Online OCD Therapy in Edmonton, Alberta

OCD often creates a cycle of doubt, anxiety, and compulsive responses.

Here's the cycle:   Intrusion or doubt → anxiety or uncertainty → compulsion → temporary relief → stronger OCD cycle

An intrusive thought, image, feeling, sensation, or uncertainty may trigger anxiety. Your mind then looks for a way to feel certain or safe.

You might check, avoid, research, ask someone for reassurance, mentally review what happened, or try to change the way you think or feel.

These responses may bring temporary relief. But that relief can teach your brain that the compulsion was necessary.

The next time the doubt appears, your mind may ask you to do it again.

The problem is not that you have the thought. It is the cycle that develops around the thought.

Therapy can help you recognize this cycle and begin responding differently.

Every time OCD creates fear or uncertainty, your brain may learn to respond with a compulsion. You check, seek reassurance, avoid, analyze, or review, and your anxiety drops for a moment.

Your brain can learn from that experience: “When I feel this way, I need to do something to be safe.”

ERP helps create a different learning experience.

We intentionally approach the things that trigger OCD while you practice not doing the compulsion. Your brain gets the opportunity to learn that you can experience anxiety, uncertainty, or an intrusive thought without automatically responding with the behavior OCD demands.

Over time, repeated practice can strengthen this new pattern.

Instead of: Trigger → Anxiety → Compulsion → Temporary relief

you begin practicing: Trigger → Anxiety → No compulsion → Learning

You are teaching your brain: 

“I can have this thought.”
“I can feel this anxiety.”
“I do not have to solve it.”
“I can continue with what matters to me.”

This new learning does not mean intrusive thoughts will never happen again. It means they can become less powerful and less likely to control what you do.

That is the heart of ERP: not getting rid of every uncomfortable thought or feeling, but teaching your brain that you can respond differently.

Depending on what you are experiencing, our work may include:

• Understanding your particular OCD cycle
• Identifying compulsions, including mental compulsions that can be easy to miss
• Recognizing reassurance seeking and avoidance
• Developing an individualized ERP plan
• Practicing the plan together
• Learning to respond to intrusive thoughts without analyzing or neutralizing them
• Building your ability to tolerate uncertainty and discomfort

I work through the ERP exercises with you during our sessions. I will guide you through the exposure, help you resist compulsions, and coach you through the anxiety and uncertainty that come up along the way.

We work together from start to finish. I help you understand what we are doing, when to move forward, and how to respond when OCD tries to pull you back into checking, reassurance, avoidance, or analyzing.

You are not left to figure out how to do the exposure by yourself. 

I am there with you while you do the work.

I have specialized training in Exposure and Response Prevention (ERP), an evidence based treatment for OCD. My training includes the Behavioral Therapy Training Institute (BTTI) through the International OCD Foundation, along with additional training in exposure therapy for OCD and related disorders.

I have also completed training in exposure therapy for phobias with Dr. Reid Wilson.

Depending on what you need, I may integrate ERP with other approaches, including EMDR, IFS and parts work, attachment focused therapy, and other trauma informed approaches.

Therapy is not about forcing you into a particular model. It is about understanding what is happening for you, finding approaches that fit your needs, and working together in a way that feels manageable and supportive.