OCD & Phobia Therapy in California & Arizona

I work with all OCD subtypes and themes, including both more commonly recognized and less visible forms of OCD. Your OCD may center around a particular theme, or you may experience several themes that change over time.

Some of the presentations I work with include:

• Relationship OCD (ROCD)

• Harm OCD

• Health anxiety and health-related OCD

• Contamination OCD

• Sexual orientation OCD (SO-OCD)

• Pedophilia OCD (POCD)

• False memory OCD

• Moral or "pure O" presentations

• Perinatal and postpartum OCD

OCD doesn't always look like obvious rituals or repetitive behaviors. Compulsions can happen entirely in your head. Mental reviewing, analyzing, comparing, researching, checking your feelings, replaying conversations, seeking reassurance, and trying to reach certainty can all become part of an OCD cycle.

Whatever your particular theme or presentation looks like, treatment focuses less on the content of the obsession and more on the cycle that keeps OCD going.

Evidence-Based OCD Treatment

I use evidence-based approaches including Exposure and Response Prevention (ERP), Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT), mindfulness, and other individualized approaches to help you change your relationship with intrusive thoughts and uncertainty.

The goal isn't to eliminate intrusive thoughts or guarantee that you will never feel anxious again. Instead, therapy can help you become less controlled by OCD so that you can make choices based on your values rather than fear.

Phobia Therapy

Phobias can make certain situations feel impossible to face. You might avoid flying, driving, animals, needles, heights, germs, medical procedures, vomiting, insects, or other situations that trigger intense fear.

Avoidance can provide immediate relief, but over time it can make the fear feel even bigger. You may find yourself planning your life around avoiding the things that make you anxious.

Phobia therapy often involves gradually approaching feared situations in a safe and intentional way. Exposure therapy can help your brain learn that anxiety and uncertainty are uncomfortable, but that you are capable of experiencing them without needing to escape or rely on avoidance.

We will work at a pace that feels challenging but manageable, with the goal of helping you build confidence and flexibility rather than simply forcing yourself through something before you're ready.

You Don't Have to Feel Completely Certain to Move Forward

One of the most difficult parts of OCD and phobias is the desire to feel completely safe, certain, or comfortable before moving forward. Therapy can help you practice something different: learning that you can tolerate uncertainty, experience anxiety, and still choose what matters to you.

My approach is collaborative, warm, and individualized. I don't believe therapy should feel like you are being handed a checklist of techniques. Together, we'll look at what's keeping you stuck and develop strategies that fit your specific experiences, values, and goals.

If OCD, phobias, or anxiety are interfering with your relationships, work, sleep, travel, social life, or ability to do the things you care about, you don't have to keep organizing your life around fear.

OCD & Phobia Therapy in Arizona and California

I provide online therapy to clients throughout Arizona and California. Whether you're dealing with longstanding OCD, a specific phobia, intrusive thoughts, compulsive behaviors, or anxiety that has started limiting your life, therapy can be a place to begin changing that relationship.

If you're looking for an OCD or phobia therapist in California or Arizona, I would love to connect and see whether working together could be a good fit.