OCD & Related Disorders

Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD)

The Exhaustion of the “What Ifs”

Media often portrays OCD as a quirky desire to be tidy, but if you live with it, you know the reality is far more distressing. OCD feels like having a malfunctioning alarm system in your brain. It floods you with terrifying “what if” thoughts, images, or urges (obsessions), and then demands that you perform specific actions or mental reviews (compulsions) to feel safe again. At Mind Body Health, our specialists understand the nuanced ways OCD shows up, and we use targeted, evidence-based therapies to help you break the cycle.

Contamination Fears & Cleaning Rituals

Reclaiming Your Safe Spaces

When OCD latches onto contamination, the world can feel like a minefield of germs, chemicals, or illness. You might find yourself trapped in hours of handwashing, excessive showering, or rigorously sanitizing your home just to feel a fleeting sense of safety. The exhaustion of constantly trying to protect yourself and your loved ones from invisible threats can shrink your world entirely.

Our OCD specialists utilize Exposure and Response Prevention (ERP)—the gold standard for OCD—to help you gently step out of this cycle. Rather than forcing you into terrifying situations, we work collaboratively at your pace to help your brain learn that you can tolerate uncertainty without needing to neutralize the perceived threat through cleaning.

Checking, Symmetry, and Ordering

Silencing the Doubt

Do you find yourself turning the car around three times to make sure the garage door is closed? Do you repeatedly check locks, the stove, or emails because your brain insists, “Maybe I didn’t actually do it right?” Or perhaps you experience an intense, physical discomfort when items aren’t perfectly symmetrical or ordered “just right.”

This is the core of OCD’s “inferential doubt.” To treat this, our team integrates ERP with cutting-edge Inference-Based CBT (I-CBT). I-CBT helps you recognize when you are getting pulled into the “OCD Bubble” of imaginary doubt. We teach you how to trust your real, physical senses in the present moment over the terrifying stories your OCD is telling you.

“Pure O” & Intrusive Thoughts (Violent, Sexual, or Harm Themes)

Your Thoughts Do Not Define You

One of the most isolating and deeply misunderstood forms of OCD is experiencing intrusive, taboo thoughts. You might be terrified by sudden mental images of harming a loved one, acting out violently, or experiencing unwanted sexual thoughts that go completely against your core values. To cope, you might engage in invisible mental compulsions—like endlessly reviewing past memories to “prove” you aren’t a bad person, or avoiding being alone with your children or partners.

We want you to know: Having these thoughts means absolutely nothing about your character. OCD attacks the things you care about most. We provide a completely non-judgmental space to help you dismantle these fears. Using I-CBT and Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT), we help you stop fighting or analyzing the thoughts, allowing them to pass through your mind without dictating your actions or self-worth.

Scrupulosity (Religious or Moral OCD)

The Burden of “Doing it Perfectly”

Sometimes, OCD weaponizes your faith, your values, or your desire to be a “good person.” Scrupulosity is a subtype of OCD that causes paralyzing anxiety about making a moral mistake, sinning, or offending someone. It can turn everyday decision-making into an agonizing process and make you feel constantly guilty for things you haven’t even done, leading to excessive praying, confessing, or reassurance-seeking.

You don’t have to live under the weight of impossible, rigid rules. Using ACT and specialized ERP, we help you learn to tolerate the natural uncertainty of being human. Our goal is to help you practice your faith and live out your values with flexibility, joy, and grace, rather than out of fear and compulsion.

Relationship OCD (ROCD)

The Exhausting Cycle of Relationship Doubt

It is entirely normal to have occasional doubts in a relationship, but Relationship OCD (ROCD) turns that doubt into an all-consuming, agonizing loop. You might find yourself constantly analyzing your partner’s physical flaws, questioning if you are “truly” in love, or obsessing over whether you have found “the right one.” To cope with this terrifying uncertainty, you might endlessly seek reassurance from friends, mentally review past interactions, or take online quizzes to try and “prove” the relationship is either right or wrong.

ROCD attacks the people you care about most, often leaving you feeling immense guilt and causing you to pull away from a loving partner. Traditional couples counseling can sometimes accidentally make ROCD worse by trying to “solve” these unanswerable questions. Instead, our specialists use Inference-Based CBT (I-CBT) to help you recognize when you are caught in an imaginary “doubt bubble” about your partner. We pair this with Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) to help you tolerate the natural vulnerability of love, allowing you to stay present, committed, and connected in your relationship despite the presence of doubt.

The War with the Mirror

Your body should be the place you live, not a project you are constantly trying to fix. But when you are struggling with Body Dysmorphic Disorder (BDD), a certain part of your appearance can feel like the only thing that matters . BDD is an OCD-related disorder where the brain gets “stuck” fixating on a perceived flaw. You might find yourself body-checking in every reflection, avoiding photos, spending hours getting ready, or skipping social events entirely because of how you feel you look.

You deserve to feel at home in your own skin. We provide a compassionate space to help you challenge the harsh, obsessive inner critic that keeps you at war with your reflection. We help you shift your focus, reduce the compulsive checking, and build a life where your energy is spent living a life contributing to your values.

Moving Past the Shame of Skin Picking and Hair Pulling

Disorders like Trichotillomania (hair pulling) and Excoriation (skin picking) are incredibly common, yet they carry an immense amount of silence and shame. You might find yourself pulling or picking in a trance-like state to self-soothe, or out of a sense of physical tension that only goes away once you give in. Despite desperately wanting to stop, it feels impossible to break the neurological loop alone.

This is a body-based cycle, not a lack of willpower. Our specialists use Habit Reversal Training (HRT) and the Comprehensive Behavioral (ComB) model to help you become aware of your specific physical and emotional triggers, gently introducing new, competing responses so your hands and your nervous system can finally rest.