West Vancouver EMDR for OCD
Breaking Free From Obsessions and Compulsions
You check the stove seventeen times before leaving the house. You wash your hands until they bleed. Intrusive thoughts about harming someone you love make you sick with guilt even though you'd never actually do it. You've tried traditional OCD treatment - exposure response prevention, cognitive behavioral therapy - and maybe it helped a bit, but you're still trapped in the cycle. The obsessions won't shut up and the compulsions control your life. West Vancouver EMDR for OCD offers a different approach that targets the anxiety and traumatic experiences underlying your obsessive-compulsive disorder, not just the symptoms themselves.
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Creekside Counselling works with OCD sufferers throughout West Vancouver - from Dundarave to British Properties - who are exhausted from years of rituals, avoidance, and intrusive thoughts that won't quit. EMDR therapy helps process the root anxiety and trauma feeding your OCD so you can finally break free.
Benefits of EMDR for OCD
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Traditional OCD treatment focuses on exposure and response prevention - deliberately triggering your obsessions and then stopping yourself from doing compulsions. It works for lots of people, but it's hard as hell and doesn't address WHY you developed OCD in the first place. EMDR for OCD takes a different angle by targeting the underlying anxiety and any traumatic experiences that triggered or worsened your symptoms.
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Research shows many people with OCD have underlying trauma or adverse childhood experiences that contributed to developing the disorder. Maybe you grew up in an unpredictable household where you tried to control things through rituals. Maybe you experienced something traumatic and your brain latched onto compulsions as a way to feel safe. EMDR processes those foundational experiences so they stop fueling your OCD.
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EMDR also targets the disgust, fear, and shame that power obsessive thoughts. That feeling of contamination that drives washing compulsions. The terror that something bad will happen if you don't check enough times. The moral disgust from intrusive violent or sexual thoughts. EMDR helps your brain reprocess these emotions at their source instead of just white-knuckling through exposures.
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For people with specific traumatic triggers for their OCD - like developing contamination fears after a serious illness, or checking compulsions after a house fire - EMDR directly processes those triggering events. Once the trauma is resolved, the OCD symptoms often decrease significantly because the brain isn't stuck in threat mode anymore.
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EMDR for OCD works faster than years of traditional therapy for many people. Instead of endless exposure exercises, you're addressing root causes. Most clients notice their anxiety baseline dropping, which makes obsessions less intense and compulsions easier to resist. You're not just managing OCD - you're actually healing what's driving it.
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The approach also helps with the shame spiral that makes OCD worse. People with OCD often feel crazy, broken, or like they're the only one with these horrifying thoughts. Processing the shame and self-judgment through EMDR reduces that secondary suffering on top of the OCD itself.
Creekside Counselling's EMDR Approach for OCD
We don't jump straight into EMDR processing. First sessions involve understanding your specific OCD presentation - what are your main obsessions and compulsions, when did they start, what makes them better or worse, have you had previous treatment, what's your anxiety baseline, are there any obvious traumatic triggers.
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OCD comes in lots of flavors. Contamination fears and washing. Harm obsessions and checking. Pure-O where it's all mental compulsions and rumination. Symmetry and ordering. Religious or moral scrupulosity. We tailor treatment to your specific type and triggers.
Before EMDR processing, we build your distress tolerance and coping skills. If your anxiety is through the roof, we need to get it somewhat manageable first. We also identify your resources - times when you feel calm, places that feel safe, supportive people - that we can bring up during EMDR if processing gets too intense.
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Our EMDR approach for OCD targets multiple layers. We process any identified traumatic memories that triggered or worsened your OCD. We target the disgust, fear, and shame underlying your obsessions. We address the beliefs driving compulsions - like "if I don't check, someone will die" or "having this thought means I'm evil." And we install adaptive beliefs to replace the dysfunctional ones.
Here's how EMDR sessions work for OCD: You bring up whatever we're targeting - could be a traumatic memory, an intrusive thought, the feeling of contamination, or the anxiety driving your compulsions. You notice where you feel it in your body and what negative belief connects to it. Then you process using bilateral stimulation (eye movements, tapping, or alternating sounds) in short sets while observing what comes up.
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Processing might bring up emotions, memories, body sensations, or insights about where your OCD came from. All of that is information your brain is working through. We keep going until the distress drops and you can think about the trigger without the same level of anxiety.
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Between sessions, you might notice compulsions getting easier to resist, obsessions losing their grip, or your anxiety baseline dropping. Some people also notice old memories or patterns surfacing - that's your brain continuing to process. We work with whatever emerges.
