Obsessive-compulsive disorder touches so many aspects of our lives, especially our relationships.

I like to remind my clients, “you don’t exist in a vacuum.” Meaning, OCD doesn’t sit on the shelf while we get on with other things in our life, it comes with us.

Knowing your values is one of the most important keys to recovery.

That's because while feelings change day to day or even hour to hour, what we value stays consistent. Identifying a core value like courage, loyalty or integrity offers us a roadmap to making good choices even when our emotions feel muddled, as they so often do when living with anxiety and OCD.

As an OCD therapist, many of my sessions start with a check-in to see how the previous week, and the exposures assigned, went for my clients. The work done in therapy is important, but what clients do between sessions is arguably the biggest indicator of long term success in managing OCD and anxiety disorders.

To put it simply, the work you do outside of therapy matters. A lot.

Most of our clients are curious to know if the questions they are asking their therapist, loved ones, professors, and most importantly, themselves, are compulsive and feeding into the OCD cycle or not.

If you have an anxiety disorder or OCD then you know exactly what it's like to live with intrusive thoughts. In fact, you're probably all too familiar with the experience of a brain incessantly looping your biggest fears day in, day out, 24/7. Maybe you've tried running down the rabbit hole and attempting to solve "the problem," or have spent hours seeking reassurance for the burning questions in your mind. Yet despite your best attempts at relief, your thoughts only grow louder and more persistent, not less.