If you have OCD, you may already know that being told to “stop thinking about it” does not help.
You might understand logically that your fear is unlikely, but still feel compelled to check. You may replay conversations in your head, analyse your thoughts, ask other people for reassurance or search online for answers.
Sometimes the compulsions are obvious. Sometimes almost everything happens inside your head.
At Resilient Mind Therapies, we specialise in working with OCD, intrusive thoughts and the mental compulsions that can be difficult for other people to see.
Our BABCP-accredited CBT therapists provide specialist OCD therapy using Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT), Exposure and Response Prevention (ERP) and, where appropriate, Inference-Based CBT (I-CBT).
We offer face-to-face OCD therapy in Blaby, Leicester, with limited availability, and online OCD therapy across the UK.
What is OCD?
Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD) is not simply being tidy, organised or particular about how things are done.
OCD involves unwanted thoughts, images, memories, sensations, urges or doubts that become difficult to dismiss.
You might find yourself thinking:
What if I hurt someone?
What if I did something terrible and can't remember properly?
What if I'm attracted to someone I shouldn't be?
What if I don't really love my partner?
What if I become ill because I touched that?
What if having this thought means something about who I am?
The problem is not simply that these thoughts occur. It is what happens next.
You may start checking, analysing, avoiding, researching, confessing, comparing memories, monitoring how you feel or asking other people for reassurance.
You get some relief.
Then the doubt comes back.
And you find yourself trying to work it out again.
This is the cycle we work on in OCD therapy.
What is CBT for OCD?
Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) helps us understand the relationship between your thoughts, feelings and what you do in response to them.
With OCD, we are particularly interested in what happens after the doubt appears.
Imagine you leave home and suddenly think:
What if I didn't lock the door?
You go back and check.
For a moment, you feel better.
But the next time the doubt appears, your brain has learned that checking is important.
You may check again.
Eventually, even checking once may not feel enough.
CBT for OCD helps you understand these patterns and begin responding differently.
CBT that includes Exposure and Response Prevention, or ERP, is a recommended psychological treatment for OCD.
What is I-CBT for OCD?
Another way of understanding obsessional doubt
Inference-Based Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (I-CBT) approaches OCD from a different starting point.
Instead of beginning with anxiety, I-CBT looks closely at how the obsessional doubt developed in the first place.
Imagine you remember a conversation from several years ago.
You know broadly what happened.
Then a doubt appears:
What if I said something awful and I've forgotten?
You start looking through the memory.
What exactly did I say?
Can I trust my memory?
What if I've changed the story over time?
What if I'm only remembering the version I want to remember?
Nothing new has happened in the present.
But you have moved from what you actually know into an imagined possibility.
In I-CBT, we look closely at that shift.
We help you understand how OCD can make an imagined possibility feel relevant even when it is not supported by what is actually happening.
This can be particularly useful when OCD involves extensive reasoning, memories, identity, responsibility or persistent obsessional doubt.
I-CBT is a developing cognitive approach to OCD. We may use it as an alternative or complement to ERP depending on your individual presentation, treatment history and preferences.
Read more about Inference-Based CBT for OCD and how I-CBT works.
What if previous OCD therapy has not helped?
We regularly hear from people who have already tried therapy.
Sometimes they have had general CBT, counselling or another form of psychological therapy but did not realise they had OCD at the time.
Sometimes OCD was recognised, but the treatment did not address the compulsions happening inside their head.
And sometimes they understood ERP but found it difficult to put into practice or felt that something was missing.
That does not tell us that therapy cannot help you.
It tells us that we need to understand what you have already tried, what was useful, what was not useful and what is maintaining the OCD now.
There is no single approach that we apply in exactly the same way to everyone.
Our therapists work with CBT and ERP, and some of our therapists have additional training in I-CBT. This allows us to think carefully about the approach that makes most sense for you.
How long does OCD therapy take?
There is no fixed number of sessions that is right for everybody.
NHS guidance notes that people with relatively mild OCD may need around 8 to 20 therapist sessions, while more severe OCD can require a longer course of treatment.
In practice, the amount of therapy you need will depend on your symptoms, how much OCD is affecting your life, previous treatment and your individual goals.
We will review progress with you rather than automatically fitting your therapy into a predetermined number of sessions.
Face-to-face OCD therapy in Leicester
We also provide face-to-face OCD therapy from our therapy room in Blaby, Leicestershire.
Our practice is at:
Resilient Mind Therapies
33 Leicester Road
Blaby
Leicester
LE8 4GR
Face-to-face availability is limited, so please let us know when you enquire if in-person therapy is important to you.
Online appointments are available across the UK.
Why choose Resilient Mind Therapies for OCD therapy?
OCD is one of our specialist areas of practice.
Our OCD therapy is provided by BABCP-accredited Cognitive Behavioural Psychotherapists with experience in treating OCD, intrusive thoughts and compulsions.
BABCP accreditation requires therapists to meet professional standards relating to CBT training, supervised clinical practice, ongoing supervision and professional development.
Our approach includes:
Specialist understanding of OCD
We understand that OCD is not limited to contamination and checking. We work with overt compulsions, mental rituals, intrusive thoughts, obsessional doubt and presentations that can be difficult to recognise.
CBT with ERP
CBT including ERP is recommended by NICE for the treatment of OCD in adults. NICE also specifically recommends considering response prevention of mental rituals and neutralising strategies when someone has obsessive thoughts without obvious compulsions.
I-CBT
Some of our therapists have additional training in Inference-Based CBT, giving us another way of working with obsessional doubt when clinically appropriate.
Therapy that makes sense to you
We do not want you to simply follow a set of exercises without understanding why you are doing them.
We want you to understand what is happening, recognise the patterns that are keeping OCD going and know what you are working towards.
Specialist therapy without needing to live locally
We provide online OCD therapy across the UK as well as limited face-to-face appointments in Leicester.
