Obsessive-compulsive disorder, or OCD, can quietly take over a person’s life. Intrusive thoughts can arrive without warning, anxiety can surge, and rituals may seem to offer relief that does not last. If you are looking for OCD treatment in Colorado, I want you to know that OCD is highly treatable with the right approach.
I provide OCD treatment grounded in proven methods and personalized psychiatric care. I understand how exhausting, isolating, and stubborn the OCD cycle can feel. You are not alone, and you are not the exception. With thoughtful treatment, OCD can loosen its grip and daily life can feel manageable again.
What Effective OCD Treatment Looks Like
OCD is much more than a preference for tidiness or an occasional habit of double-checking. It involves obsessions (unwanted thoughts, images, or urges) and compulsions (repeated behaviors or mental rituals someone feels driven to perform to reduce distress). People’s lives can also be driven by compulsive avoidance of anxiety-inducing stimuli.
Effective treatment addresses the cycle directly instead of only trying to ease symptoms on the surface. I am a board-certified psychiatrist with a clinical focus in OCD, anxiety disorders, ADHD, and eating disorders. I completed a three-year psychiatry residency and a two-year Child and Adolescent Fellowship at the University of Colorado in 2012. This experience helps me provide careful care for complex concerns.
Because my practice does not bill insurance, I can offer longer appointments and shorter wait times. In OCD treatment, that time matters. Understanding the details of obsessions and compulsions requires patient, individualized attention.
How Is OCD Different From Everyday Worry?
Everyone has occasional unwanted thoughts or routines. OCD becomes a disorder when obsessions feel intrusive and distressing, and compulsions take up significant time or interfere with work, relationships, or peace of mind.
Common OCD themes include contamination fears, doubts about safety, a need for symmetry or things to feel “just right,” and upsetting intrusive thoughts that conflict with a person’s values. These thoughts do not define your character or your intentions. Recognizing the pattern is an important first step toward treatment.
Exposure and Response Prevention: A Core OCD Treatment
Exposure and Response Prevention, often called ERP, is the most researched psychotherapy for OCD. ERP helps you gradually face situations that trigger obsessions while choosing not to perform the usual compulsions.
Over time, you can learn that anxiety rises and falls without needing a ritual to make it go away. You can also build tolerance for uncertainty and regain freedom in the areas of life OCD has narrowed.
ERP can feel challenging at first. I approach it carefully and collaboratively. I do not rush people into overwhelming exposures. Instead, we build confidence step by step, at a pace that feels challenging but manageable. Avoiding triggers and performing rituals may bring temporary relief, but they can strengthen OCD over time. In contrast, facing fears in a structured and supported way can gradually weaken OCD’s hold.
I may also incorporate Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, or CBT, and Acceptance and Commitment Therapy, or ACT. These approaches can help you relate differently to intrusive thoughts and continue living according to your values, even when discomfort is present.
Does Medication Help With OCD?
For many people, medication is a valuable part of OCD care. Certain medications can reduce the intensity of obsessions and compulsions, which may make therapy easier to engage in.
I begin with a thorough diagnostic assessment and a discussion of your specific symptoms, treatment history, and goals. When medication is appropriate, I monitor response carefully and consider adjustments or a gradual taper when indicated. My goal is not to remove every uncomfortable feeling. It is to reduce distress enough for the deeper work of therapy to be possible.
For some people, combining medication with ERP can be especially helpful.
Who Can Benefit From OCD Treatment?
OCD affects adolescents and adults from all backgrounds. It can also occur alongside anxiety, depression, or eating disorders. I address the full clinical picture rather than treating one symptom in isolation.
Whether your symptoms are mild or severe, recent or longstanding, treatment can be tailored to your needs and goals. Early treatment can make the process smoother, but meaningful progress remains possible even after years of struggling.
It may be time to seek support if intrusive thoughts, images, or urges cause significant distress; rituals or mental compulsions are difficult to resist; obsessions or compulsions take up an hour or more each day; you avoid people, places, or activities because of anxiety; or you feel that OCD is controlling your life.
What to Expect at Your First Appointment
Your first appointment is an unhurried conversation about your symptoms, history, and hopes for treatment. I will work with you to develop a plan that may include ERP, other evidence-based therapies, and medication management.
At follow-up visits, we track progress and adjust the plan as your needs change. I will explain the reasoning behind my recommendations so that you can make informed decisions about your care. I believe that collaborative treatment supports stronger outcomes and greater confidence.
Take Back Control From OCD
You do not have to let obsessions and compulsions run your days. With specialized OCD treatment, relief is realistic and lasting change is possible.
I provide thorough psychiatric evaluations, thoughtful medication management, and evidence-based psychotherapy for OCD, anxiety, ADHD, and eating disorders.
To learn more and find out whether my practice is the right fit, please contact us today.