Online CBT for obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD)
Unwanted thoughts and the urge to check, repeat or put something right can be exhausting. Compulsions can happen in your mind as well as in your actions.
Ask about a free first call Watch my short video
What you might notice
OCD can involve unwanted thoughts, images or urges that feel distressing, followed by actions intended to reduce discomfort or prevent something feared. Compulsions can be visible, such as checking or washing, or mental, such as reviewing, counting or seeking certainty. The relief often does not last.
How CBT can help
CBT for OCD commonly includes exposure and response prevention (ERP). Together, we plan gradual practice in facing triggers while reducing compulsions, including mental rituals. We also explore the meanings attached to intrusive thoughts and build ways to tolerate uncertainty without repeating the cycle.
What could progress look like for you?
Reclaim time and attention from rituals by gradually changing your response to unwanted thoughts and uncertainty. We’ll choose goals that are meaningful to you and review how the work is going.
General information, not a diagnosis. Your experience and goals guide our assessment and the plan we agree together.
Further reading and sourcesWatch my short video: When reassurance only helps for a momentOCD: trying to feel 100% certain?
Checking, asking for reassurance or going over things in your mind can promise certainty, but the doubt often returns. My video explains this loop and introduces a different response.
CBT with exposure and response prevention (ERP) can help you practise allowing uncertainty without carrying out the compulsion. We plan gradual steps together.
Read the key points
A doubt can lead to checking, reassurance, repeating, avoidance or mental review. Brief relief is followed by another doubt. Notice the urge to become certain, practise leaving the question open, and return to what you were doing. ERP practice is gradual and can be supported by a therapist.
OCD isn’t always what you think
My short video explains why OCD can involve much more than neatness or visible checking, including rituals that happen in your mind.
You can ask for help even if your experience does not look like the familiar picture of OCD.
Read the key points
OCD can involve intrusive thoughts about harm, relationships, religion, mistakes or responsibility. Compulsions can include mentally reviewing a situation, repeating words, checking feelings or trying to become certain. An unwanted thought is not the same as an intention. Assessment looks at the whole pattern and how it affects your life.
How the cycle can keep going
This example shows one way the pattern can be maintained. Your own triggers and responses may look different.
Read the cycle step by step
- Trigger: An unwanted intrusive thought
- Meaning: Having this thought means I might be responsible.
- Feelings: Anxiety, doubt or a sense that something is not right.
- Response: Check, seek reassurance or repeat a mental ritual.
- What keeps it going: Relief is temporary; the urge to ritualise returns.
The short-term response can make the pattern more likely to repeat. This is an illustration, not a diagnosis or an individual formulation.
Are rituals or the search for certainty taking more time and energy than you want them to?
A free 5–10 minute consultation is a chance to talk about what you need and whether we could work well together.
Request a callback