OCD and ERP ยท Wooster, Ohio
OCD is very treatable. ERP is how.
Obsessive-compulsive disorder takes an average of seven years to get diagnosed correctly. I am trained to evaluate it and to provide Exposure and Response Prevention, the treatment with the strongest evidence behind it.
Adults 18 and up. In person at 2098 Portage Rd, Suite 325, or by telehealth for clients located in Ohio.
If this sounds familiar
You might be feeling like this
- Thoughts you do not want keep showing up, and the harder you push them away the louder they get.
- You check, count, clean, replay or ask for reassurance, and the relief never lasts.
- You have been told it is anxiety, or perfectionism, and the treatment for that did not touch it.
- You are exhausted from managing something nobody else can see.
The approach
What OCD is, and why it gets missed
Obsessive-compulsive disorder is very treatable, but it is often missed. A study published in 2022 confirmed that it takes an average of seven years from the first symptom for a person to get an accurate diagnosis. That is seven years of managing it alone.
OCD is a cycle: an obsession, which is an intrusive thought, image or urge that causes distress, and a compulsion, which is whatever you do to make the distress go down. The compulsion works for a moment and teaches the brain to do it again. Exposure and Response Prevention breaks the cycle by facing the trigger and not doing the compulsion, at a pace you choose.
I have obtained specific training to evaluate and properly diagnose OCD and to provide ERP. Studies have shown significant improvement in symptoms after ERP, greater than medication alone.
What to expect
What ERP looks like
-
Map the cycle
Together we identify your obsessions, your compulsions, and how much they cost you at work, in relationships and in your social life.
-
Build the ladder
You rank the situations and thoughts from most distressing to least. We start where you are ready to start, not at the top.
-
Climb it, with support
We work through the ladder in session, then you practice between sessions. Each step teaches your brain the distress passes on its own. That is where the freedom comes from.
Who ERP helps
This is for you if
- Intrusive thoughts and mental rituals
- Checking, counting and ordering
- Contamination fears and washing
- Reassurance seeking
- Intrusive thoughts that arrive after a baby
- Adults 18 and up, in Wooster or across Ohio
Questions people ask
Before you call
- Will you make me do things that terrify me?
- No. You build the ladder and you set the pace. ERP works because each step is chosen, planned and supported, not because it is extreme.
- Do I need a diagnosis before I come in?
- No. Evaluating and properly diagnosing OCD is part of what I am trained to do. If it turns out to be something else, we treat that instead.
- Is ERP different from regular talk therapy?
- Yes. It is structured and active, with practice between sessions. Talking about the thoughts alone tends not to change OCD. Facing the triggers without the compulsion does.
Next step
Start with a free 15-minute call
You tell me what you are looking for, you ask me anything, and I tell you honestly whether my training fits. No forms first.