Integrative Perspectives Counseling and Consulting PC is a psychotherapy practice specializing in anxiety, obsessive thinking, and reproductive and attachment-related trauma, including infertility, pregnancy loss, and the transition to pregnancy and parenthood. We provide trauma-informed, nervous-system-based care—integrating EMDR, attachment work, parts work, and polyvagal theory—to help clients feel safer in their bodies, steadier in their minds, and more connected in their lives and relationships.
OCD, ADHD, & Neurodivergence
OCD
When Your Mind Works Very Hard to Keep You Safe
Sometimes your mind becomes a place you can't get away from.
You may analyze, research, check, compare, replay conversations, seek reassurance, or try to find the answer that will finally make you feel certain.
You may know intellectually that you're stuck in a loop and still feel unable to step out of it.
Or you may experience something different: a kind of freeze.
You know you need to make a decision, but your mind can't move.
You keep thinking.
You keep trying to figure it out.
And somehow, thinking harder only makes you feel less certain.
I work with people experiencing OCD, obsessive thinking, anxiety, rumination, and neurodivergence with an approach that is both evidence-informed and deeply attentive to the person underneath the pattern.
OCD Is More Than the Obsession
OCD isn't simply having intrusive thoughts.
It can change how you relate to yourself.
You may stop trusting your own judgment.
You may become afraid of your thoughts.
You may spend hours researching or mentally reviewing.
You may avoid things that trigger uncertainty.
You may ask the same question repeatedly—not because you don't understand the answer, but because you cannot make the uncertainty settle.
And over time, OCD can become exhausting.
I understand ERP and use ERP-informed treatment when appropriate. I also incorporate Inference-Based Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (i-CBT) and other approaches depending on the person and the way their OCD is organized.
The Freeze of OCD
One part of OCD that I find particularly important is what happens when someone becomes completely stuck.
Sometimes OCD doesn't look like frantic checking.
Sometimes it looks like:
I can't decide.
I can't move.
I don't know what to trust.
I need to figure this out before I can do anything.
This can be especially painful because the person may feel like their own mind has become an unsafe place.
Therapy can help you begin to understand the process without turning every thought into a problem that needs to be solved.
The Trauma Around OCD
I don't approach therapy as though we need to "heal the OCD" itself.
OCD is something we can learn to respond to differently.
But people can become deeply wounded by their experiences with OCD.
You may have spent years feeling afraid of your own thoughts.
You may have lost trust in yourself.
You may feel ashamed of the things your mind produces.
You may have organized your life around avoiding uncertainty.
You may be exhausted from constantly trying to make sure you are okay.
There can be grief around all of this.
That emotional experience deserves attention too.
We can work toward changing your relationship with those experiences without turning them into another problem that has to be perfectly resolved.
Reassurance, Relationships, and OCD
OCD doesn't stay inside one person's mind.
It can enter a relationship.
A partner may answer questions, provide reassurance, help avoid triggers, check things, or repeatedly explain why everything is okay.
They are usually trying to help.
Over time, however, both partners can become organized around OCD.
The person with OCD becomes increasingly dependent on reassurance.
The partner becomes increasingly responsible for helping them feel safe.
And neither person feels free.
I work with couples to understand this cycle while preserving connection.
The goal isn't for the partner to become cold or unavailable.
It is to learn how to say:
"I am here with you. I don't have to solve this for you."
That can be a very different experience of connection.
When OCD and Neurodivergence Intersect
I also enjoy working with neurodivergent individuals and couples.
Neurodivergence can shape how someone experiences communication, emotion, sensory information, relationships, uncertainty, and the world around them.
Sometimes what looks like avoidance is overwhelm.
Sometimes what looks like rigidity is an attempt to create predictability.
Sometimes partners aren't actually disagreeing about what happened—they are processing the same experience through very different cognitive and sensory systems.
I am interested in understanding those differences rather than assuming there is one correct way to experience or communicate.
We Don't Have to Fight Your Mind
Parts work can also be helpful here.
You may notice a part that desperately wants certainty.
A part that researches.
A part that checks.
A part that freezes.
A part that says, "We have to figure this out right now."
Rather than treating these parts as enemies, we can become curious about what they are trying to accomplish.
That doesn't mean giving OCD what it wants.
It means understanding the system well enough to respond differently.
Learning to Trust Yourself Again
The goal of OCD treatment isn't to make you certain.
It is to help you live without requiring certainty before you can move forward.
Sometimes that means sitting with an unanswered question.
Sometimes it means noticing the urge to research and choosing not to follow it.
Sometimes it means allowing discomfort to rise and fall without turning it into an emergency.
And sometimes it means learning to ask:
How do I know I'm okay right now?
Not as a reassurance question that needs an answer.
As an invitation to come back to yourself.
You can have an uncertain thought without solving it.
You can have a difficult feeling without fixing it.
You can experience your mind without being controlled by everything it produces.
You are allowed to have a mind that is complicated and still trust yourself to live your life.
ERP Referrals
When a client would benefit from specialized, intensive, or protocol-driven ERP, I believe in making the right referral rather than trying to be everything for everyone. I maintain a collaborative approach to care and am happy to coordinate with an ERP specialist when a higher level or more specialized OCD treatment is appropriate.
ADHD & Neurodivergence
I work with neurodivergent adults, including those with ADHD, who may feel overwhelmed, misunderstood, or exhausted from trying to function in ways that don't fit how their brains work. We can explore executive functioning, emotional regulation, relationships, identity, and self-understanding—focusing on what helps you work with your brain rather than against it.
Slow it down
Tell your story and heal your nervous system