Do you have the same thought continually entering into your mind despite trying to ignore it? Or do you find that you can’t relax unless you’ve completed a specific behaviour or pattern? Sometimes, thoughts can become so intrusive that they start to take up a large part of our day, and affect other aspects of our lives. If this is the case, you may have some of the symptoms associated with Obsessive Compulsive Disorder, or OCD.
OCD can be a very debilitating if left to develop without treatment, and can start take over almost every aspect of a person’s life. It involves two key aspects – obsessions and compulsions. Obsessions are intrusive thoughts, images, urges or beliefs that continually occupy the mind despite trying to resist or remove them. Compulsions are the resulting behaviour or act, and often provide relief from the intrusive obsessive thoughts, but at the same time, impair the person’s ability to function.
Some common obsessions include:
Fear of contamination
Fear of losing control of your behaviour
Uncontrollable sexually explicit or violent thoughts
You are using alcohol or drugs to manage your anger
However, there’s no limit to what these thoughts and behaviours can include. If you have any sort of belief or behaviour that is negatively impacting your life, or the lives of those close to you, don’t cope with it alone any longer.
There are a number of ways that a psychologist can educate you on OCD, and work through the symptoms – at your own pace. Some of the ways we can assist include, but are not limited to:
Helping to identify where these thoughts stem from and challenging them in a way that reduces their effect
Testing out your beliefs in small incremental steps to reduce the anxiety that you feel about them
Relaxation training
Building up your social support and recreational activities to help you overcome these concerns outside of the allocated sessions as well
Meet the someone.health psychologists currently available to see new clients for obsessive compulsive disorder counselling.
Louise has extensive experience with children and adolescents but is very comfortable working with all age groups. Clients with issues in the areas of self esteem, stress, anxiety and depression, substance use issues and body/weight related issues would be assisted by Louise’s experience in these fields.
Rosemary welcomes clients concerned with personal issues such as anger, stress, anxiety, and depression, self-esteem, phobias, adjustment, behavioural change, eating disorders, smoking cessation, grief and loss, and relationships. She also welcomes clients with workplace issues such as career development, motivation, performance, and interpersonal conflict.
Sue has experience working with many people of different ages across the lifespan, children, adolescents, and adults – including ‘seniors’. The diverse range of challenges she has provided support and counselling for include people with work and relationship issues; helping parents find joy in their relationship with their children, including those with behavioural difficulties or medical and disability concerns.
Gail believes therapy is a collaborative process where you select the style that you feel most comfortable. Gail is trained to use a number of evidence based approaches including, Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT), Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) and Dialectical Behavioural Therapy (DBT).
Nick has experience working with a diverse range of clients, including children, adolescents and adults. He also has extensive experience working with people with post -traumatic stress and anxiety disorder, including survivors of natural disaster s who may be recovering from bushfires cyclones and floods.
Nick has a keen interest in working with people experiencing anxiety, perfectionism, procrastination, low self -esteem and interpersonal difficulties.
Wendy will work with you to develop the skills necessary to effectively manage challenges and enhance your emotional wellbeing. Wendy has developed methods that assist clients to empower themselves and restore their quality of life. She has seen first hand how patients become empowered with improved emotional intelligence and psycho-education.
Eyleia has worked with a broad range of people presenting with different life experiences and problems. Eyleia has worked with children who suffer from internal problems such as anxiety and depression, as well as external issues such as ADHD and ODD.
Stephanie has had nearly three decades of working with a diversity of clients of all ages, issues and genres. Stephanie is keen to support you with with relationship issues, family issues, depression and anxiety, faulty thinking, self esteem, learning difficulties, stress, performance management and parenting.
Chris has experience working with a diverse range of clients. This includes working with people with anxiety and depression, PTSD and trauma related recovery, relationship issues, family dysfunction, grief and loss, low self esteem and interpersonal difficulties and much more.
Ilan has over 27 years experience as a Clinical Psychologist and offers a nonjudgemental and confidential space on the telephone or via video for effective, practical counselling. Ilan has worked with all population groups including children, adolescents, men and women of all ages.
Christine has extensive experience working with a diverse range of clients from a variety of socio-economic backgrounds. Her work has involved working in private practice, in schools and as a therapist for children, adolescents and adults on the Autism Spectrum.
With over 22 years experience as a psychologist and executive leader, Ross has developed a highly professional suite of organisational and clinical skills to provide compassionate, caring and committed evidence-based psychological services to individuals and couples that makes a real difference.
Nicole has worked in a broad range of settings. She is a proud military psychologist with over 30 years total service in the Australian Army in various roles. She is a Solomon Islands and Afghanistan veteran. She has a particular professional interest in providing intervention to people suffering from anxiety and anxiety-related concerns.
Trisha has experience working with a diverse range of clients including children, community from different cultural backgrounds, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander community, and LGBT+ community.
Michelle is experienced working with clients presenting for depression and anxiety in addition to those experiencing issues relating to substance use, emotional regulation and relationship challenges.
Fiona understands that there is a lot of research that indicates having a good & trusting relationship with your psychologist is as important as whatever treatment model they are using with you. She wants to make sure the time you have together in therapy is useful, impactful and enables you to achieve whatever ‘success’ looks like for you.
Louise has gained a wealth of experience working with clients from a wide range of socioeconomic and cultural backgrounds, seeing clients ranging from school age to the elderly population. Louise is passionate about working with anyone experiencing stress, anxiety, depression, perfectionistic/obsessive, compulsive traits, sleep difficulties and interpersonal issues.
Kate has been working with people from many different walks of life, struggling to make many different changes in their lives, for over 40 years. Her work now is primarily with people overcoming anxiety and depression, with a special area of interest in counselling trauma from a positive psychology perspective.
Dimple work with clients from different cultural backgrounds including children, adolescents and adults. She has extensive experience working with people having drug and alcohol addiction, depression, anxiety, perfectionism, low self-esteem, relationship challenges, development delays, workplace stress, and burn out. Dimple is multilingual and can support clients in English, Hindi, and Punjabi.
Ari doesn’t just rely on “talk therapy” but also works with the subconscious and body. He utilises a variety of techniques including guided meditation, visualizations, somatic experiencing, brainspotting, and emotion-focused release to let go of trapped negative energy keeping you “blocked” in an unwanted state of consciousness as a result of past trauma.