What is Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD)?

OCD is more common than many people realize. In Canada, thousands of individuals everyday struggle with persistent, unwanted thoughts and repetitive behaviours. OCD is very a prominent mental health condition and is characterized by two main experiences: obsessions and compulsions.

• Obsessions are persistent, unwanted, and intrusive thoughts, images, urges, or doubts that cause intense anxiety, worry and disturbance.
• Compulsions are repetitive behaviors or mental acts that a person feels driven to perform in an attempt to reduce the distress caused by the obsessions or prevent a feared outcome.

The difficult truth is that while compulsions may bring temporary relief, they ultimately reinforce the cycle, making the obsessions feel even stronger over time.

​Common Symptoms of OCD?

People with OCD often experience a wide range of symptoms. Here are some of the most frequently reported OCD symptoms by people:

• Recurrent fears of contamination or germs, often leading to excessive washing or cleaning
• Intense fear of losing control or often people describe it as “going crazy”
• Fear of losing or forgetting important items
• Persistent worries about uncertainty and doubt
• Scary intrusive thoughts about harm or violence
• Fear of taboo or forbidden thoughts (sexual, religious, or aggressive)
• The need to arrange things in a specific way or achieve perfect symmetry
• Frightening intrusive images or mental scenes of harm
• Repeatedly checking locks, appliances, switches, or other objects
• Excessive counting, repeating words, or performing actions a “safe” number of times
• Magical thinking or superstitious rituals
• Repetitive unwanted sexual or violent thoughts that feel deeply distressing

These symptoms can vary greatly from person to person. What they share in common is that they are unwanted, cause significant distress, and are recognized by the person as excessive or unreasonable, yet feel impossible to stop without help.

​The Hidden Cost of OCD

Many of our clients describe living with OCD as an exhausting, unrelenting mental battle and like having a constant, loud background noise of anxiety, doubt, shame, and exhaustion that never fully switches off.
Even when they appear to be functioning normally on the outside, the internal struggle is relentless. Over time, OCD can affect other aspects of people's lives such as eroding self-esteem, straining important relationships, interfering with work or studies, and significantly diminishing overall quality of life. Simple daily tasks that others take for granted can become sources of intense fear and time-consuming rituals. Many people feel trapped in their own minds, isolated by thoughts and behaviors and they often hide from others out of embarrassment or fear of being misunderstood.

Evidence-Based Treatments for OCD

Recovery from OCD is not only possible but it is highly achievable with appropriate and evidence-based treatments. Clinical research consistently shows that specialized therapies are highly effective in significantly reducing obsessions and compulsions of OCD disorder. At Soul-Alliance Psychological Services, our Calgary psychologists have had the privilege of supporting numerous clients on their recovery journey.
At Soul-Alliance Psychological Services, we use scientifically supported therapies including OCD specialized protocols that promote lasting changes in the brain’s neural pathways through neuroplasticity. Some of treatments we use at our Calgary clinic for OCD include:

• ​Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR)
• Internal Family System (IFS)
• ​Prolonged Exposure Therapy (PE)
• Ego State Therapy (Inner child work) 
• Cognitive Processing Therapy (CPT)
• Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT)
• Nervous system regulation techniques
• Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT)​

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