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.
Nicola is a warm and accepting psychologist. She helps people to feel a greater sense of confidence and control, as they begin to discover for themselves that they can change their lives for the better. She is experienced and successful in assisting people experiencing depression, anxiety, many forms of trauma, relationship, self esteem, and life transition and adjustment difficulties.
James’ approach to mental health is about mind-body integration and looking at the “whole person”. Mental health influences how we feel, think and move, how we communicate and relate to the world, and can seriously impact our physical health. James will hep make sense of how this all fits together, to explore unhelpful thoughts and behaviour, and identify different options.
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.
Kate has extensive experience working with young people and also has experience with adults requiring support through transition periods and unemployment. Kate is trained in Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT), Solution Focused Therapy and Brief Interventions, Motivational Interviewing and Mindfulness techniques.
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.
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.
Nathan hopes to leave you with a range of skills that will not only help you now, but also make you better prepare to manage whatever other challenges life will throw your way in the future. He is interested in working with individuals suffering from depressive disorders, anxiety disorders, psychotic disorders and trauma based psychiatric conditions.
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.
Lauren works with people of all ages with concerns including anxiety, depression, stress, self esteem, grief and loss, substance use and addiction, trauma, abuse, and children with behavioural and emotional regulation concerns, and social skills deficits. Lauren uses CBT, ACT, DBT, Mindfulness and Motivational Interviewing.
Justine believes the most important factor to effective therapy is the collaborative relationship between psychologist and client. Justine will never tell you what to do – instead she’ll listen to you and together will work out the best way to help you move forward with achieving your personal therapy goals.
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.
Kemi has an interest in working with people experiencing anxiety, relationship issues and parenting concerns. She works to ensure that every person’s uniqueness is taken into consideration by creating a personalised treatment plan with each client using evidence based therapies.
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.
Whether you are struggling with difficult circumstances and emotions or simply seeking to make some minor adjustments in your life, Glenda is ready to work with you to help you achieve your goals. Glenda has experience helping people with anxiety, depression, relationship problems, substance abuse, weight management and self-esteem issues.
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.
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).
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.
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.
Teresa’s approach is compassionate, open-minded, and collaborative – she employs various strategies and techniques that will best suit you as an individual. Teresa has broad experience with a range of difficulties including anxiety, OCD, depression, LGBTQ concerns, PTSD, addiction, ADHD, NDIS, eating disorders, grief and loss, stress & anger management, violence or family trauma, personality disorders, career & couples counselling.