OCD & Co-Occurring PTSD+OCD

Overcoming OCD & Co-Occurring PTSD with a Gentle, Effective Approach

OCD isn't about being tidy or particular. It's an exhausting cycle of intrusive thoughts, anxiety, and mental or behavioral rituals that feel impossible to stop. You might find yourself constantly questioning your memory, your morality, your safety—endlessly seeking relief from uncertainty. The more you try to feel certain, the more trapped you become in doubt.

When OCD and trauma show up together, it can feel like fighting battles on multiple fronts. Your nervous system stays on high alert from past experiences, and OCD latches onto that fear, creating loops of "what if" thinking and compulsive reassurance. You may feel disconnected from your body, unsure of your own intuition, constantly scanning for danger both inside and out.

What Is I-CBT?

I use Inference-Based Cognitive Therapy (I-CBT), a gentle, evidence-based approach that helps you see OCD for what it truly is: a problem of doubt and misapplied logic, not danger. Instead of relying on exposure therapy, which can feel harsh or retraumatizing, I-CBT invites you to understand how your mind was tricked into believing the "what if."

Through this process, you'll learn to:

• Recognize how OCD creates false stories that feel real but aren't grounded in reality

• Strengthen your trust in your senses, reasoning, and present-moment awareness

• Step out of compulsions and mental checking by shifting from fear to clarity

• Rebuild confidence in yourself and your decision-making

The I-CBT model unfolds over twelve modules, each building insight and confidence. It's structured enough to provide direction but flexible enough to meet you where you are.

When Trauma and OCD Intersect

Trauma and OCD often share the same nervous system roots: fear, control, and the drive to prevent something bad from happening again. For many people, intrusive thoughts echo the themes of earlier experiences—responsibility, safety, contamination, harm, or loss of control.

That's why healing OCD can't just focus on the mind. The body needs to be included, too. When your body feels safe, your thoughts soften.

I integrate I-CBT with trauma-focused approaches such as:

Somatic Experiencing & Nervous System Regulation
We'll work with the body to release stored survival energy and re-establish a felt sense of safety. This reduces the baseline dysregulation that fuels obsessive doubt.

Parts Work - Internal Family Systems (IFS)
You may have parts of yourself that hold fear, shame, or responsibility from the past. IFS helps you approach these parts with compassion—as younger aspects of you that need care and understanding.