OCD Therapies
There are many ways to treat Obsessive Compulsive Disorder effectively.
I draw from the three that have the most evidence for effective OCD treatment.
If you prefer to focus on one OCD method more than the others, I can work with that preference.
Exposure and Response Prevention
ERP is a form of therapy that helps people with OCD learn a new, healthier relationship to intrusive thoughts, feelings, and urges. In ERP, you gradually and deliberately face the situations, images, or sensations that trigger your obsessions (the exposure) while refraining from rituals like checking, washing, seeking reassurance, or mental neutralizing (the response prevention). Over repeated practice, your brain updates its predictions: the feared outcomes don’t happen, distress becomes more tolerable, and the compulsions of OCD lose their grip.
Acceptance and Commitment Therapy
ACT has 6 core principles that can be applied to OCD:
Acceptance (Willingness): Making room for OCD anxiety, doubt, and urges as sensations, without resisting or ritualizing.
Cognitive Defusion: Seeing OCD thoughts as thoughts (“I’m having the thought that…”) rather than literal threats.
Present-Moment Awareness: Noticing what’s happening now (breath, body, environment) to step out of OCD autopilot.
Self-as-Context: Relating to yourself as the observer of thoughts/feelings, not defined by them (“I’m more than my OCD story”).
Values: Clarifying what truly matters (e.g., being a caring partner, a present parent, a principled professional).
Committed Action: Taking values-guided action in the face of OCD — and not doing compulsions.
Internal Family Systems
How IFS understands OCD:
Manager parts try to prevent danger or embarrassment by chasing certainty and control (planning, avoiding triggers, mental checking).
Firefighter parts jump in when distress spikes, using urgent compulsions (washing, checking, reassurance seeking) to put out the “OCD fire.”
Exiles carry vulnerable feelings and memories (e.g., guilt, shame, responsibility fears) that the OCD system is organized to avoid at all costs.
Compulsions make sense as OCD protective strategies—they’re extreme, but they’re attempts to keep you safe. By understanding this, healing OCD can begin.
Let's Talk
The first step in OCD therapy is talking. Let's find a time where we can meet and talk about what's on your mind. I am based in Hamilton, Ontario.