Is Obsessive-Compulsive Thinking Making Your World Smaller?
Getting trapped in the cycle of Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD) can feel like a relentless loop of anxiety and self-doubt. Things that seem to roll off of other people really affect you, worsening the cycle with conversations that play on repeat in your head, worries that you’ve done something terribly wrong, and worst-case scenarios that never seem to quit.
To calm these seemingly endless worries, you may turn to certain rituals or behaviors to put your mind at ease. Some of these behaviors—also known as compulsions—include checking and re-checking, washing or cleaning, repeating actions, or avoiding specific situations. Seeking reassurance from others is often an aspect of the obsessive-compulsive pattern, which can begin to affect your relational health.
Over time, these thoughts and behaviors take up more space and energy, making everyday life exhausting. As OCD puts strain on your mental health and relationships, you’re left feeling alone and misunderstood.
OCD is taking more than just hours of your day, but treatment can help you reclaim that time and bring lasting relief. At SideDoor Counseling, we specialize in Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD), using Exposure and Response Prevention (ERP) therapy and other proven treatment methods. As you learn to break the OCD thought cycle, you regain a sense of control over your life. Questions about Therapy for OCD?
What OCD Looks Like
Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder is not a character defect. It’s a psychological disorder that creates a powerful cycle of distress.
While people with OCD experience a range of symptoms, their experience is usually characterized by intrusive thoughts, images, and urges. In many instances, compulsions become part of the OCD thought loop as they provide a temporary sense of relief. Some compulsions and other common symptoms include:
- Repeated checking of locks, appliances or repeated fixing of mistakes
- Excessive washing or cleaning
- Mentally reviewing conversations and memories
- Avoiding situations that trigger anxiety
- Trying to “cancel” out disturbing thoughts
Some of these behaviors help calm anxiety in the moment, but relief rarely lasts for long. Soon, the same fears, doubts, and worries return, triggering the cycle all over again. You know it’s irrational, but you can’t seem to stop.
OCD has a way of making you question yourself and your abilities. But just because you experience these thoughts, it doesn’t mean you agree with or value them.
At SideDoor Counseling, we have expertise in working with the wide spectrum of Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder, and our therapy approach is backed by decades of training and research. As our therapists individualize the treatment process to your unique OCD symptoms, you can experience lasting relief.
Common Sub-Types Of OCD
Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder shows up in different ways for different people. Common experiences of OCD include:
- Contamination OCD – fears related to germs, illness, and contamination, often paired with excessive washing, cleaning, and avoidance
- Checking OCD – repeated checks of locks, appliances, messages, or memories to feel “safe”
- Harm OCD – intrusive thoughts about harming oneself or others
- Sexual or taboo thoughts – intrusive ideas that feel disturbing, shame-inducing, and out-of-alignment with one’s values
- Moral/scrupulosity OCD – excessive concern with being “good,” ethical, and morally upstanding
- Relationship OCD (ROCD) – obsessive doubts about a partner or relationship, resulting in constant mental review and reassurance-seeking
- Perfectionism-driven OCD – intense fear of mistakes, incompleteness, or things not feeling “quite right”
- Pure O (Primarily Obsessional) OCD – OCD that involves mental rather than physical compulsions, including thought looping and mental checking
- Sexual Orientation OCD – persistent, intrusive thoughts and doubts about one’s sexual orientation
SideDoor Counseling Specializes In Therapy For OCD
Therapy for OCD through our practice centers around creating a strong client-therapist relationship. Our goal is to help you learn about your brain and how it functions in OCD patterns so you can work with it to create meaningful change.
In therapy, we focus on building a different relationship with OCD thoughts so you can live your life without them dictating your actions. To do this, we use two of the most effective counseling approaches for OCD treatment: Exposure and Response Prevention (ERP) and Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT).
- ERP is particularly effective for treating OCD as it gently and gradually exposes you to the thoughts, situations, or triggers that cause distress. Then, we’ll guide you in breaking the pattern of engaging in compulsions or safety behaviors. The structure of ERP teaches your brain that anxiety can come and go on its own without the need to do a ritual.
- CBT teaches you how your thoughts, feelings, and behaviors interact with each other. In the process, you learn practical skills for responding to intrusive thoughts differently so they’re no longer in charge of your decisions.
The combination of these two therapies forms a proven and powerful foundation for OCD treatment.
Our OCD Specialists
With years of training and experience, our therapists understand the unique challenges of living with OCD. We know that the relentless loop of intrusive thoughts, compulsions, and self-doubt can result in making your life feel smaller.
Therapy through our practice is designed to give you back a sense of control. You will learn how the OCD cycle works along with actionable skills for reducing compulsions and anxiety. In this process, you will practice how to tolerate uncertainty and build confidence in your abilities to manage symptoms.
If you’re in search of a sense of relief, freedom, and trust in your own mind again—or maybe for the first time—relief starts at SideDoor.
Common Questions About Therapy For OCD
Will intrusive thoughts ever go away?
OCD looks different for everyone, which is why we individualize the counseling process to your unique experience. In addition to educating you about how the OCD cycle works, we use proven therapy approaches—including ERP and CBT—to teach you different ways of interacting with your thoughts. ERP doesn’t change your thoughts; it changes the way you engage with them.
Intrusive thoughts might not completely go away, but with practice, they can become more of a background noise, less distressing and less controlling over your actions. The thoughts themselves might stick around sometimes, but they lose their grip. And you will be better able to handle them.
Do your therapists have experience working with clients with OCD?
Yes! We have been working with clients with OCD for a long time, and we are passionate about providing effective treatment that works.
Our philosophy is not to see your symptoms as “one-size-fits-all,” but instead a personal and unique experience. Because we are able to target the specific components that keep the OCD cycle alive, we can completely tailor treatment to your specific needs and circumstances.
Won’t talking about my obsessions in therapy just make my compulsions worse?
This fear is common and it makes a lot of sense. Luckily, specialized OCD therapy is designed to address that. Talking about the thoughts may be difficult, but it will not make them worse. Obsessions and compulsions worsen when the cycle of OCD is reinforced by avoiding, neutralizing, or performing rituals. The brain learns these are the only ways to be safe and looks for those ways to bring relief every time intrusive thoughts come up.
Structured treatments like ERP and CBT don’t reinforce your fears or provide reassurance that keeps the loop going. When anxiety is introduced in ERP, it’s done in a safe, structured way that’s planned, gradual, and therapeutic for the brain to learn that it can handle it. Anxiety can temporarily increase when you talk about your thoughts, but this is expected and part of the healing process.
With time, the brain rewires itself and no longer needs those unhelpful strategies to feel safe.
You Are Not Your Thoughts
SideDoor Counseling uses Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) and Exposure and Response Prevention (ERP) in OCD treatment to help clients respond differently to anxious thoughts and behaviors. Contact us to get started with one of our OCD specialists.