Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD)
What does OCD look like?
Obsessive-compulsive disorder, or OCD, can feel like being stuck in a repetitive loop of thoughts, fears, doubts, or urges that are difficult to disengage from.
Obsessions are recurring, unwanted thoughts, images, urges, or doubts that can create significant distress. They may center on many different themes, including:
Fear of harming yourself or someone else
Unwanted sexual thoughts
Contamination or illness
A need for things to feel “just right”
Relationships and doubts about a partner
Religion, morality, or fear of doing something wrong, sometimes referred to as scrupulosity
Responsibility, mistakes, or uncertainty
OCD can also involve compulsions. Compulsions are behaviors or mental acts a person feels driven to perform in an attempt to reduce anxiety, gain certainty, prevent something bad from happening, or make an uncomfortable thought or feeling go away.
Compulsions might include checking, seeking reassurance, repeating things, researching, reviewing conversations or memories, counting, arranging, avoiding certain situations, or performing rituals mentally.
Not everyone with OCD experiences obvious outward compulsions. Some compulsions happen entirely internally and may be difficult for others to notice.
OCD becomes particularly disruptive when obsessions or compulsions take up significant amounts of time, cause substantial distress, or interfere with work, relationships, school, daily responsibilities, or other important areas of life.
How do I know when I may need help?
Many people experience unwanted or intrusive thoughts from time to time. Having an intrusive thought by itself does not mean that you have OCD.
It may be helpful to seek support when thoughts, doubts, or rituals begin consuming a significant amount of your attention or when you feel increasingly controlled by the need to respond to them.
You may notice that you spend considerable time analyzing your thoughts, looking for certainty, checking, avoiding, seeking reassurance, or trying to make yourself feel completely safe before moving forward.
Another sign may be realizing that OCD is beginning to pull you away from the life you want to live. You may find yourself making decisions based more on fear or uncertainty than on your relationships, values, interests, or goals.
Treatment can help you develop a different relationship with these experiences so that OCD has less influence over how you spend your time and energy.
How can therapy help with OCD?
Therapy often begins with understanding how OCD works.
Learning to recognize the cycle between obsessions, anxiety, compulsions, and temporary relief can help make experiences that once felt confusing or overwhelming more understandable.
Treatment can then help you develop new ways of responding to intrusive thoughts and uncomfortable emotions.
Rather than trying to eliminate every unwanted thought or achieve complete certainty, therapy can help you become more flexible in how you respond when those thoughts appear.
Over time, the goal is for intrusive thoughts to feel less powerful and for you to have greater freedom to choose where you place your attention and energy.
What treatment does Mauna Psychology use for OCD?
Mauna Psychology provides evidence-based treatment for OCD, including Exposure and Response Prevention, or ERP.
ERP is a form of cognitive behavioral therapy specifically used to treat OCD. It involves gradually approaching situations, thoughts, sensations, or uncertainties that trigger obsessive fears while practicing responding differently rather than relying on compulsions for relief.
Research has consistently supported ERP as an effective psychotherapy for OCD.
At Mauna Psychology, we may also incorporate principles from Acceptance and Commitment Therapy, or ACT.
ACT can help you develop mindfulness and psychological flexibility skills so that thoughts can be noticed without automatically needing to analyze, challenge, suppress, or respond to them.
Together, these approaches can help you practice making room for uncertainty, disengaging from patterns that reinforce OCD, and redirecting your attention toward the relationships, activities, and values that make your life meaningful.
The goal is not necessarily to never experience another intrusive thought. Instead, therapy can help those thoughts become less controlling so you can choose how you want to respond.
What types of OCD can you help with?
OCD can take many forms, and its focus can change over time.
Treatment may address concerns involving:
Harm OCD
Sexual intrusive thoughts
Religious or moral scrupulosity
Relationship OCD
Contamination concerns
Checking
“Just right” experiences
Health-related fears
Excessive responsibility
Reassurance seeking
Mental reviewing and rumination
Other intrusive thoughts, doubts, or compulsive patterns
Regardless of the particular theme, treatment focuses on understanding the underlying OCD cycle rather than judging the content of the thoughts.
Do you offer OCD therapy in person or online?
Yes. Mauna Psychology offers in-person OCD therapy in Provo, Utah, as well as telehealth services for eligible clients.
If OCD has begun taking up more of your life than you would like, treatment can help you build a more flexible relationship with uncertainty and move toward the things that matter most to you.