OCD & Anxiety
treatment in Yakima, WA
Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD) & Other Anxiety Disorders
Obsessive Compulsive Disorder or OCD and anxiety disorders are far more common and prevalent than most people know. Unfortunately people often keep these fears secret and don’t realize what they are experiencing can be helped tremendously with the right treatment. On average it takes 17 years between when someone first experiences OCD and when they get help.* If you think you may be experiencing symptoms of OCD do not wait, reach out to me.
%
of people with OCD Get better with ERP Treatment*
Symptoms of OCD
OCD is characterized by obsessive, unwanted, and intrusive thoughts, often followed by a compulsive action or “safety behavior” in an attempt to lower the anxiety associated with these thoughts. These safety behaviors (or even mental rituals) can sometimes take hours, eating up our precious time, impacting our goals, our loved ones, our quality of life and so much more. These safety behaviors may provide temporary relief but ultimately reinforce the initial fear often making it stronger and stronger while our worlds gets smaller and smaller.
Most people think of OCD as wanting to be clean or organized, but it can manifest in many many other ways. Here is an example of another way OCD could manifest: A ten year old boy is scared to walk into a kitchen that has knives out because of fear of harming his family with them. He never actually would, he may even know that the fear is irrational, but he thinks about it constantly because he’s terrified of the idea. It is important to know, these obsessions are often the opposite of the persons true character and values.
Here are some common themes with OCD:
Contamination
- Bodily fluids
- Germs
- Disease
- Contaminants
- Dirt
- Cleaning chemicals
Loss of Control
- Fear of violent or disturbing images in one’s mind
- Fear of the impulse to hurt oneself or others
- Fear of stealing
- Fear of blurting out expletives
Perfectionism
- Fear of losing or throwing out important items
- Need for exactness or evenness
- Need to remember, and fear of forgetting valuable information
Unwanted Sexual Thoughts
- Perverted thoughts concerning children or family members
- Forbidden sexual impulses or thoughts
- Obsessive thoughts about homosexuality
- Obsessive thoughts concerning aggressive sexual behavior toward another
Moral/Religious Concerns (scrupulosity)
- Excessive concern over moral right and wrong
- Excessive preoccupation with offending God
- Feeling responsible for the sins of the whole world
- Excessive preoccupation with the state of ones soul.
Harming
- Excessive fear of causing harm or damage to others
- Excessive fear of causing harm to ones self
Hoarding (often considered an OCD subtype)
- Extreme attachment to old and useless possessions
- Intense anxiety to throw away items
Body Dysmorphia (often considered an sub type)
- Obsessive thinking and exaggeration of ones perceived flaws in appearance or blemishes
- Frantic checking of appearance (combing hair, checking mirrors, assurance seeking)
OCD Treatment
ERP is the gold standard of treatment for OCD
Exposure response prevention or ERP is considered the gold standard for the treatment of OCD and has a 65-80% efficacy rate. It can also be applied to several other conditions such as Panic Disorder, Generalized Anxiety, Phobias and Social Anxiety.
EMDR and mindfulness techniques.
Now, each individual is different and while I’m a strong believer in ERP what’s most important to me is to help my clients feel better, whatever it takes. That’s why I also offer integrating EMDR and DBT techniques to help manage anxiety. If you have studied or tried ERP in the past these other techniques can greatly reduce anxiety and ease you into the ERP work if you so chose. Additionally research indicates that OCD often has it’s roots in trauma, particularly childhood trauma as that is when magical thinking is prevalent. By using EMDR to either target the OCD and/or the trauma we can often see expedited and enduring results.
Why ERP Treatment Works
When we engage in safety behaviors (compulsions) we are telling our brains that what we’re afraid of is as real and as hugely devastating as our mind is making it out to be. It’s like we take a fear (that would be mild at worst for most people) and we put 20 magnifing glasses on it. We may even know deep down that we’re blowing this up but then there is the ever present “yeah, but what if?” always on repeat. Then comes the flood of fear, adreneline and that pit in your stomach that you just want to get rid of. Of course when our brain sees us acting in alignment with the fear it’s putting out it – that confirms to our brain that it was right to be fearful. In fact it may even turn up the volume. We then begin to fear the fear and every time we do a safety behavior we’re feeding the beast. It may be satiated for a moment but it will come back stronger unless we starve it.
ERP is designed to break that loop and to open up the door to our self made prisons. Let’s talk and see if ERP is right for you.
OCD counseling needs its own approach
Unfortunately many mental health counselors are not instructed on how to treat OCD and the attempts to “talk it out” leave the clinician as well as the client stuck and lost. The approach needed is vastly different from the typical counseling approaches. In fact when treated the same way as depression for example, it can actually make things worse! If you have done counseling in the past and it didn’t help, that may be why. Let’s talk about how my approach gets to the root of the problem.
My OCD Story
Meet Todd Blair, LMHC
I unknowingly struggled with OCD all throughout my childhood and adolescent years. I felt alone in it, like no one understood, and if I could just hang on, if I was tough enough or could just check one more thing or just research enough it would go away. Little did I know that my efforts to contain my anxiety were what was keeping me trapped with it and it did not have to be that way!
It wasn’t until I was an adult when I finally got clarity on what was happening and I often reflect on what it would have been like to have known sooner. It has been a challenging journey and I’d love to say I’m 100% anxiety free, I go sky diving, juggle chainsaws and never want to check my stupid locks 4 times, but not 3, because that’s an odd number and that just feels wrong. I can’t say that I am anxiety free but I can say that I have my life back. I know what is happening when it pops into my brain and I know how to handle it. I now am able to resolve in a just a few minutes, something that would have taken hours from my day in the old days. And some of those fears are just plain gone. That’s why I feel passionate about this work and will do what I can to help you on your journey.
*citation: www.IOCDF.org