Individual Therapy for:

OCD is a serious and debilitating mental health disorder. Obsessions are unwanted, intrusive thoughts, images or urges that are intensely distressing. Compulsions are are behaviors either mental or physical that attempt to reduce or eliminate the distress. OCD creates a vicious cycle of obsessions, distressing feelings, avoidance and compulsions, often making life intensely distressing or difficult to live.

Exposure Response Prevention (ERP) and/or medication, specifically Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitors are the first-line treatment for OCD according to the American Psychological Association, the National Institute of Health and the International OCD Foundation.

ERP involves exposing the patient to the fear or obsession and preventing the ritualized or compulsive response. In short, it’s facing our fears and learning different ways to manage the distress including mindfulness, non-engagement in the thought loop and leaving possibility for uncertainty.

We collaborate together, learn what strengths you already bring to the table. We identify your fears, what you avoid, what is hard in your life. We create a “hierarchy” of exposures, together we rate the distress level of each exposure. We start with low to mid-range exposures together in session, one exposure at a time. The patient then practices this exposure daily outside of session. And gradually we work our way through the hierarchy. Practicing exposures together in session and the patient continuing practice between sessions.

The aim is to be able to get your life back, live the life you want with less distress, confront avoidance and different ways of managing distress.

Weekly 45-50 minute sessions: $200

PTSD can be a mild to severe and debilitating disorder that occurs following a traumatic event. Symptoms include intrusive symptoms associated with the event such as distressing memories. Avoidance of memories, people, places associated with the traumatic event. Changes in thinking and mood. Changes in arousal and reactivity such as highly irritable, increased risk taking or hyper-vigilance.

Prolonged Exposure Therapy (PE) is identified by the American Psychological Association as a first-line treatment for PTSD along with Cognitive Behavior Therapy (CBT) and Cognitive Processing Theory.

PE is a specific type of CBT, PE is an evidence based treatment proven to significantly reduce PTSD symptoms. PE involves in-vivo exposure to elements related to the event that are not actually dangerous, imaginal exposure to the traumatic event and emotional processing of the event.

PE is a team effort, we start with education on PTSD, PE and it’s rationale. We move to learning how severe PTSD symptoms are for you and relaxation breathing. Then we create an in-vivo hierarchy of real life things to practice that you may have been avoiding. Next we practice imaginal exposure or talking through the trauma in session and processing the experience of re-visiting the trauma. Gradually, you are able to look at the trauma from a different lens and feel less activated when reminded of the trauma.

It’s amazing to see people get their life back, feel empowered and hopeful again.

Weekly 90 minute sessions: $375

Weekly 45-50 minute sessions: $200