OCD therapist versus not?

I have both. After years of not getting the proper therapy for OCD, I can't imagine not having one specific to OCD. Not only do most therapists not know how to treat OCD, they often accidently help you with compulsions. So I was able to keep both and I'm thankful. One for OCD, one for life. But if I could only have one, I'd get an OCD related one if my OCD was seriously affecting my life.

I saw a few talk therapists before I was diagnosed with OCD, then switched to NOCD, and I am so glad I did. OCD therapists will specialize in ERP, which will help you learn tools to navigate and handle your OCD. You generally don’t get that with a non-OCD therapist. Do you work with your current therapist on things that aren’t OCD related? Do you feel like you make progress, or you continue to repeat certain situations or go in circles over them?

You need a therapist who specializes in OCD. I was in a similar situation where my therapist of 10 years unintentionally made my OCD worse. The new therapist I found was much better and had a more solid foundation of OCD treatment, but STILL is providing treatment strategies that are making it harder to recover at times. She refuses to reassure me but is also focusing too much on challenging my thoughts and changing my beliefs- which is essentially rumination in the long run. See an OCD specialist because it will be difficult to know if your new therapist is doing the absolute best treatment plan for you until it fails you…. Sorry I know that’s harsh but I wish someone would have helped me find a specialist and be able to learn these ERP strategies a long long time ago. I think my suffering and the severity of my themes would be a lot less

I began my mental health journey a little over a year ago. My first therapist is very good, but he was a traditional talk therapist. Looking back he was very transparent with me up front that he was not an OCD specialist, but I didn’t realize the significance of that until I met with an OCD therapist. To me, it was the difference between talking about my obsessions and compulsions each week and actually doing something about them with ERP treatment. The process seemed to go a lot quicker when there was someone there to hold me accountable.

I think is is SUPER important to not only get a therapist who specializes in OCD, but to get one who is trained in ERP therapy in particular. Let me tell you why. A lot of therapists can be well-meaning, but OCD is its own beast. A lot of advice that works for other things just doesn't work for OCD (or can even be counter-productive). So it's really important to get someone who understands OCD. Among therapists who treat OCD, a certain segment are trained in ERP therapy. You need to find one of those people. ERP is usually where everyone ends up. (Like I said, a lot of other therapies simply don't work.) ERP is research based, and it has been proven to be effective. In fact, NOCD itself was founded on the principle that EVERY person should have access to ERP therapy (because it is so effective against OCD.)