Sometimes even talking or thinking about your OCD can feel overwhelming. You don't have to come into therapy ready to tell me everything.

Sometimes, coming to therapy is the first exposure. We can start by getting to know you as a person, talking about your life outside of OCD, or learning about OCD using off-theme examples that have nothing to do with your particular fears.

I've had clients who weren't ready to say something out loud, write it down, or even name their theme. We've used code words and found other ways to communicate. Those small steps can sometimes become our earliest exposures.

Yes. ERP can be used for mental compulsions in much the same way it is used for more visible compulsions.

The first step is often learning to recognize what counts as a compulsion. If you're repeatedly analysing, reviewing, testing, comparing, or trying to solve an intrusive thought, that thinking process may actually be part of the OCD cycle.

You don't need to stop intrusive thoughts from occurring. The goal is to change what you do when they show up.

This is a really good question, and it's not always something we can answer from one symptom alone.

There are screening measures that can help us understand what's happening, but we'll also look at the function of the anxiety: what triggers it, what your mind is asking you to do in response, and what keeps the cycle going.

OCD and other anxiety presentations can also occur together. When OCD is part of the picture, I'll often take an OCD-informed behavioural approach to treatment while also addressing broader anxiety symptoms.

If a formal diagnosis is important to you, I can also help determine whether additional assessment or diagnostic support would be helpful.

OCD can involve thoughts, images, urges, and fears that feel disturbing, bizarre, embarrassing, or completely out of character.

I've received training in OCD treatment and understand that intrusive thoughts can sometimes be incredibly difficult to talk about. You don't need to make them sound less strange before bringing them into therapy.

I'm comfortable talking about these experiences with you, and we'll work together to understand what's happening rather than judging you for the content of your thoughts.

Having an intrusive thought is not the same thing as wanting to act on it.

Life naturally gives us unexpected opportunities to encounter things we're afraid of. But an unplanned exposure isn't necessarily a therapeutic exposure.

In everyday life, you might encounter a trigger, become anxious, engage in a safety behaviour or compulsion, and walk away thinking, That was awful.

In ERP, exposures are intentional and planned. We can repeat them, adjust them, and pay attention to what you're doing during the exposure.

And importantly, we can debrief.

Did your prediction happen? Did you become anxious? If so, were you able to tolerate it? Did the feared consequence actually occur? What role did your safety behaviours or compulsions play?

Sometimes someone is technically doing an exposure but is still engaging in subtle avoidance, reassurance, mental reviewing, or another safety behaviour. That's why monitoring and debriefing can be just as important as the exposure itself.

No.

ERP is generally approached gradually. You aren't expected to jump immediately into the most frightening thing you can imagine.

Sometimes the best starting point is surprisingly small.

The goal is to find a place where you're challenged enough to learn something new, without making the process so overwhelming that you can't engage with treatment.

Then we start there.

You don't have to feel confident before beginning treatment. You don't even have to be particularly excited about ERP.

You just need to be willing to explore what might be possible.

We'll find a starting point and gradually build your confidence and willingness to approach what OCD has been asking you to avoid.