OCD treatment - Lisa Shaw, Ph.D., Clinical Psychologist / Therapist

Lisa Shaw, Ph.D., Clinical Psychologist / Therapist

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OCD Treatment

What is OCD?
Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD) is a disorder that can be highly distressing and even debilitating to one's life. People with OCD can experience a lot of mental turmoil and become trapped in behavioral cycles that impede on their life. OCD involves obsessions (distressing, repetitive thoughts) and compulsions (overt or mental behaviors aimed at relieving distress). OCD turns into a viscous cycle when it compels you to engage in more and more compulsive behaviors to relieve your distress. Luckily, OCD is highly treatable when treated correctly.

How do you know if you might have OCD?
People with OCD frequently have obsessions and compulsions. Obsessions are intrusive thoughts that show up regularly and are highly distressing. They can be thoughts that something bad is going to happen, that you are contaminated in some way, or that something is wrong with you. Compulsions are overt behaviors or mental acts that you engage in to prevent a feared outcome. They can be physical behaviors like washing, cleaning, checking, researching, asking others for reassurance, apologizing, organizing excessively, ordering, tapping, and more. They can also occur entirely in your head, such as reviewing the past, predicting the future, ruminating, problem-solving, praying, wishing, and more. Furthermore, many people with OCD avoid things, people, places, or activities in life with the intention of preventing a difficult feeling or a feared outcome from happening.

OCD shows up in many different ways. It can involve fear around germs/contamination, perfectionism, how you are perceived, relationships, symmetry or the need to feel "just right", decision making, harming yourself or others, morality, religion, sexuality, pedophilia, and many other topics of distress.

How I treat OCD
I treat children, adolescents, and adults with OCD. I trained with some of the foremost experts on OCD, and have treated people of all ages with OCD for over 30 years. I use exposure therapy, a behavioral treatment that involves confronting your fears and resisting engaging in compulsions. While exposure therapy is challenging work, it is also highly empowering and meaningful for clients because it allows them to push back on the fear that is dominating their life. I will guide you every step of the way, and give you the tools to get through the anxiety and overcome the fears that are driving your life.

Treating children and teens with OCD
I treat children and teens of all ages with OCD regularly. My vast experience working with youth allows to understand, motivate, and communicate with them to push past their fears. I work to help children and teens get to a place where they can succeed in school, make friends, and pursue their academic and career goals.

Treating adults with OCD
OCD can prevent adults from leading the life they want to live. I help adults understand what OCD is, how it is impacting their life, and how they can change their behaviors to get out from under it. With OCD treatment, you can reduce the excessive amounts of distress you are experiencing and engage more in the things you want to do.