How Do I Know If My Fear is “Rational”?
So much of recovery from an anxiety disorder and/or OCD is in distinguishing the “what is” from the “what if.” Your brain tells you something scary. Your threat-alert system is
Read More
Therapy Isn’t Working. What Should I Do?
Sadly, I hear this a lot. It’s a delicate topic for sure. I hear stories of people who’ve been with the same therapist for years. They either still feel stuck
Read More
Let’s Talk About Health Anxiety
In treating health anxiety, we talk about the same process we do for all anxiety disorders. We work on becoming mindful of our experience: acknowledging how we’re feeling physical and emotionally. Rather than try to get it to go away, we become...
Read More
How to Experience Anxiety without Resisting It
By experiencing anxiety, I mean ride out the fear-filled thoughts and feelings, allowing them to be there without trying to make them go away. The spirit of this is really
Read More
You Cannot Manifest Your OCD
Something clients ask me a lot is if they’re going to manifest their intrusive thoughts by thinking them. It’s generally after they’ve Googled something and stumbled upon the law of
Read More
How Do I Know When Therapy Is Done?
As I was checking out the redesigned Anxiety & Depression Association of America’s website (which is really great), I ran across an article called How to Know When to Seek
Read More
ERP Is Like Rock Climbing (Only Safer)
If you haven’t seen the documentary Free Solo, I highly recommend it. It follows Alex Honnold, a professional rock climber, and his journey to free solo Yosemite National Park’s El
Read More
As We Slowly Reopen, What’s Next?
It’s been one year since the shelter-at-home was issued here in Ohio. With the vaccine well underway, it seems that “normal” is coming or at least it’s in our sights.
Read More
Prepare for ERP in 3 Small Steps
Even when you want to change, the thought of it can be scary. It is for just about all of us, but for those with obsessive compulsive disorder, scary doesn’t
Read More
A 5-Step Process for Staying Sane in Uncertain Times
January and February are such strange months this year. There’s this weird juxtaposition between “new year, new possibilities” and the pandemic’s inherent uncertainty. You have the uncertainty of vaccines, school
Read More
5 Ways to Change Your Relationship with Anxiety
Anxiety is a funny thing. When I tell people my specialty is anxiety disorder treatment, they often reply with, “oh yeah, I have anxiety” or “my __________ has anxiety.” It’s
Read More
What Is Exposure and Response Prevention?
ERP stands for Exposure and Response (or Ritual) Prevention. For those with obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD), ERP along with medication, lifestyle changes and other factors, can give them back their lives.
Read More