Treatment for OCD in Oakland (Bay Area)
Common OCD Subtypes
Physical Harm
Obsession: thought or image of stabbing someone
Compulsion: avoiding knives or other sharp objects
Emotional Harm
Obsession: thoughts of having hurt someone due to carelessness
Compulsion: frequently asking for reassurance or apologizing
Excessive Responsibility
Obsession: thought that you can and must prevent catastrophic events
Compulsion: checking appliances and locks, repeating mantras
Relationships
Obsession: thoughts about being in the "right" relationship or friendship
Compulsion: constantly monitoring your own feelings, attraction level
Hyper-Awareness
Obsession: awareness of bodily movements (eye contact, blinking, breathing)
Compulsion: monitoring or trying to control bodily functions
Sexual
Identity
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Obsession: intense fear of not being absolutely certain how you identify
Compulsion: researching, monitoring arousal, avoiding triggering groups
Gender
Identity
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Obsession: intense fear of not being absolutely certain how you identify
Compulsion: researching;
monitoring your thoughts or behaviors for "signs"
"Just Right"
Feeling
Obsession: inability to tolerate anything that does not look or feel "just right"
Compulsion: repeating actions or readjusting things in your environment
Health /
Cleanliness
Obsession: thoughts about being contaminated and having or spreading germs
Compulsion: washing or bathing excessively, avoiding public places
OCD can be effectively treated with
evidence-based Talk Therapy and Exposure Therapy.
Interested in OCD therapy in Oakland? Let's connect.
Understanding Obsessive Compulsive Disorder
Almost everyone experiences unwanted intrusive thoughts. For most people, intrusive thoughts pass quickly and have no lingering effect. If you are an OCD sufferer, your brain reacts differently to unwanted intrusive thoughts (or images or urges); it gets "stuck"on them. Both OCD sufferers and people without anxiety experience intrusive thoughts about the same topics: catastrophic events; causing harm to themselves or others; taboo sexual experiences; uncertainty about the past or future; preoccupation with symmetry; etc.. If you have OCD, your brain perceives these types of thoughts - called "obsessions"- as legitimate, important, and dangerous, which can cause a great deal of anxiety. You may then engage in unhelpful responses – or “compulsions” – in order to reduce the anxiety. Common compulsions include checking, researching, and washing. While compulsions may reduce anxiety in the short term, they make your anxiety worse over time. Fortunately, it is possible to break out of the cycle of anxiety that keeps you feeling stuck.
CBT + ERP for OCD and Other Therapeutic Approaches
You can learn to relate to your intrusive thoughts in more effective ways using Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT), Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT), and Exposure and Response Prevention (ERP). ​CBT and ACT help you to identify the beliefs underlying your obsessions and compulsions, while ERP helps you to change the behaviors that fuel your OCD cycle. In therapy you will also learn how Mindful Self-Compassion helps you stay committed to your treatment by teaching you how to support yourself.
Therapy for OCD is challenging work ... that works!
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Treatment for OCD in Oakland, CA
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Bay Area Anxiety Therapy offers OCD therapy from its office in Oakland. Serving San Francisco, Berkeley, San Jose and the entire Bay Area.