OCD

Partly. Family and twin studies consistently show OCD runs in families, and having a first-degree relative with OCD raises your risk. But genetics load the gun rather than fire it. Plenty of people with a family history never develop OCD, and plenty of people with OCD have no family history at all. Stress, illness, and major transitions like childbirth often trigger the first significant episode. Knowing it’s partly heritable changes nothing about the treatment, and it isn’t something you caused.

The clearest signal is the loop. If a specific fear keeps returning, if you’re doing something to neutralize it, and if the relief that follows is short-lived and then requires doing it again, that pattern is worth having assessed. A few other markers: the fear feels irrational to you even while it feels urgent, you’ve arranged parts of your life around avoiding triggers, and the whole thing takes up significant time. Only a clinician can diagnose you, and OCD is misdiagnosed often enough that it’s worth seeing someone who specializes in it rather than a generalist.

Not necessarily. Many women improve substantially with ERP alone, and we’ll never push you toward medication you don’t want.

For some people, though, symptoms are severe enough that exposures feel impossible to start, and that’s where medication can make the difference between OCD therapy that stalls and OCD therapy that works. Our in-house psychiatrist and psychiatric nurse practitioners can assess whether it makes sense for you and walk you through the options. Because they work alongside your therapist rather than across town, your treatment team stays coordinated without you having to manage it.

We treat all subtypes. Our therapists treat contamination OCD, harm OCD, relationship OCD, scrupulosity (religious and moral OCD), postpartum OCD, checking compulsions, and “pure O” presentations where the compulsions happen invisibly in your mind. We also treat trichotillomania. OCD is endlessly creative about its themes, but the underlying cycle is the same, and ERP works on all of it. Whatever your theme is, we’ve seen it before, and nothing you share will shock us.

We completely customize treatment based on your comfort level, ensuring that therapy always goes at a pace that’s comfortable for you. We like to create a hierarchy of exposures so that you are only exposed to your fears in small, gradual steps. Not only is going slowly the most comfortable way to treat OCD, but it’s also the most effective, since OCD is resistant to most forms of treatment that move too quickly or try to do too much right away.

“Treatable” is the more accurate word, and it’s a better outcome than it sounds. With ERP, obsessions lose their power and compulsions lose their grip. Most of our clients reach a point where OCD no longer makes their decisions, takes their time, or runs their relationships. An intrusive thought might still turn up occasionally, but it passes through instead of taking over. Research consistently shows most people who complete ERP experience major, lasting improvement.

Postpartum OCD often shows up as intrusive, unwanted thoughts about something bad happening to the baby, sometimes with the mother in the picture. These thoughts feel horrifying precisely because they’re the opposite of everything she wants, and that horror is actually the tell: the thoughts are ego-dystonic, meaning they clash with her true values and intentions. Having them doesn’t mean anything about her character or what she would ever do. Many new moms suffer silently out of fear of being judged or misunderstood, so please hear this: postpartum OCD is recognized, common, and very treatable, and our therapists who specialize in both OCD and perinatal mental health understand exactly what this is.

It’s very difficult to open up to others about OCD, especially if you have disturbing thoughts that you feel ashamed of. The good news is that our therapists have worked with many clients who have the same fears as you. There is nothing that will surprise us or alarm us—we know that OCD can feel shocking, embarrassing, or strange. Part of OCD treatment involves helping you understand that you are distinct from your thoughts. Just because you have thoughts that are violent or disturbing, that doesn’t mean your desires or actions reflect that.

Our counselors have a proven track record of helping individuals get control of their OCD symptoms. This is because we are trained to treat OCD and we know how to utilize specific interventions that have been shown to help with the condition. Numerous clinical trials have demonstrated that ERP can effectively treat OCD, since it enables clients to both reduce their distress and tolerate it at the same time (2). 

We see clients at four offices in PA and NJ: Center City and Old City in Philadelphia, Bala Cynwyd on the Main Line, and Collingswood in South Jersey. Our therapists are also licensed in 43 states, and ERP works well over video, so OCD therapy online is a real option rather than a compromise. Click here to get matched with a therapist today!