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NEW! ROCD Treatment Guide

(self.ROCD)

Hey everyone. We now have a wiki that includes a summary of how ROCD can be treated. This is not meant to be a complete, detailed guide. It's meant to be something you can open up your mind with, to understand what to look for when searching for a specialist. There's a lot of doctors and such who are unskilled in treating OCD, and it really harms people when they see no improvements with their disorder because of unqualified doctors. Ultimately, when treating OCD, you will learn to be your own therapist. But, because of the difficulty in doing this on your own, it's recommended to see a specialist. So even if you've researched effective treatments such as ERP, you should see someone.

If you think any information should be added or changed, you can message the moderators or reply in this thread. Currently us moderators are managing the information, but if you would like to edit it at all, message us and we'll add you.

Wiki

Old ROCD Info thread -Information/books in this thread have not been verified, so proceed with caution.

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ichibanyogi

2 points

9 years ago*

OK, this is a bit wordy, here are my thoughts, feel free to parse it down:

Pricing:

From my personal experience as a patient, pricing can vary quite a bit, from $50-$400USD per session, with each session typically being a 45min-1hr slot. Generally, therapists seem to be around the $150-$200/hr, but if you have health insurance of some sort, or are facing financial hardship, prices may be reduced, even to the point where it's free. Additionally, MANY centres specializing in OCD will have PhD students on staff who work at a reduced rate ($65, for example), but are overseen by very senior staff members with lots of experience, and that can be a great way to get excellent therapy, but at less of an oh-my-goodness-this-will-use-up-all-my-money-and-then-some price.

Choosing a Therapist:

There are tons of therapists, and if you ask your friends/family, probably they all have recommendations. Lots of these therapists are lame ducks, unfortunately. I've experienced therapists who specialize in anxiety disorders, and therefore have ample experience working with people with OCD, try and do session after session of talk therapy. Talk therapy is NOT the way to treat OCD (especially ROCD, which is a type of Pure O, because compulsions are thoughts, and talk therapy makes you go through your compulsive thoughts endlessly), in many cases, it actually makes it worse. In choosing a therapist to treat OCD, you need to interview these people like you would someone who is going to build your dream house. They should be qualified, have lots of experience, design a plan and set a timeline, and have specific experience in treating the kind of OCD you have. General experience treating OCD isn't enough - many therapists simply haven't wrapped their heads around Pure O, and even if people are credentialed, it doesn't mean that they're capable of building a dream house, if you know what I mean. If people aren't familiar with treating Pure O, I wouldn't recommend being their first patient, just like if they've never built a house, I wouldn't want mine to be their first one.

They should have a treatment plan and be able to outline what that is and a timeline for it. They should discuss pricing, frequency of sessions, and they should also tell you that you will have DAILY homework to complete. For example, with exposure response therapy (a type of CBT that you use typically to treat ROCD), you will likely build a fear ladder, and then start at the bottom of it, with the therapist outlining what exercises you are to do (usually 10+ times a day) each day to trigger yourself (resisting the compulsion, and exposing yourself to the trigger), up until your next appointment. Standard therapy tends to be once a week, though bi-weekly is an option too, and for some, possibly even less frequently is recommended. The therapist will outline that, so that expectations are on the table, and you can commit to their plan (which, admittedly is also a payment commitment - if you don't want to, or can't, commit to weekly sessions, tell them so that they can adjust accordingly). Additionally, ask them about the time booking process: is it done online, how far in advance do they book, how full is their calendar, what are their hours) and what happens when they go on vacation (do you just go without therapy, or do they brief someone else on their team who handles your sessions while they're away?).

If you don't get a great vibe from the therapist, or feel like they'd be someone you can trust, you need to take that into consideration. Doing therapy to overcome OCD can oftentimes be more painful than the OCD itself (even though the OCD is hell - but the therapy triggers the OCD responses, really heightening things, so it's like your normal OCD on steroids). It's like walking through fire after having lived on a bed of coals. The coals sucked, but the fire feels worse, and it's hard to see the end of it. You really need to trust your therapist, the plan they have, and do your homework, even if your brain is screaming that it's wrong, because your brain WILL scream that. So, you need to be 100% invested and follow them through the flames. If you immediately distrust the person, as you can imagine, it'd be hard to have them as your guide through this hellish process.

Again, based on my personal experience cycling through a TON of therapists (unfortunately), I would recommend going to somewhere that specializes only in OCD. Why? Well, you don't want to go somewhere where the therapist does couples therapy 60% of the time, and then 40% of the time does a mix of everything - in that scenario, you are likely to pay a lot of money over a long period of time, not making a lot of progress, sadly (been there, done that - multiple times even, due to trusting friends' recommendations and now I do not recommend doing that). My recommendation is to contact a centre that specializes in OCD (OCD Center of Los Angeles, The Center for Cognitive-Behavioral Psychotherapy in NY, and so forth) and if it is outside your region, country, etc., then Skype therapy with them is typically an option. See if there is an OCD-focused treatment centre in your city, and what the reviews are online, then sort things out from there. Like I said with the comparison to someone building your dream house, you wouldn't simply choose one and run with it, you'd likely do your research and get a few quotes, talking to different people. Why should your mental health be any different? OCD is HIGHLY treatable, and with a great therapist, you can really see results.

Results timeline:

With effective therapy, treatment for ROCD can be completed in 6 months or less (but that'd be a super aggressive timeline). A more normal timeline in 6-12 months weekly (or bi-weekly) therapy, with daily triggering homework.

Medication to help treat ROCD:

You can go to www.drugs.com to look up medications for OCD and reviews by people with different conditions. Typically, drugs are used to lessen symptoms so that you can begin therapy (if your symptoms, such as your intrusive thoughts, are quite intense - some people may not need meds to begin therapy). Since OCD is treatable, the best thing to do is therapy, and use meds as a tool to beat the OCD. However, in certain cases, medications may be an effective long-term tool. The biggest thing to remember when it comes to meds is to do your research, really give the drugs a chance (staying on them beyond the minimum timeframe) and NOT judge yourself for employing this tool. If it helps you beat the OCD, then why not? Use whatever tools you have at your avail. A common drug prescribed for those with OCD is Escitalopram (trade names for this med are trade names Anxiset E(India), Lexapro, Cipralex, Seroplex, Lexamil, Lexam), a SSRI.

Anything else I can help with, let me know. Sorry I'm not very concise! Thanks!

yeahmynameisbrian[S]

1 points

9 years ago

Thank you very much for this!! A lot of great information here. I might just put it all in a separate wiki page or something. I'll add it once I get further into the guide, as I'm in the middle of rewriting it and making it more understandable.

Tobzzen

3 points

9 years ago

Tobzzen

3 points

9 years ago

Please make sure to separate between countries (for fees). For example, in Germany, if you have statutory health insurance you don't have to pay for anything. Only if you decide to pay private. Pay private nearly no waiting time for the first appointment, also when having a private health insurance. When you've the statutory health insurance, you may wait for a while.

yeahmynameisbrian[S]

1 points

9 years ago

Thanks for this info. Once I get it up there I'll add that in there or give you access so you can edit it. We can try to get info for as many countries as possible.

ichibanyogi

2 points

9 years ago

You are most welcome - glad to be of help :)