Therapy for OCD, Hoarding, and Related Concerns
We’re here to reclaim your time! Hoarding? We’re here to embrace your inner Elsa! That’s right: Let it go. Release!
Your struggle with your mind resembles that classic “school bully” sitcom trope:
Your mind “demands lunch money”
You provide lunch money
Your mind still doesn’t leave you alone
This feels like a fight you can never win.
And it is.
But there doesn’t seem to be another option (hint: there is, keep reading). If you don’t comply with your mind’s demands, something terrible could happen. Something catastrophic. It feels safer to just do as you’re told, even if it makes you miserable.
Appeasing this bully may come at a high cost. You can’t seem to keep the thoughts at bay and fully engage in the life you want at the same time. You’re realizing that you’re missing out on really living.
You can’t seem to concentrate on anything else. You don’t feel present, or “really here” most of the time, because you’re spending all of your time in your head, negotiating with “the bully,” pleading for it to leave you alone for a little while.
Your relationships are suffering or have been severed, characterized by frustration, resentment, guilt, or shame.
Keeping the thoughts at bay (through compulsive behaviors and avoidance) is an exhausting, time-consuming effort that may often result in broken promises and an inability to keep commitments. You are typically late to (or may completely miss): work, deadlines, appointments, scheduled activities, or gatherings.
Maybe you have completely restructured your life in an attempt to gain a sense of peace, safety, or security.
And it hasn’t worked the way you expected. You’ve dug yourself even deeper into the ditch.
Therapy can help you dig yourself out of the ditch and regain control of your life.
You don’t have to keep engaging in this same old cycle. However, there are some beliefs you may have to unlearn, and some new habits you need to form before you can truly break out of it. This will take time and motivation.
Traditional therapy is not going to help. You need a specialist.
Even the kindest, most well-intentioned therapist could potentially make the issue worse if they don’t have an understanding of how to appropriately treat these concerns. Save yourself the trouble and choose to enter treatment with someone with training and experience in this area. Ask your healthcare providers for assistance with referrals if you need it.
Exposure and Response Prevention (ERP) is considered the “gold standard” when it comes to treatment. It is a form of Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT). You may also find therapists who use Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) or Inference-Based Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (I-CBT) in addition to ERP.
So what might therapy look like?
-
We’ll be aiming for functional here. I want you to be able to live the lifestyle that you want. You don’t need to be some fearless daredevil. You don’t need to take up skydiving as a hobby (unless you want to live that life).
We’re talking about being able to engage in the things that matter to you, whether that means being able to spend time with a loved one despite nagging fears that you may hurt them, being able to sit through a long flight for a vacation, cook a meal for your kids, enjoy a concert, invite people over, or be on time for work. Anything that you want to engage in regularly that has felt impossible due to fears, compulsive behaviors, and avoidance.
-
I was trained in Exposure and Response Prevention (ERP), a method that involves confronting your fear while refraining from engaging in behaviors that reinforce (strengthen) the fear.
I also use techniques from Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT), an approach that involves the practice of mindfulness and acceptance, as well as engaging in behaviors that promote building a life in accordance with what one values most.
As the focus of this treatment is primarily behavioral change, it may feel more like a “hands-on,” or an active “doing” style of therapy than traditional “talk” therapy. I will be asking you to regularly step outside of your comfort zone (one baby step at a time) by taking appropriate risks so you may begin building new habits.
In therapy, we will work together to find a suitable pace, as I want you to be challenged, but not overwhelmed. It’s a process and will require your commitment when it gets tough, because it will be tough. When I was an extern at UCLA’s adult outpatient OCD clinic, I had the pleasure of seeing many clients make significant and lasting improvements when committed to regular practice. There is hope!
Depending on the client, I may also use expressive arts or other cognitive-behavioral (CBT) techniques. I enjoy humor, and sharing an occasional laugh is not uncommon in sessions.
*Treatment is also useful for difficulties of a similar nature, such as Trichotillomania, Tourette’s, Tics, Skin-Picking, Body Dysmorphia
Can we talk, for a minute?
Schedule a free 15-minute phone consultation to get started.