4 Reasons Why You Should Consider An OCD Specialist
You know that you have OCD, or you suspect that you might have it based on your symptoms. You want to take the next step, but searching for a therapist is overwhelming. How do you choose the right one? Is it ok to see any therapist, or should you seek the care of an OCD therapist?
Let’s look at this as though it were a medical issue. Your primary care practitioner knows a little of everything and could be great at helping you manage some general medical concerns. However, if you are experiencing symptoms that point to a potential heart-related issue, you would probably want to seek the expertise of a cardiologist. That specialist would know about diseases of the heart and would have obtained additional training in evaluating and treating such conditions. Mental health works the same way. Therapists are typically generalists upon completion of their graduate training. They know about diagnosing and treating some of the most commonly seen mental health conditions. An OCD specialist will have additional post-graduate training and experience in their specialty area, which provides them with a much greater understanding of the diagnosis, how it can present itself, how to differentiate it from other mental health conditions, and how to treat it.
Here are 4 reasons why you may want to consider seeking services from an OCD specialist:
Increased likelihood of getting an accurate diagnosis
Research has shown that on average it can take about 13 years from onset of symptoms for an individual to be diagnosed with OCD. That’s a long time to go undiagnosed. In my work as an OCD therapist, it has not been unusual for a newly diagnosed client with OCD to realize that the symptoms that they experienced in the past (many times as far back as childhood) were OCD all along. You can learn more about those OCD symptoms here.
Sometimes it’s not about being undiagnosed, but rather, misdiagnosed. I’ve worked with clients who have been given the wrong diagnosis or had their symptoms erroneously misunderstood by professionals who were not well educated on OCD. These experiences can lead clients to feel hopeless about ever getting better, alienated, ashamed, distrusting of future practitioners, and reluctant to seek care again. It can also lead to getting the wrong kind of treatment. One might think that any treatment is better than nothing, but that is not always the case with OCD.
Some treatments are not only ineffective for OCD but could cause harm by reinforcing symptoms and making them worse.
An OCD specialist is knowledgeable of the most common presentations of OCD, as well as some of the not so common ones. OCD is not just about obsessions with cleanliness and having things perfectly aligned and organized, as our media likes to portray. It can show up with intertwined ‘OCD types’ or even present itself in a way that doesn’t quite fit a common ‘OCD type’ at all. An OCD specialist is better able to spot and look out for some of the more nuanced or subtle symptoms that can typically go unnoticed (such as mental compulsions that you can’t see.) OCD can be sneaky like that. A good assessment is important, and you can read more about that in What Can I Expect When Starting ERP Therapy For OCD?
Access to a reliable and knowledgeable source
Getting a new diagnosis can bring up a lot of emotions. For many, it can be both terrifying and a relief to get an OCD diagnosis. You know that what you have has a name and that there is treatment for it. But not knowing what lies in the road ahead is daunting.
Having a clinician by your side that has seen your symptoms before and has helped others get better, can be extremely validating.
An OCD specialist can answer your questions and provide you with education and reliable resources on diagnosis and treatment. An OCD specialist will be familiar with clinical tools for assessment, evaluating symptom severity and progress, and determining the appropriate level of care for you. If it is in your best interest to get connected to a higher level of care, an OCD therapist would have some familiarity with referral resources and can assist you in navigating this transition. Perhaps you may benefit from supplemental materials to your treatment (support groups, articles, podcasts, videos, books, etc.). Again, an OCD therapist will be able to direct you to some useful resources.
Access to evidence-based OCD treatment
It’s not uncommon to find therapists who may have OCD listed as an issue that they treat, but not be trained in the treatment modalities researched and known to be the most effective for OCD. An OCD specialist will have training and familiarity with Exposure and Response Prevention (ERP), which is the most recommended type of Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) approach for OCD. Other treatments that have been researched and effective for the treatment of OCD include Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT), which is often used in combination with ERP. Inference-Based CBT (I-CBT) is a research-backed treatment alternative to ERP that is becoming more widely known in the United States.
An OCD specialist will know of treatment interfering factors and how to address them.
For example, well-intentioned and loving family members/friends who don’t understand OCD may unknowingly be reinforcing their loved one’s OCD by participating in compulsions with them. These are known as ‘accommodation behaviors’. They may be invited to join one or more sessions to learn how to best support their loved one in a way that doesn’t reinforce OCD. Likewise, an OCD specialist will be attuned to reassurance-seeking behaviors when they have entered the therapeutic space and will respond in a way that does not feed into the client’s compulsions.
Access to a clinician who is invested in their specialty
An OCD therapist will likely have a good percentage of their caseload composed of clients with OCD and similar disorders. Since this is their specialty, they are much likelier to obtain ongoing clinical consultation, stay informed on treatment advances, and seek advanced training to keep their skills up to date. Learning never stops, so an OCD specialist will generally want to continue to invest in their clinical growth within their particular niche.
