Specialized therapy for OCD, anxiety & related concerns.
Individual therapy at OCDMN is active, collaborative, and tailored to what is keeping the problem going. We combine specialized, evidence-based treatment with an approach that takes the whole person into account.
Active, collaborative treatment.
Individual therapy is more than having a place to talk about what is happening. Our clinicians work with you to understand the patterns maintaining OCD, anxiety, or related concerns and develop a treatment plan designed to change those patterns.
Sessions may involve learning a treatment model, identifying patterns, practicing new responses, designing exposures, examining obsessional reasoning, working with avoidance or accommodation, and applying skills between sessions.
You should understand what you are working on and why.
Specialized care for OCD, anxiety & related conditions.
We focus on concerns that benefit from specialized, evidence-based treatment rather than trying to be a general mental health practice.
OCD
Obsessions, compulsions, avoidance, reassurance seeking, rumination, and the many different themes OCD can take.
Anxiety
Panic, generalized anxiety, social anxiety, health anxiety, phobias, and related patterns.
Related Concerns
Body-focused repetitive behaviors, perfectionism and overcontrol, tic-related concerns, and other conditions within our clinicians' areas of specialty.
Evidence-based treatment, individualized to you.
The treatment method should fit the problem that is maintaining symptoms, rather than forcing every client into the same protocol.
ERP
Exposure and Response Prevention is commonly used when OCD or anxiety is maintained by avoidance, rituals, reassurance, or attempts to get certainty.
I-CBT
Inference-Based CBT can be used for OCD when obsessional doubt is being created and maintained through a particular reasoning process.
Other Approaches
Depending on the concern, clinicians may incorporate CBT, ACT, HRT, mindfulness, RO-DBT, parent work, recreational therapy, and other evidence-based approaches.
Other modalities we may draw from
Helps identify and change unhelpful thinking patterns, beliefs, and behaviors contributing to distress.
Can be helpful when overcontrol, perfectionism, rigidity, or chronic emotional inhibition are part of the picture.
Uses structured, meaningful activities to build flexibility, confidence, skill use, and engagement in daily life.
Supports awareness of thoughts, emotions, and sensations without automatically reacting to them.
A parent-based approach that helps caregivers reduce accommodation and respond more effectively to a child's anxiety or OCD.
Therapy can happen where it makes sense.
Different treatment goals may call for different settings. Options vary by clinician, service, location, and clinical need.
In Our Office
Meet with your clinician at our Saint Paul office in a private, comfortable setting.
Telehealth
Secure virtual sessions may be available depending on your location, clinician, and treatment needs.
In-Home & Community-Based
For some clients and clinicians, treatment can happen where symptoms occur, allowing therapy to address real-life situations more directly.
Some clients may also benefit from more frequent sessions or intensive treatment when clinically appropriate.
Treatment starts with careful assessment and becomes increasingly active.
Early sessions include assessment of your symptoms, concerns, history, and goals so your clinician can develop a clear understanding of what is happening and what may be maintaining it. That understanding continues to evolve throughout treatment and helps guide the approach, priorities, and next steps.
Get a clear picture of the problem.
Early sessions focus on what is bringing you in, what is maintaining the problem, what you have already tried, and what you want to change.
Decide what to target.
You and your clinician develop a plan based on your goals and the treatment approach that best fits the concern.
Put the treatment into action.
You practice new responses during and between sessions while you and your clinician monitor what is helping and adjust when needed.
Use what you have learned outside therapy.
As treatment progresses, the goal is usually to rely less on therapy and become increasingly confident responding differently in everyday life.
Sometimes individual therapy is only one part of care.
Depending on your goals, individual therapy may be combined with parent work, groups, recreational therapy, RO-DBT programming, or other services. Your clinician can help determine whether additional support would be useful.
Ready to find a therapist?
You do not need to know exactly which treatment approach you need before reaching out. Start by finding a clinician whose specialties and availability fit what you are looking for.