OCD Therapy for Adults
When OCD makes your life smaller. Long Beach, CA & Online
YOU ARE NOT ALONE
When OCD takes up
more and more space.
OCD can take up more and more space in your life, whether symptoms have gradually intensified or recently become harder to manage.
You may spend hours checking, analyzing, researching, seeking reassurance, avoiding situations, or trying to feel certain or just right. You may also get caught in mental rituals such as rumination, reviewing, comparing, or replaying situations in an effort to find certainty or relief.
Over time, your world can become smaller. You may avoid things you want to do, struggle to make decisions, or find that relationships, work, and everyday life are increasingly shaped by OCD.
You may have already tried reasoning with your thoughts, searching for answers, seeking reassurance, checking, distracting yourself, or avoiding what makes you anxious. These strategies can provide short-term relief, but the doubt and anxiety eventually return.
What it can look like
Mental rituals
“You don’t have to keep fighting OCD on its terms.”
DIFFERENT THEMES, SAME OCD CYCLE
OCD can latch onto almost anything.
OCD often targets the things that matter most to you, creating persistent doubt, fear, guilt, or a need for certainty. Common OCD themes include:
Contamination OCD
Fears about germs, illness, chemicals, or contamination
Harm OCD
Fears of harming yourself or someone else
Health OCD
Fears about having or developing an illness
Relationship OCD (ROCD)
Persistent doubts about your relationship, feelings, or partner
Sexual Orientation OCD (SO‑OCD)
Unwanted doubts about sexual orientation
Sexual OCD
Intrusive sexual thoughts that feel disturbing or inconsistent with your values
Scrupulosity
Fears related to morality, religion, sin, or being a bad person
Responsibility OCD
Fears that you could cause harm or prevent something bad
Just-Right OCD
A need for things to feel correct, complete, even, symmetrical, or “just right”
Perfectionism & Mistakes
Fears of getting something wrong or not doing something perfectly
Existential OCD
Persistent questioning about existence, reality, consciousness, or meaning
False Memory OCD
Persistent doubt about whether something happened or whether you can trust your memory
Real Event OCD
Persistent guilt or doubt about something that actually happened
Perinatal OCD
Unwanted, distressing thoughts or fears related to pregnancy, childbirth, or a baby’s well-being
This is not a comprehensive list. OCD can latch onto virtually anything, including parenting, work, relationships, identity, safety, health, religion, sexuality, and everyday decisions. Themes can also change over time.
What matters is understanding the OCD cycle underneath them.
ADULTS I WORK WITH
When OCD starts
getting in the way.
You may be seeking therapy because OCD is causing significant distress or interfering with the parts of life that matter to you; your work, relationships, family life, sleep, decision-making, or ability to enjoy everyday activities.
You may still be keeping up with your responsibilities while privately spending hours managing OCD and feeling exhausted by the effort.
Maybe you’ve reached a point where you realize, “I don’t want to keep living this way.”
I have successfully helped adults reduce the impact of OCD and begin taking their lives back. I work with emerging adults, mid-life adults, and older adults across different stages of life and relationship circumstances. Therapy is tailored to your individual needs, circumstances, and goals.
My Approach
How I help with OCD.
I provide evidence-based treatment for adult OCD, including Exposure and Response Prevention (ERP), Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT), Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) and Metacognitive Therapy.
Understand Your OCD Cycle
We’ll identify how OCD is showing up for you, including compulsions that may be less obvious, such as rumination, mental reviewing, reassurance seeking, checking, researching, and avoidance. Together, we’ll develop a treatment plan based on your goals and the life you want to live.
Learn to Respond Differently
You’ll learn to respond differently when OCD shows up rather than automatically reacting with compulsions, avoidance, or attempts to find certainty. With practice, these new responses can reduce OCD’s power and help you feel less controlled by it.
Reduce OCD’s Hold & Expand Your Life
Change happens step by step. Through repeated practice and new learning, OCD symptoms can become less intense, less frequent, and less controlling. As OCD takes up less space, you can reconnect with the relationships, activities, experiences, and goals that matter to you.
NEXT STEPS
The goal is meaningful symptom relief and a life that feels bigger than OCD.
You can learn to tolerate uncertainty, trust yourself more, and move toward what matters to you, even when OCD shows up.
With an experienced OCD specialist, you can reclaim your time, your choices, and your ability to live life on your own terms.
Commonly Asked Questions
FAQ’s
Are therapy sessions weekly for OCD, or can they be more frequent?
OCD treatment sessions are typically scheduled once a week, although more frequent sessions may be helpful depending on the severity and complexity of symptoms, individual needs, and treatment goals. I offer sessions up to twice a week when more intensive support is needed. If more intensive treatment is needed beyond twice-weekly sessions, I often recommend a higher level of care, such as an Intensive Outpatient Program (IOP) or Partial Hospitalization Program (PHP), and can provide referrals.
How long does OCD treatment take?
The length of treatment varies depending on the severity and complexity of symptoms, how much OCD affects daily life, the presence of co-occurring conditions, and individual needs and goals. A typical course of Exposure and Response Prevention (ERP) with Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) informed interventions involves approximately 12–25 weekly sessions, based on both research and my clinical experience. Some people make meaningful progress in fewer than 12 sessions, while others benefit from longer-term treatment. Therapy is tailored to help you respond differently to OCD, build confidence in handling uncertainty, and move toward the life you want to live.
What if ERP feels too overwhelming, or I’m not ready to face my fears?
It’s understandable to feel overwhelmed by the idea of facing your fears. Treatment is collaborative, compassionate, and tailored to your needs. I often integrate Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) before diving into ERP to help you build skills to navigate anxiety, manage discomfort, and connect with what matters to you.
We’ll approach ERP gradually, breaking exposures into smaller, more manageable steps and building confidence along the way. I will never push you into an exposure that feels too overwhelming, and you’ll have a voice in choosing your exposures and remain in control of your participation. Together, we’ll build your confidence in handling anxiety and uncertainty, helping you discover that you can do hard things—even when anxiety shows up.