Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD) Therapy in Vancouver
You may have come here wondering: Do I have Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD)?
Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD) is a mental health condition that affects people from all walks of life causing unwanted obsessive thoughts and compulsions (behaviours) that interfere in their daily life. Unlike popular assumptions OCD is not a need to be clean and tidy or a personality quirk but a form of anxiety that results in obsessive thoughts and compulsive behaviours.
OCD can be a debilitating condition that interferes with daily life including activities such as: getting out of the house, cooking, socializing, finishing tasks, doing hobbies, and working.
Symptoms of OCD
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Unwanted thoughts that keep recurring that you find distressful common themes include:
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Fear of contamination or dirt
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Fear of losing control or harming others
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Fear of having done something wrong without knowing it
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Unwanted sexual thoughts or thoughts of harming others
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Constant uncertainty about your relationship
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Fear of forgetting something or not having done something
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Obsessions about your moral actions or breaking religious rules and principles.
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Compulsions are behaviours or rituals done in response to the obsessive thoughts. Some examples include:
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Excessive cleaning (house or body)
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Repeatedly checking (eg. that an oven is turned off or doors are locks)
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Counting objects, letters or words
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Seeking reassurance from others
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Re-arranging objects in a certain order or symmetry, doing things a certain number of times (eg, 5 times or an odd number)
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Performing a religious or mental ritual excessively after having a thought
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How Can I Find Relief from OCD?
Accept Uncertainty.
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OCD thoughts create intense anxiety and compulsions are borne out of the desire to get rid of distressing thoughts, images and physical sensations. Anxiety is a normal alarm system in our body that is created to help us protect ourselves from danger, and obsessive thoughts act as alarm bells. Even if these thoughts or compulsions don’t make any sense, they can still produce significant doubt and uncertainty and cause great alarm.
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Doubt and uncertainty are often at the centre of OCD and you may find yourself going to great lengths to avoid it and regain a sense of control. When you find yourself getting caught up in a mission to eliminate uncertainty whether by checking, googling, washing, or asking for reassurance remind yourself that 100 per cent certainty can never be truly achieved. The short-term relief from doubt OCD brings will only lead to a further loss of control over time.
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Slowly begin to accept some uncertainty in your life in the same way that we live with all of the many inherent risks and uncertainties of life. Resist that urge to figure it out when the alarm goes off by doing something like checking or asking. Each time you do, you are retraining your alarm system to handle not knowing.
Label your Thoughts.
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Learn to label your intrusive or obsessive thoughts as thoughts. Our judgement and interpretation of our thoughts (eg. I'm thinking about this means I'm a terrible person) can intensify our distress. Over time you can learn to say "I'm having a thought that I did something wrong, this is my OCD, everyone has these thoughts". The practice of observing your thoughts without judgement can decrease your distress over time.
Identify your coping strategies (compulsions) and gradually work to reduce or eliminate them
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Identify how you respond to triggers and thoughts in your environment and start to observe and understand what strategies you have been employing to find relief from your anxiety. These compulsions may be physical actions or mental actions.
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List these compulsions and work on reducing acting on these compulsions and rank them from least distressing to most distressing. Now you can work on facing your fears by putting yourself in situations that bring on your obsessive thoughts and urges to act (exposure) while resisting doing anything to control the obsessions and the anxiety associated with them (response prevention)
Work with a trained OCD therapist to find effective relief from OCD symptoms.
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Finding relief from OCD can take concerted effort and time. We highly recommend working with a trained therapist who specializes and deeply understand OCD and provides local OCD therapy in Vancouver.
How we help with OCD
We offer in-person mental health counselling in Vancouver and virtual counselling for OCD with counsellors who are trained in therapies that are evidence-based to treat Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD) including: Exposure and Response Prevention (ERP), Cognitive Behaviour Therapy (CBT) and Inference-Based CBT (I-CBT). Our counsellors are also trained in EMDR to work on trauma for those with OCD.
Contact us today to connect with one of our counsellors to book a free consultation session!
