Many people have misconceptions about OCD, including people who actually have OCD. What many people consider to be OCD is actually Obsessive-Compulsive Personality Disorder (OCPD) which requires an entirely different approach. An important part of effective OCD treatment is to ensure the client actually has OCD and not OCPD, extreme perfectionism, or some other related disorder. Let the experts at 417 Psych help by starting with a proper evaluation!

OCD is a highly treatable disorder and should not be considered just another form of neurodivergence, at least not in the sense that many people use that word.

Research from 1997 showed that the the delay from onset of OCD symptoms to accurate diagnosis was 16 years (Hollander et al., 1997).

Twenty-five years later that delay was approximately cut in half, but that still means accurate diagnosis took about 7 years (Hezel, et al., 2022).

Accurate diagnosis is key… but even with accurate diagnosis, it’s often difficult to find a provider with the right training. That’s where 417 Psych comes in. We are here to help!

Early intervention can be key to helping individuals with OCD to live their best life. With that said, the DSM-5-TR indicates that when an individual has obsessions or compulsions, it achieves official diagnosis when it either causes significant distress (a subjective measure) or significantly interferes with functioning (educational, occupational, social, recreational). It further defines that criteria are met if one hour or more of your day is spent on obsessional thinking or compulsive behavior. We encourage being proactive and starting treatment early, when it’s easier to treat and shown to have better outcomes. In cases that may require more than weekly treatment, we are able to make referrals for clients to participate in an Intensive Outpatient Program (IOP) or Partial Hospitalization Program (PHP). Unfortunately, these options are not available in the greater Springfield area at this time, and there are only a few specialized inpatient programs across the country.

Exposure-Response Prevention (ERP) is considered the gold-standard treatment for OCD. Other effective treatments include Inference-Based CBT (I-CBT), Rumination-Focused ERP (RF-ERP), Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT), and Meta-Cognitive Therapy (MCT) in mild cases. While medication is not always required, many individuals with OCD see better symptom reduction when also utilizing medication.

Because we don’t start with the most difficult aspects of OCD, exposure therapy is well-tolerated and highly effective in treating OCD. In fact, it’s considered to be the key component in nearly every effective treatment for OCD and anxiety disorders. However, more recent research shows that alternative approaches such as I-CBT (a purely cognitive approach) is also highly effective for many individuals as well and may be the preferred treatment for some individuals.

If a client has already tried ERP and hasn’t received satisfactory symptom reduction, I-CBT and MCT may be great options.

ERP is a behavioral treatment focused on doing the changes needed to fight OCD. You complete exposures and resist engaging in compulsions.

I-CBT is a cognitive intervention that focuses on knowing to make the changes. You learn to identify the obsessional story created by YOUR imagination that is hijacked by OCD. Once you discover the here-and-now and realize that your imagination is irrelevant to the here-and-now, you can begin to learn how your OCD causes you to selectively doubt things, and steps to take to live in the reality of the here-and-now (and stay out of the imagination where OCD resides).