We combine EMDR with exposure response prevention when helpful. Once we've processed underlying trauma and anxiety, traditional ERP becomes way easier because you're not fighting the same level of baseline fear. Some clients need minimal exposure work after EMDR, others benefit from combining both approaches.
Pricing Information
EMDR sessions for OCD are $165 per 50-minute session. We typically meet weekly during active treatment, sometimes more often if you're doing intensive work and handling it well.
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Treatment length depends on your OCD severity and how much trauma we're addressing. Some people see significant improvement in 12-20 sessions. Complex OCD with lots of underlying trauma takes longer - maybe 30-50 sessions. We go at your pace and adjust based on what you're dealing with.
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We provide receipts for insurance reimbursement. Most extended health plans in BC cover registered clinical counselors. Check your benefits - lots of West Vancouver employers offer good mental health coverage you might not even know about.
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Some people qualify for additional support programs depending on their situation. We can help figure out what's available if cost is a barrier to getting help.
Areas We Serve
We're located in West Vancouver and work with OCD clients throughout the North Shore including all West Van neighborhoods - Horseshoe Bay, Dundarave, Ambleside, Eagle Harbour, Caulfeild, Whitby Estates, British Properties, Cypress Village, Gleneagles, Bayridge, Chartwell.
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We also see OCD clients from North Vancouver, Lions Bay, and throughout Greater Vancouver who need specialized EMDR treatment for obsessive-compulsive disorder. Many people drive from further away because there aren't tons of therapists who combine EMDR with OCD treatment.
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Virtual EMDR sessions available and work just as well as in-person. Some OCD sufferers actually prefer online sessions because their contamination fears make coming to an office really difficult, or because the privacy of being home feels safer for processing shame-based obsessions.
Frequently Asked Questions About EMDR for OCD
I thought EMDR was only for PTSD. Does it actually work for OCD?
EMDR was developed for PTSD but works for lots of conditions involving stuck anxiety and traumatic experiences, including OCD. Research shows it's effective, especially when OCD has underlying trauma or when traditional treatments haven't worked well. It targets the root anxiety and shame driving obsessions and compulsions, not just the surface symptoms.
Will EMDR replace exposure response prevention or do I need both?
Depends on your situation. Some people do EMDR and their OCD improves enough that they don't need formal ERP. Others do EMDR first to process trauma and reduce baseline anxiety, then add ERP which becomes way easier. We figure out what combination works best for you.
What if my OCD doesn't have an obvious trauma cause?
You don't need a single traumatic event for EMDR to help. We can target the disgust, fear, and shame underlying your obsessions directly, even without a specific trauma memory. We also process the cumulative stress or adverse experiences that contributed to your brain developing OCD as a coping mechanism.
Can EMDR make my OCD worse or trigger more intrusive thoughts?
It's normal to have some increased anxiety or intrusive thoughts between sessions as your brain processes. That actually shows the work is happening. We prepare you with coping skills first and never push faster than you're ready for. If processing brings up too much, we slow down and stabilize before continuing.
How is EMDR for OCD different from regular OCD therapy?
Traditional OCD therapy focuses on exposures and stopping compulsions through willpower and practice. EMDR addresses why your brain got stuck in the OCD pattern in the first place - the underlying trauma, anxiety, or adverse experiences. By processing those root causes, symptoms often improve without as much grinding exposure work.
What if my OCD is mostly mental compulsions and rumination?
EMDR works great for Pure-O and rumination-based OCD. We target the anxiety driving the mental compulsions and the shame around intrusive thoughts. Processing helps your brain stop getting stuck in the rumination loops because we're addressing what fuels them at the source.
Will you make me do exposure exercises I'm terrified of?
We go at your pace always. EMDR often reduces anxiety enough that exposures you were terrified of become manageable. We might incorporate some exposure work but never force you into anything you're not ready for. The goal is healing, not torturing you with scary exposures before you're stable enough.
How long before I notice my OCD getting better?
Varies a lot. Some people notice their anxiety baseline dropping within a few sessions, making compulsions easier to resist. Others need more processing time before symptoms shift. Most clients see meaningful improvement by 10-15 sessions, but complex OCD takes longer. We track your progress together and adjust our approach if things aren't moving.
You don't have to be controlled by obsessions and compulsions for the rest of your life. West Vancouver EMDR for OCD helps you process what's driving your symptoms so you can finally break free. Book your consultation today and let's talk about whether this approach is right for your OCD.