Treatment Approaches

Effective therapy focuses on understanding the patterns that keep symptoms going.

Many people arrive feeling stuck in cycles of intrusive thoughts, anxiety, avoidance, reassurance seeking, or emotional shutdown that seem impossible to interrupt. Others struggle with symptoms that do not fit neatly into a single diagnosis. These patterns may appear as OCD, anxiety disorders, tics, eating concerns, trauma related responses, or family dynamics that have gradually settled into rigid patterns.

Some individuals have already tried therapy but continue to feel stuck. In these situations, treatment often becomes more effective when we focus on understanding the function of the behaviors that are maintaining the cycle.

Treatment focuses on identifying the patterns that maintain distress and learning new ways to respond so those patterns begin to lose their hold.

My work draws from several evidence based behavioral and cognitive approaches. These models provide practical tools for addressing OCD, anxiety disorders, tic disorders, and other conditions where avoidance and reinforcement patterns play an important role.

Functional Analysis

My work is guided by functional analysis, a framework that focuses on understanding the patterns that maintain a symptom rather than focusing only on the symptom itself.

Functional analysis looks at how thoughts, emotions, behaviors, and environmental responses interact over time. In particular, it examines the function of a behavior. Many behaviors that seem confusing or irrational begin to make more sense when we understand what they are trying to accomplish.

For example, compulsions, avoidance, reassurance seeking, or emotional shutdown often serve the function of reducing anxiety, escaping uncertainty, or preventing a feared outcome.

This includes situations where people experience disturbing intrusive thoughts about harm, morality, or sexuality that feel completely inconsistent with their values.

By identifying the patterns that reinforce these behaviors, treatment can become much more precise.

This approach allows us to select strategies that directly target the cycle maintaining the problem rather than applying the same technique to every situation.

Many of the treatment models I use, including ERP, ACT, I-CBT, and behavioral approaches for tics and anxiety, work most effectively when guided by a clear understanding of how the pattern functions in a person’s life.

This approach is especially helpful in complex situations where symptoms overlap across OCD, anxiety, trauma responses, body based symptoms, food related avoidance or rigidity, and family dynamics.

Exposure and Response Prevention (ERP)

ERP is the most well supported treatment for obsessive compulsive disorder.

ERP helps people gradually face the thoughts, sensations, or situations that trigger anxiety while learning to resist the behaviors that keep the cycle going. Over time the urge to respond to the thought begins to lose its grip.

ERP is also useful for many anxiety disorders and phobias where avoidance has gradually narrowed a person’s life.

Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT)

ACT focuses on building flexibility in how a person responds to difficult thoughts and emotions.

Instead of trying to eliminate anxiety or achieve certainty, ACT helps people learn how to continue moving toward what matters in their lives even while uncomfortable thoughts or feelings are present.

ACT often works alongside exposure based treatment.

Inference Based Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (I-CBT)

I-CBT is a cognitive model developed specifically for obsessive compulsive disorder.

This approach helps people recognize when doubt is being driven by imagined possibilities rather than evidence in the present moment. By learning to identify these reasoning patterns, people can step out of the mental loops that often drive compulsive behavior.

SPACE and Family Based Work

Anxiety and OCD often affect the entire family system.

Over time, reassurance patterns, accommodations, and avoidance can become part of daily routines. While these responses are usually attempts to help, they can unintentionally strengthen anxiety.

The SPACE model (Supportive Parenting for Anxious Childhood Emotions) helps parents learn how to reduce these accommodations while supporting their child in building tolerance for distress.

This approach can still move treatment forward even when a child or teen is reluctant to participate in therapy.

Comprehensive Behavioral Intervention for Tics (CBIT)

CBIT is an evidence based behavioral treatment for tic disorders and Tourette’s syndrome.

This approach helps individuals become more aware of tic patterns and develop strategies that reduce the frequency and impact of symptoms while improving overall functioning.

Additional Clinical Approaches

Depending on the situation, treatment may also incorporate elements of dialectical behavior therapy, trauma informed approaches, family systems work, behavioral strategies for ARFID and food related avoidance, and parent consultation or family support.

These approaches are used when they support the primary goal of helping people step out of the patterns that keep symptoms stuck.

A Note on Treatment

No single model works for every situation. Effective therapy requires understanding how symptoms function within a person’s life and selecting strategies that address those patterns directly.

The goal of treatment is not simply to reduce symptoms, but to help people regain flexibility, reconnect with their values, and move forward with greater freedom.