OCD Treatment in California

We treat OCD by telehealth anywhere in California. Your provider is board certified and speaks English, Punjabi, Hindi and Spanish.

Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) traps people in a loop. Unwanted thoughts, called obsessions, drive repeated acts or mental rituals, called compulsions. The ritual brings only brief relief before the cycle starts again.

OCD is not a quirk about being tidy. It is a serious and tiring condition, and it is very treatable. Mindful Sewa Psychiatry offers online OCD treatment anywhere in California, with a careful diagnosis and medicine plans known to work for OCD.

OCD often starts in childhood, the teen years or early adult life. Some people have mild symptoms for years and only seek help when life gets more stressful. Others hide their rituals out of shame. Many people wait years before getting treatment, even though help works best when it starts early.

OCD looks different from person to person. Two people can share the same diagnosis and have almost no symptoms in common. That is why good care starts with a detailed map of your own obsessions and compulsions, not a checklist of common ones.

Signs and Symptoms of OCD

• Unwanted thoughts, images or urges that keep coming back
• Fear of germs, of causing harm or of making mistakes
• Checking, washing or counting over and over
• Mental rituals, such as repeating phrases or reviewing events
• Needing things to feel "just right" or even
• Asking for reassurance again and again
• Avoiding things that set off the thoughts
• Losing hours each day to the cycle

How We Treat OCD by Telehealth

OCD responds to specific treatment. The main medicines are SSRI antidepressants, and OCD often needs higher doses than depression does. Sometimes a second medicine is added. Your prescriber decides what fits and how to adjust it safely.

The leading therapy for OCD is exposure and response prevention, or ERP. General talk therapy alone is usually not enough for OCD. Ask about ERP at your visit. If you need a dedicated ERP therapist, we can help you find a referral while your medicine care continues with us.

We use standard rating scales to track symptoms over time. That way you can see your progress in numbers, not just in how you feel.

Common Types of OCD

Contamination OCD brings fears of germs, illness or dirt, often followed by washing or cleaning. Checking OCD brings doubt about locks, stoves or whether you caused harm, so you check again and again. Symmetry OCD centers on things feeling just right, even or complete.

Harm OCD brings unwanted thoughts about hurting someone, often a person you love. Relationship OCD fills you with doubt about whether you truly love your partner. Religious or moral OCD, sometimes called moral scrupulosity, brings fear of sinning or being a bad person.

Some people have mostly mental rituals. They review, pray, count or argue with thoughts in their head. From the outside nothing seems wrong. This is sometimes called pure O, but it still involves hidden rituals that treatment can target.

How ERP Works

Exposure and response prevention (ERP) is the leading therapy for OCD. You face a trigger on purpose, in a planned way, and then hold off on the ritual. At first the anxiety rises. With time and practice, it falls without the ritual.

Each time you ride out the urge, your brain learns that you can handle doubt and discomfort. Steps start small. Someone with germ fears might touch a doorknob and wait before washing, then slowly build up to harder steps. ERP is done with a trained therapist, and a referral is possible.

Asking for reassurance is a ritual too. Loved ones often answer the same question many times to help. Care may include family members learning to support without reassuring, which is kinder in the long run.

Medication and Other Treatment Options

SSRIs are the first choice medicines for OCD. Common examples include fluoxetine, sertraline, fluvoxamine and paroxetine. Clomipramine, an older medicine, is another option. Your prescriber decides which one fits your health, your other medicines and your past results.

OCD medicine often takes two to three months to show its full effect. When the first medicine helps only partly, the plan may switch to a different SSRI or add another medicine. For severe OCD that does not respond to several treatments, transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) is offered at specialty centers, and a referral can be discussed.

A psychiatric second opinion can help if you have tried several treatments without enough relief. It reviews your history and past medicines to look for what may have been missed.

OCD in Children and Teens

OCD often shows up in childhood. Kids may wash their hands until they are raw, need a bedtime routine done perfectly, or ask the same question over and over. A sudden, severe start of OCD symptoms in a child, especially after an infection, needs prompt medical review.

Mindful Sewa treats children and teens by telehealth anywhere in California, with parents involved in the plan. Early care helps kids get back to school, sleep and friends with less time lost to rituals.

Parents often get pulled into rituals without meaning to. They may check locks for a child or answer the same question many times. Care includes coaching for parents on how to respond with warmth while slowly stepping back from the rituals.

What to Expect at Your First Appointment

Your first video visit maps your own obsessions and compulsions without judgment. That includes the taboo thoughts people are often afraid to say out loud. Naming them clearly is the first step to taking away their power.

Ready to start? Book a comprehensive evaluation, review our transparent fees, or take the symptoms quiz first.

Services for OCD

• Psychiatric Evaluation
• Medication Management
• Psychotherapy

Medication Guides Related to OCD

These plain-language guides cover medicines used for OCD. They are background reading, not advice. Your prescriber decides what fits you at your evaluation.

• Citalopram (Celexa), SSRI antidepressant
• Escitalopram (Lexapro), SSRI antidepressant
• Fluoxetine (Prozac), SSRI antidepressant
• Fluvoxamine (Luvox), SSRI antidepressant
• Paroxetine (Paxil), SSRI antidepressant
• Sertraline (Zoloft), SSRI antidepressant

Browse all medication guides

Related Reading

Articles from our provider on OCD and related topics.

• How Long Will I Need to Stay on My Antidepressant Medicine?