ACT stands for acceptance and commitment therapy. Where ERP interrupts the OCD loop, ACT helps you change your relationship to anxious thoughts entirely. Instead of fighting thoughts or trying to make them stop, ACT teaches you to let them be there without letting them run your life.

A core part of ACT is values work, which involves identifying what actually matters to you. Once we know your values, exposures become more than just practicing sitting with discomfort. They become a way of moving toward the life you actually want. Living in line with your values is the goal.

For example, if you value connection but social anxiety or OCD has made you fearful of being around others, I would want to create exposures where you practice approaching those situations. Anxiety can tell you that social interaction is not worth the stress and to isolate instead. But isolation takes you further from what you actually value. The more you isolate, the more the anxious thoughts feel like facts. If I know you value connection and anxiety has taken you away from social settings, we will create exposures together that help you practice that value rather than avoid it.

ACT also builds psychological flexibility, the ability to experience anxiety, discomfort, and uncertainty without rigidity or avoidance controlling your choices. It is the ability to be present in the moment, adapt to changing emotions and events, and choose behaviors that align with your values. OCD and anxiety thrive on rigidity, the need for certainty, the need to avoid, the need to complete the compulsion. Psychological flexibility is the antidote. It is not the absence of anxiety. It is the ability to move forward even when anxiety is present.

This is a brief introduction to ACT. In therapy, I will go much deeper into what your specific values are, what anxiety has been keeping you from, and how to build a life that actually reflects them.

Yes, and this distinction matters more than most people realize. OCD requires ERP delivered by someone who understands the specific nature of ego-dystonic thoughts and compulsions. Intrusive thoughts feel completely out of character, distressing, and wrong. Intrusive thoughts come out of nowhere and are not in line with your values. That is part of what makes them so disturbing. The person with harm OCD is not someone who wants to cause harm. The person with relationship OCD is not someone who does not love their partner. The thoughts feel foreign and threatening precisely because they contradict who you are.

Standard talk therapy and cognitive reframing can actually make OCD worse by inadvertently reinforcing avoidance or providing temporary reassurance that feeds the loop. If you have been in therapy before and it has not worked, this is often why. You did not fail therapy. You needed someone who understood the proper treatment for OCD. 

What distinguishes OCD is that the intrusive thoughts are ego-dystonic, meaning they feel completely out of character, distressing, and opposite to everything you value.

Anxiety more broadly tends to involve worry that feels connected to real concerns, even if it is disproportionate. Both OCD and anxiety involve avoidance loops and both can be treated with ERP. The difference is in the nature of the thoughts and what is driving the loop.

If you have been in therapy and feel like you keep talking about the same things without getting better, you may need someone who specializes specifically in OCD and ERP. 

Signs you might benefit from an OCD specialist include: intrusive thoughts you cannot shake, rituals or compulsions that are taking up time or energy, reassurance seeking that provides only temporary relief, and avoidance that is quietly shrinking your life. 

You do not need a formal OCD diagnosis to work with me. I work with a variety of anxiety presentations. If any of this has resonated with you, ERP or exposure therapy could help you accomplish your therapy goals. 

All sessions are virtual. No commute, no waiting room, and the ability to do this work from wherever you actually feel like yourself. Research consistently shows virtual therapy is just as effective as in-person for anxiety and OCD. What matters is the quality of the work, not the zip code. If you have a private space and reliable internet, you are set.

I am licensed in New York, Texas, and North Dakota, and I hold PsyPact authority which allows me to see clients virtually across most US states. If you are unsure whether I can see you in your state, reach out and I will let you know.

I accept a small number of BCBS insurance clients and provide superbills for clients who want to seek out-of-network reimbursement from their insurance provider. After you complete the contact form, I will send you information you can use to assess in-network benefits and cost of therapy. 

A superbill is an itemized receipt for therapy services that you submit directly to your insurance provider for potential reimbursement. Many insurance plans offer out-of-network benefits that cover a portion of therapy costs. I provide monthly superbills to all out-of-network clients. 

