OCSD Therapy
in Pleasant Hill and Alamo, CA
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Explore Our Specializations
Obsessive compulsive spectrum (OCS) disorders involve intrusive thoughts, intense anxiety, and repetitive behaviors that arise in an effort to find relief or prevent undesired outcomes. Some behaviors come from a need to ease anxiety and regain control, while others are more impulsive, driven by sudden urges that are hard to resist. These actions might include checking, researching, repeating, confessing, or avoiding, all in an effort to relieve discomfort or prevent a feared outcome. Living with these patterns can feel confusing or draining, especially when they are hard to explain. These responses are not a personal flaw. They reflect how the brain learns to manage fear and discomfort.
Therapy focuses on building safety, understanding what these patterns are trying to protect, and gently shifting them using trusted approaches like Exposure and Response Prevention (ERP), acceptance work, nervous system regulation, and Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) when past experiences or trauma play a role. These treatment modalities are designed to help you move toward lasting relief with greater understanding and self-trust.
Our process is grounded in respect for your lived experience and attuned to how identity, culture, and environment shape the ways OCD can show up. Moving forward means learning to stay present with what’s happening even when it feels uncomfortable and choosing to do what matters to you despite uncertainty. It’s about finding balance rather than fighting every thought or letting those thoughts impose on you from living your desired life.
Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD)
Body dysmorphic disorder (BDD)
Body-focused repetitive behaviors (BFRB)
Trichotillomania (hair pulling)
Excoriation disorder (skin picking)
Oniomania (compulsive shopping)
Hypochondriasis
Identity-related intrusive thoughts
Relationship-focused OCD
We Help With:
What we help with:
Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD)
Body dysmorphic disorder (BDD)
Body-focused repetitive behaviors (BFRB)
Trichotillomania (hair pulling)
Excoriation disorder (skin picking)
Oniomania (compulsive shopping)
Hypochondriasis
Identity-related intrusive thoughts
Relationship-focused OCD
Our Preferred Evidence-Based Treatments
Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) is an empirically supported treatment that helps change distressing thought patterns that contribute to anxiety and depression. Through CBT, you'll learn to identify and challenge negative thoughts, reframe irrational beliefs, and replace them with healthier, more realistic perspectives. CBT also focuses on breaking patterns of self-doubt and worry by learning how to re-evaluate situations and adopt more constructive thinking. These tools empower you to make lasting changes in how you think and respond.
Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT) combines cognitive-behavioral techniques with mindfulness principles to help individuals manage emotions, navigate challenges, and improve relationships. It focuses on four key areas: mindfulness, distress tolerance, emotion regulation, and interpersonal effectiveness. By building these skills, DBT empowers individuals to replace destructive patterns with practical, lasting strategies that promote resilience, balance, and a greater sense of control in daily life.
TF-CBT helps by combining practical coping skills with gradual exposure to difficult memories. It starts by teaching relaxation techniques, emotional regulation, and ways to challenge unhelpful thoughts. Once a strong foundation is built, individuals slowly and safely process their trauma with the support of a therapist. This approach reduces fear and distress, strengthens personal resilience, and fosters healthier ways of thinking and relating to others.
Motivational Interviewing (MI) is a proven, client-centered approach designed to help individuals overcome ambivalence and create lasting change. It focuses on exploring personal motivations and values, guiding clients to take actionable steps toward their goals. MI is highly effective in treating issues like addiction, unhealthy behaviors, and low motivation by strengthening confidence and commitment, empowering clients to drive their own positive transformations.
Emotionally Focused Therapy (EFT) is a proven approach that that helps couples break negative cycles and strengthen emotional bonds. In therapy, partners identify patterns of conflict and learn techniques like emotional validation and replacing reactive behaviors with empathetic responses. EFT targets underlying emotional triggers, promoting healthier attachment while deepening intimacy. It’s particularly effective for couples facing disconnection, insecurity, and trust issues, leading to genuine understanding and lasting change. This therapy is effective with treating emotional withdrawal, fear of abandonment, and attachment wounds, creating stronger, more secure relationships.
EMDR helps your brain reprocess stuck memories so they no longer feel overwhelming or intense. Unprocessed experiences can trigger or worsen anxiety, shame, distress, and physiological reactions. After EMDR, difficult experiences often feel neutral, distant, or easier to manage. We use techniques like eye movements or handheld tappers to activate both sides of the brain, supporting your brain’s natural ability to heal and make sense of the distressing experiences. Sessions follow a structured 8-phase protocol to help you build resilience and process memories, while fully awake and alert. EMDR is effective for distress related to loss, illness, trauma, childhood wounds, and relationship pain.
ERP is a structured therapy that helps reduce distress from obsessive thoughts and compulsive behaviors. It involves gradual, guided exposure to feared situations or thoughts without doing the habits or rituals you usually do to feel better. This process helps decrease anxiety over time and breaks the cycle of obsessions and rituals. You remain fully present and supported throughout, learning new ways to tolerate discomfort and regain control. ERP is especially effective for OCD, skin picking, hair pulling, and related anxiety challenges. Sessions are available in person and via telehealth throughout California.
Let's Connect
395 Taylor Blvd
Pleasant Hill, CA 94523
3189 Danville Blvd
Alamo, CA 94507
925-830-7900
obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD)
body dysmorphic disorder (BDD)
body-focused repetitive behaviors (BFRB)
hypochondriasis
Obsessive compulsive spectrum (OCS) disorders involve intrusive thoughts, intense anxiety, and repetitive behaviors that arise in an effort to find relief or prevent undesired outcomes. Some behaviors come from a need to ease anxiety and regain control, while others are more impulsive, driven by sudden urges that are hard to resist. These actions might include checking, researching, repeating, confessing, or avoiding, all in an effort to relieve discomfort or prevent a feared outcome. Living with these patterns can feel confusing or draining, especially when they are hard to explain. These responses are not a personal flaw. They reflect how the brain learns to manage fear and discomfort.
Therapy focuses on building safety, understanding what these patterns are trying to protect, and gently shifting them using trusted approaches like Exposure and Response Prevention (ERP), acceptance work, nervous system regulation, and Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) when past experiences or trauma play a role. These treatment modalities are designed to help you move toward lasting relief with greater understanding and self-trust.
Our process is grounded in respect for your lived experience and attuned to how identity, culture, and environment shape the ways OCD can show up. Moving forward means learning to stay present with what’s happening even when it feels uncomfortable and choosing to do what matters to you despite uncertainty. It’s about finding balance rather than fighting every thought or letting those thoughts impose on you from living your desired life.