Exposure Response Prevention Therapy (ERP) in Tennessee
ERP for OCD
Providing Exposure and Response Prevention (ERP) therapy for adults experiencing obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) in Tennessee. In-person therapy is available in the Nashville area, with virtual therapy available to adults throughout Tennessee.
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OCD can involve much more than repetitive behaviors or a need for things to feel organized or clean. Maybe the people around you can't see it at all. It often begins with an intrusive thought, image, doubt, or fear that creates significant anxiety. In response, a person may engage in a physical ritual, mental ritual, reassurance seeking, checking, or avoidance to reduce that anxiety. OCD can cause immense suffering as it begins to shape entire routines, relationships, and decision-making around avoiding triggers and preventing the discomfort brought on by uncertainty.
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Although OCD involves a great deal of anxiety, it is distinguished by the recurring cycle of intrusive thoughts, distress, and compulsive behaviors or mental rituals intended to reduce that distress or prevent a feared outcome. These compulsions often provide temporary relief, reinforcing the cycle over time.
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Exposure and Response Prevention is an evidence-based form of cognitive behavioral therapy and a first-line psychological treatment for OCD. ERP involves gradually and intentionally approaching situations, thoughts, sensations, or uncertainties that trigger anxiety while practicing resisting the compulsions or rituals that typically follow.
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Challenging yourself to tolerate discomfort, uncertainty, and the urge to engage in rituals can be an important part of managing OCD. However, formal ERP involves thoughtfully planned and individualized exposures, with guidance from a therapist who understands OCD treatment. Working with an ERP-trained therapist allows exposures to be thoughtfully planned, individualized, and gradually introduced. This helps ensure that treatment is challenging without becoming overwhelming, while providing support as you practice responding differently to anxiety and uncertainty.
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Treatment is individualized for your needs, and paced in a way that supports your treatment goals and life. The goal is not to eliminate intrusive thoughts or guarantee that feared outcomes will never happen. Instead, treatment helps reduce the power OCD has over daily life, allowing you to make decisions based on your values, desires and dreams rather than fear.
Types of OCD I treat…
OCD can take many forms, and symptoms are not always visible to other people. I provide ERP-informed treatment for:
Harm OCD and fears of hurting yourself or others
Contamination OCD and fears of illness or germs
Relationship OCD (ROCD)
Scrupulosity and religious or moral OCD
Existential and philosophical OCD
Health anxiety and illness-related OCD
Sexual orientation and sexual intrusive-thought OCD
Sexual intrusive thoughts and taboo OCD
Checking, reassurance seeking, and mental compulsions
Perfectionism, responsibility, and fear of making mistakes
Perinatal OCD and Postpartum Intrusive Thoughts
Pregnancy and the postpartum period can bring unique challenges for people experiencing OCD. Intrusive thoughts about harm, safety, responsibility, or the well-being of a baby can be especially distressing. Some parents experience repeated checking, reassurance seeking, avoidance, or difficulty trusting themselves.
I bring specialized perinatal mental health experience to the treatment of OCD during pregnancy and postpartum, including an understanding of the ways anxiety, intrusive thoughts, and compulsions can affect the transition to parenthood.
About My Approach
I am a Licensed Clinical Social Worker and Certified Perinatal Mental Health Professional (PMH-C). My clinical experience includes leading adult, women's and perinatal partial hospitalization programming at Vanderbilt, where I worked with individuals experiencing significant anxiety, depression, OCD, and perinatal mental health concerns.
My approach to ERP integrates evidence-based treatment with Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT), warmth, curiosity, humor and an understanding of the broader context of your life. Alongside practicing exposure and response prevention, ACT helps clients develop psychological flexibility by learning to make room for uncomfortable thoughts, feelings, and uncertainty without allowing them to determine their choices, such as how you spend your time, what you prioritize, or what experiences you opt out of. Treatment emphasizes building a different relationship with intrusive thoughts, reducing avoidance, and reconnecting with the relationships, experiences, and personal values that OCD may have pushed aside.