Online OCD Treatment with a Specialist Who Actually Knows This Work
You don't have a thinking problem. You have OCD. There's a difference.
And it makes more sense than you think, because the way you've been trying to fix it is probably making it worse. Not because you're doing it wrong. The strategies you've tried were reasonable. You've been white-knuckling. That doesn't work with OCD. Here's what does.
"OCD doesn't care what college it takes. It all threads the same way. Which means I treat all of it."
OCD isn't just about cleaning or organizing. It's a pattern where your brain gets stuck on an intrusive thought, something violent, sexual, blasphemous, or just relentlessly uncertain, and then convinces you that the only way to make it stop is to do something about it. Check again. Ask again. Avoid again. And the relief lasts about four seconds before the cycle restarts.
I've watched clients who were told to "just let it go" for years finally understand that they're not broken. They have a condition. And that condition responds to treatment. Specifically, it responds to ERP.
How OCD impacts your life
Relationships and marriage
Reassurance seeking is one of the most common ways OCD shows up in relationships. You ask your partner, your family member, your friend if everything is okay. They say yes. You feel better for a few minutes. Then you need to ask again. Over time the people who love you most can become exhausted, frustrated, and unsure how to help without making it worse. Some partners become so enmeshed in accommodating OCD that the relationship dynamic shifts entirely.
Parenting
Harm OCD is particularly cruel for parents. Intrusive thoughts about hurting your child are among the most distressing forms OCD takes, not because you are dangerous, but because you are not. The thoughts are so unacceptable to you that your brain will not let them go. Postpartum OCD is real, underdiagnosed, and often mistaken for postpartum depression. If you became a parent and something shifted in a way that does not feel like just adjustment, it is worth looking at.
Work and career
Perfectionism driven by OCD can look like high performance from the outside while being completely unsustainable on the inside. Checking emails four times before sending. Redoing work that was already done correctly. Being unable to delegate because no one else will do it the right way. Over time, the perfectionism burns you out. You avoid taking on more because you can barely maintain what you have. Your career stalls, not because you lack ability, but because keeping up impossible standards is a full-time job on top of your actual full-time job.
Mental and physical health
The mental load of managing OCD is significant and it takes a physical toll. Chronic stress, disrupted sleep, and the physiological cost of sustained anxiety all compound over time. Many people with OCD also experience depression, not as a separate condition but as a natural response to feeling trapped by their own mind.
Social life
OCD can quietly shrink your world. Contamination OCD might make social situations feel impossible. Scrupulosity might make you withdraw from faith communities. Relationship OCD might make you question every friendship and romantic relationship you have. The common thread is avoidance, and avoidance always costs something.
Why ERP works when everything else hasn't
ERP stands for Exposure and Response Prevention. It's the gold standard treatment for OCD, which means it has the most research behind it and the strongest outcomes of any approach.
OCD tells you that the only way to feel safe is to avoid, check, or neutralize. ERP teaches you to sit with the discomfort instead of running from it. Some days you will want to fire me. But it works. That settles it. I'm not going to sugarcoat about that. But I will tell you that after years of talk therapy that circled the same drain, ERP has a track record.
We map your OCD together
First, we build a full picture of your triggers, compulsions, and avoidance patterns. No surprises.
We build a hierarchy
We rank situations from least to most anxiety-provoking. You don't start at the top. We work up gradually.
We practice exposures
You face the feared situation, on purpose, while resisting the compulsion. Your brain learns it can handle the discomfort.
You become your own therapist
The goal is to give you the tools to handle OCD on your own. Therapy ends. The skills don't.
What to expect when we work together
I practice via telehealth only, which means we meet virtually. You sit in your living room, your car, or an unoccupied room at your office, wherever you feel most comfortable. I meet you wherever you are, literally and figuratively.
We start with a thorough assessment, not a surface-level get-to-know-you. I need to actually understand your specific version of OCD, not a generalized textbook version. Then we build a treatment plan that's built specifically for you and your OCD, not a generic worksheet printed off some insurance portal.
Sessions are structured and goal-directed. We track progress on actual measures, not vibes. You will know if this is working because the data will show it.
How often we meet matters more than most people realize. Once weekly is the minimum recommended frequency for OCD treatment to be effective. Twice weekly is preferred, particularly in the early stages, because it reduces the time between exposures and prevents the anxiety response from resetting between sessions. The International OCD Foundation supports intensive and twice weekly formats as best practice for meaningful progress.
Most people see meaningful improvement within 12 to 20 sessions. Some faster, some slower depending on OCD severity and session frequency. But we will know we are making progress because we will be tracking it.
Does any of this sound familiar?
Check the ones that apply. This isn't a diagnosis. It's a starting point.
Sound familiar? You're not alone, and this is treatable.
I work with adults via telehealth in Wisconsin, Illinois, and Nebraska. Private pay only. Superbills available upon request for out of network reimbursement.
Book Your Free ConsultFrequently Asked Questions
Do I need a formal OCD diagnosis to work with you?
No, but I do offer diagnostic evaluations for the conditions that I treat, and these are typically covered in the first session. Many people who benefit from ERP have never been formally diagnosed. If your symptoms are getting in the way of your life, that is enough to start. We will figure out the specifics together during our initial assessment.
Is ERP going to make my anxiety worse?
In the short term, yes. That's actually how it works. ERP involves gradually facing the things that trigger your OCD so your brain learns they aren't dangerous. It's uncomfortable at first, but the discomfort is temporary. The results are not.
I've tried therapy before and it didn't help. Why would this be different?
Most therapists aren't trained in ERP. Traditional talk therapy can actually make OCD worse by providing reassurance, which feeds the cycle. ERP is specifically designed to break that cycle. It's not about understanding why you have OCD. It's about changing how you respond to it.
Do you take insurance?
I am an out-of-network provider. Many clients get reimbursed through their insurance using a superbill. I provide superbills upon request at the end of each month. You can check your out-of-network benefits here.
How do I get started?
Book a free 15-minute consult. It's low-key and no commitment. We'll talk about what's going on and figure out if we're a good fit.
Related conditions
OCD and anxiety disorders frequently overlap. If what you are reading here sounds familiar but does not quite fit, one of these might: