About OCD Treatment in Sacramento at Vantage Point
Vantage Point's OCD therapists specialize in evidence-based practices tailored to your individual needs. Our approach integrates Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT), Exposure and Response Prevention (ERP), and Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT). These therapies are proven to be effective for OCD and teach our clients different ways of thinking, behaving, and reacting to situations that help them cope with their OCD and lead more fulfilling lives.
We're committed to customizing treatment plans that are accessible and effective for everyone, ensuring a comprehensive and personalized approach to addressing OCD in all its forms. Our team's extensive training and expertise empower us to provide the highest quality care, supporting you on your journey to be free of the suffering caused by OCD.
About Obsessions and Compulsions
Obsessions are persistent and recurring thoughts, impulses, or images that an individual experiences as intrusive and cause them significant anxiety or distress. The individual’s obsessions are not just excessive worries about everyday problems. Compulsions are repetitive mental acts or behaviors that an individual feels driven to do in response to an obsession, or according to a system of rules.
The behaviors are aimed at reducing distress or preventing a dreaded event (click source DSM V for further information). Examples of common obsessions:
- Thoughts of being contaminated, poisoned, exposed to germs, becoming sick, or making others sick
- Fear/thoughts of making a mistake
- Having doubts about whether or not you have completed a task or whether it was done correctly (i.e., did I turn off the stove or lock all of the windows)
- Fear and thoughts or images of harming yourself or other people
- Fear and thoughts that things need to be symmetrical, exact or to feel just right
- Intense stress when things are not ordered in a certain way
- Fear and thoughts of doing something embarrassing or disgusting
- Having Sexual Obsessions or thoughts that you have done something to violate a religious or moral belief
Examples of common compulsions are:
- Washing hands excessively
- Checking to make sure doors are locked
- Re-reading e-mails to make sure there are no mistakes
- Checking the environment to make sure you have not left anything behind
- Calling family members to make sure they are safe
- Researching health concerns on the internet
- Saving articles to read for fear of missing out on information
- Having rituals and rules for cleaning the bathroom or kitchen, washing laundry, or grooming yourself and rigidly adhering to them
- Re-ordering books or clothes until it feels symmetrical or just right
- Participating in mental rituals to prevent something bad from happening
- You might replace a bad thought (i.e., I might kill somebody) with a good thought (i.e., I am a good person or mentally repeating a prayer to counter a bad thought)
- Confessing excessively to family and friends about their bad thoughts
- Avoidance of situations that might trigger obsessions (i.e., touching bathroom doorknobs for fear of contamination or not looking at knives in the kitchen for fear you might harm yourself)
TYPES OF OCD TREATMENT OPTIONS
Psychotherapy
The general treatment for OCD is psychotherapy, medication, or a combination of the two.
Psychotropic Medications
While some people with OCD do better with just psychotherapy, others do better with medication, and many find the best treatment to be a combination of both.
The most commonly prescribed medications for OCD are anti-anxiety medications and SSRIs, but on occasion, doctors will prescribe other types of medications depending on the individuals unique set of symptoms.
Some of the medications may take 10 to 12 weeks to start working and some individuals may or may not find them effective on the first attempt at medications.
We recommend that anyone who chooses to take psychotropic medications is closely monitored by a physician to ensure the safest and most effective treatment possible.
Here at Vantage Point, we work closely with several respected Psychiatrists in the community and your therapist can facilitate that referral.
Causes
What Causes OCD?
Researchers do not have a clear answer yet to what causes OCD. However, some of the signs point to differences in the genes and brains of individuals with OCD.
For more information on the causes and etiology of OCD, please click on Stanford's Website or the International OCD Foundation's Website.
Diagnosis
Diagnosing mental disorders can at times be quite complicated and OCD is often comorbid with other disorders (i.e. anxiety disorders, eating disorders, depression). It is important to work with your individual therapist to come up with an appropriate diagnosis, if necessary.
Related Disorders to OCD
Hoarding Disorder
Hoarding Disorder can be characterized as the persistent difficulty with discarding or parting with personal items, regardless of their actual value. Hoarding is comprised of three problem areas:
1) collecting too many things
2) difficulty getting rid of things,
3) difficulty organizing.
These issues and the amount of clutter associated with them can cause significant impairment in living and also health and safety risks.
For more information on Hoarding Disorder, please visit the International OCD Foundation's website linked below.
What is Hoarding Disorder Treatment Like at Vantage Point?
At Vantage Point we use cognitive behavioral therapy, skills training, and motivational interviewing for our Hoarding clients to help free them from their hoarding behaviors, so they can lead more fulfilling lives.
Trichotillomania (Hair-Pulling)
Trichotillomania is an impulse control disorder that causes people to pull out the hair from various areas on their body resulting in noticeable bald spots. This disorder causes significant distress for clients and can be treated with psychotherapy and medication.
For more information about trichotillomania visit the Trichotillomania Learning Center linked below.
Trichotillomania Treatment at Vantage Point
At Vantage Point our psychotherapists use cognitive behavioral therapy for our hair-pulling clients to help them discover the precise factors that trigger the hair-pulling and to help the client develop skills to interrupt and redirect hair-pulling to more appropriate behaviors.
For more OCD resources
Not everything that is faced can be changed; but nothing can be changed until it is faced."
James Baldwin
Contact Vantage Point
FOR THERAPY OR ASSESSMENT, PLEASE FILL OUT THE FORM UNDER THE "GET HELP TAB" OR CALL 916.284.1416
OCD Treatment Resources
OCD Treatment Resources
OCD Treatment Resources: Links to Recommended Books on OCD Treatment and OCD Recovery
- The Sky Is Falling: Understanding and Coping with Phobias, Panic, and Obsessive-Compulsive Disorders
OCD Resources Continued
OCD Recovery Apps and Resources on the Web
- Live OCD Free
"Includes an Adult version, which creates exercises to diminish OCD symptoms, set practice goals and rewards, tools for fighting OCD at any moment, and allows users to track and monitor their progress. Children's version has the same capabilities as the adult version but is game-like and engaging."
Copyright © 2022 --All Rights Reserved. Vantage Point Center for Psychotherapy 1011 22nd Street, Sacramento, CA 95816, United States
Anxiety Therapy, Eating Disorder Therapy, Trauma Therapy, Sacramento Therapy, LGBTQIA Therapy, Therapy for Teens, Therapy for Women, Therapy for OCD, Psychologist Sacramento, Psychologist California, Psychological Assessment, Therapy for Depression.
This website uses cookies.
We use cookies to analyze website traffic and optimize your website experience. By accepting our use of cookies, your data will be aggregated with all other user data.