OCD & Phobias

Some people have thoughts that are stickier than superglue, and they come on with such intensity that they feel like a hijacker threatening your life. Desperate for relief, you might go to extreme lengths and perform visible or invisible rituals to keep the thoughts and anxiety from breaking you. As if the thoughts and compulsions weren’t heavy enough, the feelings of shame and loneliness that can accompany them can feel like the thoughts’ parting punch in the gut.

Phobias function as your brain’s way of trying to protect you from something, but they become a problem when they keep you from living the life you want. Paradoxically, the more you keep avoiding the thing, the more frightening it becomes. More fear gives birth to more avoidance, and soon the thing is calling the shots in your life.

Betsy uses an approach that combines Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) therapy and Exposure Response Prevention (ERP) therapy. Sometimes, only the ERP therapy is necessary, but other times people need help with desensitizing and reprocessing the events that led to the phobia’s development. Additionally, for people with intrusive thoughts and compulsions, there is sometimes an event or series of events that contributed to the brain’s relentless thought looping. EMDR not only helps with desensitizing the fear and trauma from the past, but also allows for exposures to feared stimuli to happen in the counseling room before venturing out to try them in the real world.

Betsy will work with you to understand your story and create a plan that moves at your pace and helps you move from feeling frozen to living free. She will help you plot out a plan that invites you to approach your fears and intrusive thoughts in methodical steps, so the most important work will actually happen outside of the counseling room.