OCD Therapy Online — Utah and Washington

What this work looks like

OCD has a specific evidence-based treatment, and it's not generic talk therapy. It's Exposure and Response Prevention — a structured approach that gradually exposes you to the things OCD wants you to avoid, while you practice not doing the compulsion. That's the part that actually breaks the cycle.

We don't start with the hardest exposures. We map the obsessions and the compulsions, build a hierarchy, and start where it's challenging-but-doable. The nervous system learns. The loop loosens. Most people are genuinely shocked at how much OCD's grip can change.

Around the ERP work, I weave in ACT — which gives you a different relationship with intrusive thoughts (they're not facts, you don't have to fight them) — and CBT for the cognitive patterns that fuel the cycle.

Who is it for?

• Contamination OCD — physical, emotional, moral
• Harm OCD — fears of hurting yourself or someone you love
• Scrupulosity — religious or moral OCD
• Relationship OCD ("ROCD")
• "Pure-O" — mostly mental compulsions, fewer visible behaviors
• Somatic OCD — hyperawareness of breathing, blinking, swallowing
• Sexual orientation OCD, just-right OCD, and other less-named subtypes
• Adults who've tried talk therapy and felt OCD getting worse, not better

The modalities I use for OCD

• Exposure and Response Prevention (ERP): the frontline treatment. Structured, evidence-based, hard, and effective.
• ACT (Acceptance and Commitment Therapy): changes your relationship to intrusive thoughts and keeps you anchored to what matters while you do the work.
• CBT: for the cognitive distortions and reasoning patterns that keep the loop going.

What does a session look like?

We meet via secure video. Early sessions are assessment — mapping your specific obsessions, compulsions, and avoidance patterns. Then we build the exposure hierarchy together and start with something challenging but doable.

Sessions are usually 55 minutes. Some clients prefer longer sessions while we're in the active ERP phase. I won't push you past what your nervous system can hold — but I also won't be the one feeding the OCD reassurance, because that doesn't help you.

My approach

I won't shame the symptom. OCD is not a personality flaw or a sign that something is wrong with you as a person. It's a misfiring threat-detection system, and it responds to specific tools. Real ones — not generic encouragement.

Frequently asked questions

Do I need ERP for OCD, or can I just do regular therapy?

ERP — Exposure and Response Prevention — is the gold-standard treatment for OCD and has the strongest evidence base by a wide margin. General talk therapy without an ERP component can sometimes make OCD worse by accidentally feeding the reassurance-seeking loop. We talk through the right approach in your consultation.

I have intrusive thoughts about awful things. Does that mean I'm dangerous?

No. Intrusive thoughts — including violent, sexual, or harmful ones — are extremely common in OCD and are the opposite of what they appear to be. They're distressing precisely because they conflict with your values. People with OCD don't act on intrusive thoughts. The thoughts torment them because they don't want to.

What kinds of OCD do you work with?

All subtypes — contamination, harm, religious (scrupulosity), relationship OCD, "pure-O," somatic, sexual orientation OCD, just-right OCD, and the dozen flavors people don't have a tidy name for. The mechanism is the same; the content varies.

How does ACT fit with ERP for OCD?

ERP is the engine. ACT — Acceptance and Commitment Therapy — is a really useful frame around it. ACT helps you build a different relationship with intrusive thoughts (you don't have to believe them, fight them, or get rid of them) and stay connected to what actually matters to you while you're doing the hard work. The two pair well.

Will OCD therapy be uncomfortable?

Yes, by design. ERP works because it gradually exposes you to the thing OCD wants you to avoid, without the compulsion that normally follows. The discomfort is the medicine. But it's contained, predictable, and we go at a pace that's tolerable — not a pace that retraumatizes you.

Can OCD therapy work online?

Yes. ERP translates well to telehealth — and in some ways it works better online, because exposures often need to happen in your real environment (your kitchen, your bathroom, the contamination-fear hotspots). I can be there with you via video while you do them.

I've been on medication for OCD for years. Does therapy still help?

Often yes. Medication can take the edge off the biological intensity of OCD; ERP changes the actual pattern. Most clients on medication for OCD still benefit substantially from ERP, and many find their medication needs decrease (in coordination with their prescriber) once therapy creates real change.