Obsessive-compulsive disorder, panic, and anxiety tend to run on the same engine, the urge to neutralize discomfort through reassurance, checking, or avoidance. The most effective treatment works by changing your relationship to that urge instead of feeding it. My approach is ERP-informed and evidence-based. Telehealth across Colorado.
If your mind generates a frightening what-if and then demands certainty before it will let you rest, you already know how exhausting the loop is. The good news is that the loop has a known structure, and that structure can be worked with.
What ERP is and why it works for OCD and anxiety
ERP stands for exposure and response prevention. It is the most strongly supported treatment for OCD, and its logic extends to many anxiety presentations. The idea is simple even though the work takes courage. You gradually and deliberately approach what triggers the anxiety, while choosing not to perform the usual ritual, check, or avoidance that normally brings short-term relief.
What happens next is the point. Your nervous system learns, through direct experience rather than argument, that you can get through the fear without the ritual, and that the discomfort fades on its own. ERP is paced and collaborative. It is not about white-knuckling through your worst fear on day one.
Reassurance feels like relief. It is actually what keeps the loop alive.
Health anxiety, and how it differs from OCD
Health anxiety is a preoccupation with the fear of having or developing a serious illness. It drives hours of symptom-googling, repeated reassurance from doctors and loved ones, and constant body-checking for the next worrying sign. Each of those brings a few minutes of relief, then the doubt returns louder.
It overlaps with OCD in mechanism, the same reassurance-and-checking loop, even though the content is different. That is why an ERP-informed approach fits it well. The work is not to prove you are healthy. No amount of checking ever settles that question for an anxious brain. The work is to build your tolerance for uncertainty so the question loses its grip.
Panic, and what actually helps
A panic attack is a surge of intense fear with physical symptoms, a racing heart, tight chest, dizziness, a sense that something is very wrong. The trap is that the symptoms feel dangerous, so you start fearing the next attack, and the fear of fear becomes its own problem. Avoiding the places and sensations linked to panic shrinks your world without making you safer.
What helps is not reassurance and not avoidance. It is learning, gradually, that the sensations are uncomfortable rather than dangerous, and that they pass. That work is structured and it is doable.
Reassurance-seeking and avoidance, the engines of the cycle
This is the thread running through all three. Reassurance-seeking, checking, and avoidance all promise relief and all quietly strengthen the loop, because each one teaches your brain that the threat was real and that the ritual is what kept you safe. Naming your particular versions of these behaviors is often the first turning point, because you cannot change a pattern you cannot yet see.
What ERP-informed therapy with me looks like
This is evidence-based, structured work, not open-ended talking that circles the fear without touching it. We build a clear picture of the loop, then a paced plan to step out of it, at a speed you have a say in.
A few things you can expect from working with me.
- I help you see the patterns you are too close to see yourself. We map the exact triggers, rituals, and avoidances that keep the cycle running.
- I tell you what I actually notice, with warmth. Including when a request for reassurance is the anxiety talking, which is useful to catch in the moment.
- You will not fall through the cracks. I come prepared, I follow up, and I keep the plan moving between sessions.
Exposure and response prevention is the spine of the work, supported by cognitive behavioral therapy, acceptance and commitment therapy, and motivational interviewing. All of it is evidence-based. My approach is ERP-informed rather than EMDR-led or somatic-led.
Telehealth across Colorado
I see clients across Colorado by secure video, including the Denver metro communities of Westminster, Arvada, Littleton, Golden, Lakewood, and Broomfield. Telehealth works well for this kind of structured, evidence-based work, and it keeps care reachable wherever you are in Colorado.
Common questions
What is ERP, or exposure and response prevention? ERP is a structured, evidence-based therapy where you gradually face what triggers your anxiety while choosing not to perform the usual ritual or avoidance. Over time your brain learns the feared outcome does not depend on the ritual, and the urge loses its power.
How is health anxiety different from OCD? They share the same reassurance-and-checking mechanism, so they are treated similarly, but the content differs. Health anxiety centers on the fear of illness, while OCD can attach to many themes. You do not need a formal OCD diagnosis to benefit from an ERP-informed approach.
What is reassurance-seeking, and why does it backfire? Reassurance-seeking is the urge to relieve anxiety by checking, googling, or asking others to confirm you are okay. It works for a few minutes, then teaches your brain that the threat was real, which makes the next wave stronger. Reducing it, with support, is central to getting better.