My Experience
I have been providing therapy for individuals with OCD for more than a decade. Over this time, I have worked in an Intensive Outpatient Program for individuals with OCD, founded and run a group practice focused on outpatient mental health treatment for individuals with OCD, and, most recently, devoted myself to my solo private practice focused on OCD treatment.
Throughout my career as an OCD specialist, I have devoted myself to training other practitioners in OCD treatment. I have developed and run trainings, both in-person and virtually, on Exposure and Response Prevention (ERP) and Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT). Most recently, I have shifted my training focus to helping providers learn Inference-Based Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (I-CBT).
I also maintain a YouTube channel, called OCD Space, devoted to providing both clients and mental health therapists with a free resource for learning the basics of I-CBT.
My Training
I have received extensive training in a variety of evidence-based approaches to OCD treatment. Here are some of the most notable:
Inference-Based CBT Overview (6 hours) conducted by Amanda Petrik-Gardner LCPC, 2024
Inference-Based CBT Overview (9 hours) conducted by Kate Goldhouse LCSW, 2022
Rumination-Focused ERP (6 hours) conducted by Michael Greenberg PhD, 2021
Advanced Forum BTTI Training (21 hours) focused on advanced OCD topics including Autism and Hoarding, 2017
Pediatric BTTI Training (21 hours) conducted by Eric Storch PhD, and multiple other experts, 2016
General BTTI Training (21 hours) conducted by Alec Pollard PhD, 2015
I regularly attend yearly conferences run by the International OCD Foundation (IOCDF) and the Anxiety and Depression Association of America (ADAA). I also participate in regular supervision and consultation with expert mentors in the field.
My Credentials
I received my Masters in Social Work from Portland State University in Oregon in 2010. As part of my training, I completed internships at the Domestic Violence Resource Center and the Portland State University Student Counseling Center.
I received my Bachelor's Degree from Penn State University in an unrelated field (Comparative Literature) in 1998 before embarking on a path of helping others in the social services and eventually pursuing formal clinical training.
As a Licensed Clinical Social Worker (LCSW), I must maintain my credentials by pursuing 30 credits of continued education every 2 years.
My Approach
As a trainer, I am committed to taking what can seem like complicated treatment concepts and making them easily understandable and relatable to providers of all experience levels. I also firmly believe that, when clinicians understand a treatment on a foundational level, providing the treatment to clients becomes easy and intuitive. For this reason, I make sure to help trainees understand the theory of treatment just as much as the basic skills of treatment.
I genuinely enjoy thinking about the nature of OCD, and its treatment, and I believe that this passion comes through in all of my trainings.