Can Online or Phone Therapy Really Help Me?
Recent weeks have been challenging for many people, with the arrival of COVID-19 leading to a sudden shift to physical distancing and disruption for many in their personal and professional lives. This may be a time when more people than ever would benefit from individual psychotherapy, but may not think this is an option at present, given that in-person meetings are strongly discouraged. Like many clinics, out of necessity, we made the rapid transition from seeing our clients in person for therapy, to working completely virtually. This means that we are “seeing” clients either through an online video medium or telephone.
Understanding Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD)
Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD) is a serious but treatable mental health condition. As the name implies, this disorder is characterized by both obsessions and compulsions. Obsessions are intrusive and disturbing thoughts that one has over and over again, even though they try to stop or suppress them. Obsessions often lead to anxiety, distress, or discomfort. Compulsions are an attempt to alleviate the negative emotions brought on by the obsessions. For example, as this video explains, compulsions such as repetitive hand washing in response to a fear of contamination can take up many hours a day, and be quite debilitating.