OCD Treatment
Support for Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder
Are you struggling with OCD?
Do you need therapeutic support to manage OCD symptoms?
CBT Therapy is one of the most effective ways to manage OCD and anxiety disorders.
Working with a psychologist experienced in OCD, you can learn to identify and manage your symptoms, develop healthy coping mechanisms, and improve your overall wellbeing.
Getting Started is Simple
1. Make an Appointment
Make an initial appointment to discuss your OCD-related challenges with a psychologist. Together, you will develop a personalised treatment plan to achieve your goals.
2. Commence Therapy
CBT Therapy with an experienced Psychologist is one of the most effective evidence-based methods to manage OCD and anxiety.
3. Experience the Benefits
Experience the benefits of therapy for anxiety, including enhanced understanding, coping skills, and long-term wellbeing.
What is OCD or Obsessive-compulsive Disorder?
Obsessive-compulsive disorder, or OCD, is a severe anxiety disorder that can make it hard to get through everyday activities and lead to social disability.
OCD generally develops in late childhood or early teenage years. Without proper treatment, OCD can become a chronic condition.
People suffering from OCD generally know their behaviours are excessive, and as that may cause them shame, they try to keep their condition secret.
OCD is not the same as Obsessive-compulsive personality disorder (OCPD). OCPD manifests as people being very rigid and preoccupied with order, perfection and control.
What OCD is Not
OCD is not just about being neat or organised.
It is not a personality quirk.
It is not something you can “just stop” doing with willpower.
OCD is a recognised medical condition affecting millions of people. It’s not your fault, and you don’t have to face it alone.
OCD Symptoms
There are two kinds of symptoms: obsessions and compulsions. The following list of common symptoms can help you decide to take the next step and seek assessment, diagnosis and support.
Some of the symptoms of OCD include:
Obsessions
- Fear of contamination
- Fear of hurting others
- Excessive preoccupation with following specific patterns or having things in order
- Worrying about forgetting to lock doors or leaving appliances turned on.
Compulsions
- Excessive cleaning, including hand washing, showering or house cleaning
- Compulsive checking of things, such as taps, locks or light switches
- Counting objects such as paving stones on a walk
- Hair-pulling, skin-picking
- Hoarding random objects
- Constant demands for reassurance from other people.
The obsessive nature of the behaviour, rather than the behaviour itself, is what’s essential for diagnosing OCD. Additionally, people with OCD are likely to develop depression and other anxiety disorders, such as panic disorder or social anxiety.
OCD Treatment and Diagnosis
A psychologist or psychiatrist can diagnose OCD. OCD diagnosis can take time, but beginning the assessment process is a positive step towards recovery.
With advances in the understanding and effective treatments of OCD, there is more reason for optimism than ever. You can recover from this debilitating disorder with treatment, often through medication and psychological therapy.
OCD therapists use evidence-based approaches to help you regain control of your life.
Common Treatment Options include:
- Cognitive Behavioural Therapy, or CBT Therapy, provides the tools necessary to manage OCD symptoms. CBT therapy involves challenging and confronting distorted thinking that makes you overly anxious about intrusive thoughts, images and impulses. Some examples might be the belief that “if I have a horrible thought about harming someone, it means that I am capable of doing that” or “I can’t relax until I am 100% certain that everything will be ok”.
- Behaviour therapy involves exposure to everyday situations in life that trigger the obsession (e.g., touching an empty rubbish bin lid) and then voluntarily preventing oneself from performing the compulsive ritual to relieve the anxiety (e.g., washing one’s hands to remove contamination). Through a natural process called habituation, the person will gradually experience less anxiety in response to triggers.
- Exposure and Response Prevention (ERP) is a specific type of Exposure Therapy designed to treat OCD.
- Medication options are also possible, and these should be discussed with your GP or psychiatrist.
Seeking professional help from a local GP, psychiatrist, or psychologist is the first step in the journey to recovery from OCD.
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