OCD Specialized Therapy

Collier’s OCD Specialized Therapy Program

Collier provides students who have high levels of anxiety and Obsessive Compulsive Disorder treatment and other services through Ross Brutman, LPC. Ross is trained by the International OCD Foundation (IOCDF.) and utilizes CBT (Cognitive Behavioral Therapy) and ERP Therapy (Exposure and Response Prevention,) which are considered first-line treatments for all anxiety disorders. Because the treatment for OCD is so specific, by having an OCD specialist on staff Collier is able to streamline collaboration between the classroom and clinical staff to ensure all the students’ needs are being met inside and outside the classroom.

What Is OCD Specialized Therapy?

OCD therapy is all about helping you deal with the two major features of OCD: Obsessions and Compulsions.

●     Obsessions are repeated and intrusive thoughts, mental patterns, or impulses that may cause anxiety.

●     Compulsions are repetitive behaviors that people may feel the urge to perform in response to obsessions.  The intention is to reduce the anxiety related to obsessive thoughts or prevent something from occurring, yet the relief is often temporary.

Not all thoughts are obsessions, and not all habits are compulsions.   Suffering from OCD means more than being a perfectionist or checking things twice.  When someone experiences acute, persistent, and uncontrollable OCD symptoms, their ability to function and complete daily tasks may be impaired. OCD therapy is an effective treatment of OCD symptoms as it can help you:

●     Explore your obsessive thoughts

●     Navigate compulsion triggers

●     Identify underlying factors leading to obsessions and compulsions

●     Shift compulsive behaviors by embracing healthier coping mechanisms

●     Apply learned strategies into everyday life

Some of the goals of the program are to help develop:

●     Knowledge about anxiety conditions

●     Self-management techniques

●     An understanding of how automatic thoughts, unconscious rules / beliefs, and thinking styles contribute to anxiety

●     The ability to use graduated exposure to reduce symptoms of anxiety

●     Goal setting and follow-through

●     Positive coping strategies to replace negative coping strategies

●     The ability to manage symptoms of anxiety

For more information please contact:

Ashley Staggard, LPC
732-946-4771 ext. 274
astaggard@collieryouthservices.org