To find out what your plan covers, call the member services number on the back of your insurance card and ask about your out-of-network mental health benefits. Your insurance may ask for my NPI number. If so, my NPI is 1508218306. 

Yes. I ask for 24 hours notice for cancellations. Late cancellations and no-shows are charged the full session fee. I hold your spot specifically for you and this policy protects that.

The consultation call is a 10-minute call for both of us to assess fit. It is not an intake or therapy session. It is a chance for you to share what is bringing you in and for me to get a sense of whether my approach is the right match for what you are dealing with. Come having read this page so we can skip the basics and talk about you specifically.

Since most of the clinical and logistical questions are answered here, the best consultation calls focus on two things: you specifically, and whether we are a good fit.

Psychological fit matters, and the consultation call is your chance to get a sense of whether I am the right fit for you. I am laid back and not buttoned up. How I show up on the consultation call is how I show up in session. Come with questions that help you assess whether my style works for you. Think about how you feel before, during, and after the call. Do you feel comfortable in conversation with me? Does this feel like someone you could do hard work with?

On the clinical side, come ready to share what you are hoping to work on. I specialize in OCD and anxiety, and there are presentations I do not treat, so it helps to have a general sense of what is bringing you in. If you have other symptoms alongside anxiety or OCD, such as depression or trauma, mention those too so we can talk through whether I am the right fit or whether someone else might serve you better.

Before we meet, I will send you a detailed questionnaire covering your symptom history, current concerns, and what you are hoping to get out of therapy. 

I ask for this ahead of time because some people find it easier to reflect in writing, and it means we can skip the surface-level stuff and get into the actual work from session one. You have probably been thinking about this for a while. Let's not waste time.

The intake is 60 minutes and looks a little different from a regular session. We will go over confidentiality, therapy informed consent paperwork, then get into your history, your symptoms, and what you want to achieve in therapy. I will be asking a lot of questions and taking a lot of notes. 

It typically takes me two to three sessions to fully understand your experience before we build a treatment plan together. During that time, I will also start educating you on what is driving your symptoms and how ERP and ACT skills can specifically help you. If after the intake I do not think I am the right fit, I will tell you honestly and help you find someone who is.

We build your treatment plan together. That means identifying your specific OCD and anxiety loop, learning the skills to interrupt it, and starting the actual exposure work. Follow-up sessions are up to 53 minutes. My favorite part is when we start generalizing those skills outward, not just toward your treatment goals but toward the life you actually want to be living.

It depends on your specific therapy goals and symptom severity. OCD and anxiety presentations typically take two to six months to treat or longer. You may hit your initial goals and keep scheduling sessions because the deeper work, getting to know yourself and building a life outside of anxiety, opens up new goals you want to work toward. The goal is for you to learn the skills and not need therapy to function. I want you to be able to use ERP and ACT skills without me. I do not want to keep you in therapy longer than necessary.

Yes. Research consistently shows that virtual ERP therapy is just as effective as in-person treatment for OCD and anxiety. The evidence base for telehealth OCD treatment is strong and has grown significantly in recent years. What determines outcomes is the quality of the treatment and the therapeutic relationship, not whether you are sitting in the same room.

Feeling anxious between sessions, especially early on, is completely normal. It does not mean something is wrong or that you are regressing. The goal is not to eliminate anxiety. The goal is to accept anxiety and learn how to live life while experiencing anxiety and discomfort. When things feel hard between sessions, treat it as data. Notice when the skills feel easier to use vs not so we can refine how to use them together in your next session. Write down and log your symptoms and how you used the skills and bring that to our next session. Using ERP and ACT skills is a process. You will not use the skills perfectly every time. You are going to learn from the times it is harder to use the skills. That is the work. Once we identify when the skills are harder to use, we can work together to troubleshoot those specific situations.

I am not the right fit for everyone and I think it is important to be honest about that. I do not work with active suicidal ideation, personality disorders, complex trauma, ADHD as a primary concern, depression as a primary concern, Autism as a primary concern, or anyone who is not ready to engage with exposure work. If I am not the right fit, I will always tell you honestly and help you find someone who is.