OCD therapist recommendations

[Loo234]

Hi

Can anyone recommend a therapist for OCD the intrusive thought type? I am doing CBT on the NHS but she is mainly focusing on my health anxiety when I am really struggling with the OCD atm

I want an intense type of therapy. I found one online called NOCD which I did have an assessment for but it’s over zoom and based in America so I didn’t carry on after the assessment.

I don’t think weekly sessions are enough for me now and would like something more intense

hi @Loo234 I'm struggling with OCD too and intrusive thoughts too. did you manage to find any therapy which is helping you? are you on any medication which is helping? I have just been prescribed fluoxetine which I am going to start today. Im hoping they will help me.

@Saladcreamormayo hi I am the original OP but On a different name. I am doing a lot better now I started fluoxetine when I was at my worst about a month ago now.. it’s helped a lot of ppl but i have never been keen on meds and I took it for 3 days I felt AWFUL I know it gets worse before better but I couldn’t preserve with it I stopped taking it and decided to focus therapy

i found a private therapist online if you google hello self it’s a private therapy service, you fill out a form with your main concerns and they match you to an ‘expert’ in that particular field. unlike the NHS therapists who from my experience are usually psychotherapists hello self has a range of different experience levels from psychiatrists to clinical psychologists.. I have been working with a clinical psychologist for 5 weeks now it is not cheap she is £120 a session.

What I will say though is same as the NHS she is focusing mainly on my health anxiety cos that is really a big one for me and I find she is doing the exact same things the NHS therapist was doing so I personally don’t think it’s worth it for me and I am considering stopping as it is expensive.

but the private sessions are a lot less rushed and way more in-depth , I actually connect with her better than the NHS lady who I found patronising but don’t know if I will continue paying

I have OCD, and have since I was eleven, so I've suffered for many years, to varying degrees.
I don't know about therapy. But I highly recommend the supplement inositol. Taking 18g of inositol a day, along with magnesium, and cutting dramatically down on caffeine, works wonders for me. I still have symptoms, but they're more manageable when I follow that regime. Of course everyone is different, and we all respond to different treatments.
I wish anyone suffering from OCD well. It's a life sapping condition...

@Rosey1334p thanks for your reply, £120 is a bit steep per session especially as I should imagine many sessions will be needed. Have you considered hypnotherapy? Do you think that could possibly help? To be honest I'm not keen on meds too and I have tried fluoxetine once before myself many years ago a few weeks after the birth of my youngest dc when I was suffering from horrendous post natal anxiety, like you I only lasted around 4 days on them as they turned me into a total zombie I couldn't function, maybe for me it was having a newborn that contributed to that zombie feeling! so I'm willing to give them another try just to try and ease this anxiety and OCD I'm struggling with which is peaking at the moment. I really am not enjoying life at the moment whilst struggling with this I no longer enjoy things I used to, family holidays,christmas,birthdays etc all fill me with dread. for me it is not health anxiety more GAD and a strange perfectionist form of OCD. it drives me mad! hope you do find something that works for you.

@Saladcreamormayo she has suggested 12 sessions but I only committed to 6 so far and I don’t think I will do the 12. It is expensive and like I said not that much different from the NHS

I haven’t tried hypnotherapy.. the intrusive thoughts are a new thing for me but the health anxiety has been there since late teens and I am now 31 .. so I could maybe try it for that.

I was a total zombie to and I don’t have a newborn so I think the meds alone can do that.. i know you lose your appetite at first on them but it was horrendous I already didn’t have much of one because of the anxiety but eating was physically making me gag. i had racing and dark thoughts and felt just out of my own body kind of. I know meds help a lot of ppl with mental health issues but I personally will not touch them again.

I was like you a few months ago.. I’ve only recently come out of it I felt awful I didn’t enjoy anything I used to and I withdrew from most ppl. Have you tried therapy before? This is my 2nd time in therapy and each time it’s helped me out of a dark place only problem I find is that when I start feeling better which is usually before the 12 weeks are up I really can’t be bothered to go to the rest of the sessions even though you have to to benefit