OCD in younger adult - help!
My mid-20s niece suffers from OCD, as well as depression and anxiety. She sees a therapist online once a week and takes medication for depression, but she occasionally has flare ups and is in a difficult state right now. The OCD recommendations on BPN for adults are all pretty old, so hoping someone here has more recent recommendations for a therapist with lots of experience with OCD (and also depression and anxiety) and within easy driving distance from Berkeley or BART accessible. I read about Rogers Behavioral Health in Walnut Creek. Does anyone have reviews of therapists there? Does anyone who suffers from OCD have advice about what kind(s) of therapy have helped you? She is not phobic about germs. It's more about obsessively thinking about something (topics vary) with some compulsion in response (like skin-picking), but it's more in her head than anything. She recently moved to the area and does not have a friend network yet but has a new job with colleagues that she likes (and does a good job) and new housemates who seem nice. She has some social anxiety and can be socially awkward but really pushes through it. She's incredibly kind and empathetic, and it breaks my heart to see her hurting. Thanks for your help!
Parent Replies
My OCD is the exact same and I didn't even know I had it for the longest time because mine does not manifest as germs and handwashing. I saw Mark Balabanis who is quite expensive but AMAZING. He helped me so much using CBT. I cannot recommend him enough. I saw him a few years ago and he was right above Market Hall in Rockridge - easily accessible by BART. (510) 457-6601 I saw many therapists in an attempt o get my anxiety under control and it wasn't until I saw Mark that I was properly diagnosed and treated. OCD will never be cured, but he helped make it totally manageable. Kaiser was completely useless.
Hi
My daughter went to Rogers when she was around 20. This is mostly all day thing, so if she has a job it might not be the right time. I highly encourage her to hook up with support at the international OCD foundation. There is a bay area chapter; and the national chapter is having an online conference in October https://iocdf.org/programs/conferences/
The gold standard for OCD is a therapy called ERP and just any therapist doesn’t usually know how to do it. You can look up specialists on the IOCDF website as well.
If your niece is comfortable with remote therapy sessions, she should check out NOCD Therapy. The therapists are all trained in ERP. They’ve been very helpful with a family member’s OCD, and they accept many health insurance plans.
https://www.treatmyocd.com/
Hi,
We found the same for my young adult daughter, that you need an OCD therapist, not a general talk therapist and you need to really look for them. There's a young adult program through the Gateway institute that meets on Thursdays after work virtually and in-person www.GatewayOCD.com
Also, here are 2 books I got a lot from reading, " When a Family Member Has OCD by Jon Hershfield and The Family Guide to Getting Over OCD by Jonathan S. Abramowitz"
Good luck
I would check out "Anxiety Solutions" https://www.effectivetherapysolutions.com/ The don't have an office in CA, but they have some therapists that have licenses and can practice in CA.
My daughter, who sought treatment for ADHD and Bi-polar while in college, later when she was home I started suspecting her biggest issue was OCD. While we live in CA, she attends Univ or Reno. She started seeing Tyler at Anxiety Solutions, who works with her on ERP (exposure and response prevention) via Tele Health. I have spoken with, and feel he is excellent, and I am seeing a lot of improvement in her.
The San Francisco Bay Rea Center For Cognitive Therapy is very good. They’re in Rockridge. They’re not cheap. They have specialists in OCD, and those would primarily do ERP therapy. You’d have to talk with them to find a therapist within their group who can help her with both the OCD and the anxiety/depression, although OCD is a subset of anxiety disorders. Hope that helps. She sounds like a lovely person.
My young teen daughter has been seeing Ilyana Romanovsky for OCD. I'm pretty sure she sees both adults and kids. She ain't cheap, but our situation has improved by leaps and bounds. We've only ever used zoom appointments, but I believe she does do in person appointments and is located in Berkeley near the Oakland border. http://berkeleymentalhealth.com/
Thank you all for the recommendations. Do any of you know if the providers specialize in working with kids with Autism/ASD?
Hi,
Sorry to hear that your daughter and your family are struggling. We found help at the Gateway Institute. We're also in a great family support group through Gateway So Cal (even though we live here). You need to educate yourself as well. There are OCD groups through Nami and we've read some good books, "When a family member has OCD by Hershfield and the ACT workbook for OCD. It's OCD awareness week and you'll find some good resources here https://madmimi.com/p/d79ea41
As far as friends, hopefully having housemates and a job will help her get to the next step.
Best wishes.