Therapy for OCD in Ottawa

Living with obsessive compulsive disorder can feel exhausting and consuming.

Thoughts may repeat no matter how hard you try to push them away. Urges can feel urgent and difficult to resist. For many people in Ottawa, these experiences unfold alongside high-responsibility roles, structured workplaces, and expectations to perform with precision.

Tiny Therapy Collective offers OCD therapy, with both virtual sessions across Ontario and in-person appointments at select locations. Our approach is compassionate, evidence-based, and grounded in respect for your lived experience.

What Obsessive Compulsive Disorder Actually Is

Obsessive compulsive disorder is not about being overly neat or particular. OCD involves intrusive, unwanted thoughts, images, or urges called obsessions, along with repetitive behaviours or mental rituals called compulsions. These behaviours are attempts to reduce anxiety, prevent harm, or feel certain in moments of doubt.

In a city like Ottawa, where attention to detail, accountability, and correctness are often emphasized, obsessive thinking can feel especially convincing and hard to challenge.

Common Signs and Symptoms of OCD

OCD can affect people in many different ways. Common experiences include:

  • Intrusive thoughts that feel disturbing, frightening, or out of character

  • Strong urges to check, clean, repeat, count, or seek reassurance

  • Fear of making mistakes or causing harm

  • Persistent doubts about safety, morality, or responsibility

  • Mental rituals such as reviewing conversations or replaying scenarios

  • Avoidance of people, places, or tasks that trigger anxiety

  • Brief relief after rituals, followed by anxiety returning

These symptoms are not a personal failing. They reflect a nervous system stuck in a heightened state of alert.

Meet Our Therapists Who Specialize in OCD

Why OCD Happens

Obsessive compulsive disorder develops through a combination of biological, emotional, and environmental factors.

Nervous System Patterns

OCD is associated with an overactive threat response. The brain becomes highly attuned to possible risks and slow to settle, even when there is no immediate danger.

Emotional Contributors

Feelings such as fear, guilt, shame, or responsibility often play a role. Many people with OCD feel a strong internal pressure to prevent mistakes or negative outcomes.

Cognitive Patterns

OCD is often linked to difficulty tolerating uncertainty, a strong desire for clarity, and a tendency to overestimate the consequences of getting things wrong.

Environmental Stressors

Ottawa is home to many public service, healthcare, academic, and policy-focused roles. These environments often involve high standards, accountability, and decision-making under scrutiny, which can intensify obsessive thinking and compulsive coping strategies.

Neurodivergence

Some people with OCD also identify as neurodivergent. Differences in attention, sensory processing, or emotional regulation can influence how OCD shows up and what support feels most helpful.

Trauma History

Past experiences of trauma or chronic stress can heighten threat sensitivity and increase vulnerability to intrusive thoughts and rigid coping patterns.

How OCD Affects Daily Life

OCD can gradually take over daily routines. Time and energy may be consumed by checking, reviewing, or avoiding situations that trigger anxiety. Sleep, concentration, and relationships can all be affected.

In Ottawa, OCD may interfere with maintaining focus at work, managing academic responsibilities, navigating professional environments that value precision, or balancing productivity with rest. Over time, life can begin to feel narrow and controlled by anxiety rather than choice.

How Therapy Helps with OCD

Effective therapy for OCD focuses on helping the nervous system learn safety, increasing flexibility around thoughts, and reducing the need for compulsive responses.

At Tiny Therapy Collective, therapists provide evidence-based virtual OCD therapy across Ontario and in-person sessions at select locations, depending on availability and fit.

Cognitive Behavioural Therapy

CBT helps identify unhelpful thinking patterns, reduce compulsive behaviours, and develop more flexible responses to intrusive thoughts.

Dialectical Behaviour Therapy

DBT skills support emotional regulation and distress tolerance, which can be especially helpful when OCD feels intense or overwhelming.

Mindfulness

Mindfulness helps create distance from intrusive thoughts, allowing them to be noticed without needing to engage or act on them.

Behavioural Activation

Gradually returning to avoided activities supports confidence and reduces the grip of anxiety over time.

Strengths-Based and Trauma-Informed Care

Therapy builds on your existing strengths, honours your lived experience, and proceeds at a pace that feels respectful and collaborative.

Exposure-based strategies may be incorporated when appropriate, with careful preparation and consent.

Everyday Strategies You Can Try

While therapy provides individualized support, some people find these strategies helpful:

  • Noticing intrusive thoughts without trying to solve them

  • Practicing brief delays before engaging in compulsions

  • Reducing reassurance-seeking from others

  • Using grounding techniques to support nervous system regulation

  • Writing thoughts down instead of mentally replaying them

  • Building routines that include rest and recovery

These strategies are about creating flexibility, not forcing change.

When to Consider Therapy for OCD

You may want to consider therapy if:

  • OCD symptoms interfere with work, school, or daily functioning

  • Anxiety feels constant or difficult to manage

  • Rituals or avoidance are increasing over time

  • You feel stuck in cycles you cannot shift on your own

  • Symptoms are affecting relationships or overall wellbeing

Support can help restore balance and create more space for meaningful engagement in your life in Ottawa.

Meet Tiny Therapy Collective Therapists Who Can Help

Tiny Therapy Collective is a psychotherapy practice serving Ottawa and communities across Ontario. We offer virtual therapy across Ontario and in-person sessions at select locations. Our therapists have experience supporting individuals with obsessive compulsive disorder, anxiety, and related concerns.

Book a Free 15-Minute Consultation

Taking the first step can feel intimidating. We offer a free 15-minute consultation to help you ask questions, share what you are experiencing, and explore whether therapy at Tiny Therapy Collective feels like the right fit.

Support is available in a way that aligns with your life and needs.

Meet with an OCD Specialist Today