and worried about being judged for their thoughts that many are afraid to confide in a therapist and seek treatment for OCD.

However, there is no judgment or blame here—only our desire to help you feel better about yourself. Therapy is about improving your management of OCD—learning how to live with your thoughts and reducing the need to perform certain rituals so you can stop avoiding life and start living it.

OCD Treatment Can Help You Build The Life You Want For Yourself

Most people living with OCD are at a loss for what’s really going on. However, therapy gives you a chance to identify the root cause of OCD and learn more about what contributes to certain fears, thoughts, and habitual behaviors. It helps you name and understand emotions, work through shame, and build self-esteem, allowing you to find relief and feel less alone.

OCD treatment provides psychoeducation about the dynamics of anxiety and avoidance behaviors. It can also teach you how to tolerate and even lean into feelings of anxiety. After all, we don’t want to completely get rid of anxiety because it’s a natural response that is both adaptive and protective. Rather, we want to help you learn how to tolerate distress and live with the ebbs and flows of daily life.

Ultimately, you can empower yourself to experience your emotions and enjoy life without being inhibited by avoidance, fears, or the need to neutralize thoughts and behaviors.

What Do We Do During OCD Treatment Sessions

We’ll start with a comprehensive OCD assessment to get to know a little more about you and your situation. Then we’ll explore your goals and any motivating factors that may help you work through your symptoms and the core issue behind them. At the same time, we can identify your specific avoidance/disconnection cycle and how worry or fear of the unknown is being maintained.

For short-term relief, we can teach you effective distress tolerance skills for leaning into your anxiety and coping with uncomfortable thoughts and feelings. In the long term, we can work on resolving deep fears and gaining independence in areas stifled by OCD symptoms. We can also help you replace unhealthy avoidance or numbing behaviors with healthy, adaptive coping interventions.

What Kind Of Tools Do We Use In OCD Counseling Sessions?

One of the methods we use, Exposure and Response Prevention, or ERP for OCD, is considered the gold standard in OCD treatment. We also utilize Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT for OCD), another evidence-based, research-driven therapeutic model. Both of these interventions involve learning about and modifying thoughts, feelings, and behaviors that contribute to symptoms.

Using a “Downward Arrow” technique, you’ll learn the root causes of your fears and how to confront those fears head-on. We’ll also teach you strategies for replacing avoidance or reassurance behaviors. For instance, rather than seeking reassurance from a partner, family member, or Google, you’ll learn how to cope in a way that will ultimately provide more long-term relief of symptoms.

Equipped with general distress tolerance skills, you’ll be better able to navigate the unknown and resist engaging in obsessions to neutralize intrusive thoughts. You can increase your self-esteem and see yourself in a better light. And you can feel freer, more capable, and more secure in who you are.

So if you feel alone because you’re experiencing distressing thoughts or compulsive behaviors, we’re here for you. With support and guidance, you can face your fears and control your responses to stressful stimuli. You can learn to navigate uncertainty and live with periods of increased anxiety. You can build a life and a relationship with yourself that is worth loving.

Perhaps You Are Considering OCD Treatment But Still Have Concerns…

What if my worst fears are valid and I should actually be afraid of them?

That anxiety you’re feeling is almost certainly a result of OCD and not a harbinger of things to come. The fact that you’re here willing to explore ways to improve yourself speaks volumes about who you are—but we understand. Life is unpredictable, which can be scary.

However, sometimes fear prevents us from confronting parts of ourselves that we may be afraid of. The beauty of OCD therapy is that you have a built-in support system for facing your fears, navigating the unknown, and managing the outcome of adversity no matter how frightening the prospect.

How do I know OCD treatment will help me? I’ve tried anxiety therapy before.

For those who have been working with a counselor for years without adequate relief, ERP therapy for OCD is different. ERP therapy for OCD is a far more effective way of treating obsessive-compulsive disorder that extends beyond general anxiety treatment. By matching with a provider who can offer ERP, your symptoms can be targeted much more directly to provide relief.

I do not know if I am ready to confront my fears yet.

It can be completely normal if you’re not 100 percent ready to work through some of your fears because that’s the nature of OCD! After all, OCD is maintained in part by managing distress through avoidance or by performing ritualistic acts, so it can be difficult to consider letting go of some of those coping mechanisms.

However, we want to give you a safe space where you can take your time opening up while learning healthier ways of coping that provide you with longer-lasting relief.

Let Us Help You Build A Life That You Can Love

Our caring and understanding OCD therapists at Key Counseling Group want you to know that obsessive-compulsive disorder doesn’t have to define how you live. Please call 678-400-9477 for your free, 30-minute consultation to see how our OCD counselors can help you live with greater freedom, self-compassion, and peace of mind.

*https://iocdf.org/about-ocd/who-gets-ocd/