Treatment of
Obsessive Compulsive Disorder
Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD) has high comorbidity with Eating Disorders. In order to provide the best treatment to address our clients’ needs, Opal is now providing adjunctive Exposure Response Prevention (ER
How is Opal treating
OCD ?
Opal is offering Exposure and Response Prevention (ERP), which is a highly regarded treatment for Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD). ERP is being integrated into the Partial Hospitalization Program and Intensive Outpatient Program weekly group offerings and collaborative care is provided by the ERP specialist and the individual client’s treatment team.
Opal provides psychoeducation about OCD & ERP and conducts OCD assessments upon admission. Additionally, we offer support with hierarchy building and opportunities for staff supported exposure work in a weekly group setting.
What are the signs and symptoms of OCD?
Symptoms of OCD include obsessions, which are persistent, intrusive, and unwanted thoughts,urges, or images. Clients typically engage in compulsions in response to the obsessions, in an attempt to alleviate anxiety.
Avoidance of uncertainty and low distress tolerance are associated with OCD. Intrusive thoughts may include any of the following fears: contamination, imperfection, harm to oneself or others, forgetting/loss, and sexual deviancy.
How does Exposure and Response Prevention (ERP) work?
- Assessment: Our trained therapists conduct a thorough assessment to understand each client’s unique experiences with OCD.
- Gradual Exposure: An exposure hierarchy is created so the client can start with less distressing situations and gradually work toward more challenging exposures.
- Response Prevention: During exposure work, clients practice resisting the compulsive behaviors and increasing tolerance for distressing emotions that may follow the intrusive thoughts.
- Support and Guidance: Throughout the ERP process, our staff provides support, encouragement, and guidance, helping clients navigate challenging emotions.
What are the potential benefits of ERP?
Distress Tolerance: Over time, ERP helps reduce the distress associated with obsessive thoughts.
Increased Functionality: Confronting fears can help clients engage more freely in daily activities and improve quality of life.
Opal's Approach to theTreatment of Eating Disorders
The treatment of eating disorders is individualized. We take a holistic approach to treatment that allows for healing to be done in community and in individual sessions. We believe eating disorders develop to serve a function for an individual. Opal’s staff come alongside our clients to better understand those “whys” and find new ways to cope and live life without an eating disorder. We offer three levels of care at our Seattle clinic. Overall, our treatment model includes:
- Individual therapy, nutrition counseling, psychiatry, exercise experientials and family therapy available at the PHP and IOP levels of care.
- Health at Every Size, weight-neutral treatment approach
- Non-diet approach to food. Meals and snacks provided offer a wide variety of foods (highly processed, fresh, organic, non-organic, home-cooked, frozen, easy to prepare, etc.)
- Eating at meals and snacks are done with other clients and staff, as a community.
- A belief that adequate food intake is a foundational step in recovery.
- Exercise + Sport programming, which addresses exercise bulimia, exercise avoidance, and other exercise concerns
- Radically Open Dialectical Behavioral Therapy as a foundational treatment
- Group therapy including body wisdom group, movement group, self-inquiry, process groups, facing fears and more.
- Teaching/Didactic groups including Radically Open Dialectical Therapy, Acceptance and Commitment Therapy, Exercise + Sport Didactic, Health at Every Size Didactic, etc.
- Non-clinical lodging for PHP clients to use while in treatment is available for a weekly fee, as space available.
- Outpatient groups