Find peace and calm.

OCD therapy in St. Louis, MO

You need the “what-ifs”, intrusive thoughts, and compulsive behaviors to stop

Life is feeling like a trap.

Your thoughts average about 100 miles an hour, and often in circles. You can spend hours obsessing about the same fear, and it often feels like you are stuck. Your brain becomes convinced that there is something you aren’t remembering or something you are ignoring that, if exposed, will prove you are undeniably bad.

For a while, the compulsive behaviors seemed quirky. You made lists for everything or had to check behind each door when you entered a room. But recently you’ve noticed that these behaviors have become a problem. Maybe turning back to check your appliances is making you late for work, or the family member you always have to confess things to is getting fed up.

You know that you do these things more than the average person, but you just can’t stop. It’s the only way you know to quiet the thoughts that race around your mind.

Sound like you?

Struggling with graphic or terrifying intrusive images

Exhausted from battling the constant barrage of thoughts

Ready to stop behaviors that hurt you or frustrate those you love

Wondering what it would be like to feel peace

Here’s what we’ll do together

Therapy can help you regain a sense of peace, self, and control over your mind.

The good news is that things can change. While OCD  and OCD tendencies can be a paralyzing, exhausting, and scary experience, you can find peace, and things can change.

When we work together, I will start by teaching you what OCD is, and some theories on why it happens. Over time, you will learn tools to step outside of the mental maze that is OCD and stop doing the things that make it worse.  

Once you understand your brain and how it works, you will begin to feel back in the driver’s seat of your mind, rather than feeling so controlled by your thoughts.

Compulsions and behaviors which are currently taking your time and energy will no longer steal your life from you, and those intrusive thoughts and images which frighten you will no longer be defining.

At the end of the day, I want you to know:

As hopeless as things may have felt at times, what you experience in your mind has an explanation, as well as a treatment. This is not the way it has to be—change is just around the corner.

What we’ll work on

Imagine a life where…

  • You are confident in your relationships and trust yourself.

  • The endless quest for perfection no longer rules your time.

  • You are at peace with your body rather than filled with health paranoia.

  • The future feels exciting and bright.

Change is possible.

Questions?

FAQs

  • When we work together, I start with some basic education regarding what OCD is and how we think it happens. From here, I utilize primarily Acceptance and Commitment Therapy, which helps you change your posture towards your thoughts, accept what is out of your control, and act from your values rather than your fears. When compulsions are a big part of your experience, we will work on building your tolerance towards the anxiety that fuels the compulsions so that you can learn new behaviors instead.

  • Each person’s experience with OCD is a little different, but many people find that simply understanding what is happening in their mind can help tremendously. Patience is important, but we will start implementing new skills early on. This way, you can begin to build some moments of peace back into your life as we work towards reducing the impact that intrusive thoughts, obsessions, and compulsions have on your daily life.

  • While I don’t usually do formal, handout-type homework, an important component of experiencing the change you want is practicing what we learn together outside of sessions. I may recommend books for you to read, and I will give you exercises and tools that you can implement outside of our time together.