Therapy for Anxiety & OCD
Wouldn’t it be nice if your mind had an “off” switch?
Signs You Might Be Struggling:
Understanding Anxiety & OCD
Anxiety:
Racing thoughts and constant worry about the future
"What if" thoughts that spiral out of control
Replaying conversations or events from the past
Feelings of dread or doom you can't shake
Restlessness or difficulty relaxing, even when you have time
Panic attacks with rapid heartbeat, shortness of breath, or chest tightness
Physical symptoms like tension, fatigue, or stomach issues
Lying awake at 2 a.m. mentally rewriting your to-do list
Feeling like your mind has no "off switch"
Avoiding situations because the anxiety feels too overwhelming
OCD (Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder):
Intrusive, unwanted thoughts that feel disturbing or frightening
Checking behaviors to make sure something bad didn't or won't happen ("Did I lock the door?" "Is the straightener unplugged?")
Repeating actions until they feel "just right"
Constant Googling of symptoms, fears, or reassurance
Replaying events or memories over and over in your head ("Did I say something stupid?" "Did I offend someone?")
Intrusive thoughts about loved ones dying or getting hurt
"What if" thoughts about losing control or doing something harmful ("What if I hurt my baby/dog/partner/self?")
Seeking reassurance from others repeatedly
Trying to "stop" or suppress certain thoughts
Mental rituals or compulsions that others can't see
Hyperfocusing on parts of your body or bodily sensations
Doubting your intentions, desires, relationships, or sense of self ("Does this thought mean I want to do that?" "How do I know they're the one?" "Am I real?")
A sense of hyper-responsibility to prevent bad things from happening
Our Approach To Anxiety & OCD Treatment
The "what ifs" follow you everywhere. You check, you replay, you seek reassurance—but the relief never lasts.
Whether you're struggling with racing thoughts, constant worry, intrusive thoughts, compulsive behaviors, or panic, you're not broken. Your brain is stuck in a pattern that can be changed. At MWC, we offer specialized, evidence-based anxiety and OCD therapy in Maryland and Pennsylvania to help you break the cycle and reclaim your life.
Anxiety: Your Brain Trying to Keep You Safe
Here's the thing: your brain isn't that concerned with your happiness. It's designed to keep you alive. That means if you're experiencing racing thoughts, constant worry, panic, or physical symptoms like rapid heartbeat and restlessness, you're not broken. Your brain is doing what it's designed to do: protect you.
The bad news? Our brains haven't evolved to deal with modern stressors. Your brain doesn’t know the difference between being hunted by a lion or sending an email. The survival system designed to help our ancestors escape predators now fires off in response to emails, social situations, and everyday uncertainties. Anxiety is an adaptive system that was never designed to make us happy, just safe.
That's why breathing techniques alone aren't enough. Anxiety is often a physiological experience influenced by sleep, nutrition, movement, hormones, and environmental stressors. Effective treatment addresses both the body and the mind.
OCD: The Doubting Disorder
OCD (Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder) is as common as it is misunderstood. Often called "the doubting disorder," OCD leads you to question your senses, your memories, your intentions, and even who you are.
OCD involves obsessions (distressing thoughts or doubts) and compulsions (mental or physical actions done to feel safer or more certain). Many people spend 7-10 years before getting properly diagnosed, and about 50% of cases are initially misdiagnosed. That's because OCD is tricky, highly individualized, and often invisible.
OCD doesn't always look like excessive cleaning or neatness. Many compulsions are mental acts that others can't see, like replaying events, mental checking, seeking reassurance, or trying to suppress thoughts.
What OCD is NOT:
A love for organization
Washing your hands a lot
An adjective ("I'm so OCD about this")
Being "obsessed" with something (like a new song)
Able to be "talked out of"
Responsive to suggestions to "just relax" or "stop worrying"
Note: While OCD can contain some elements of the above, none of these behaviors alone constitute OCD.
Struggling with anxiety or OCD while pregnant or postpartum?
At McNulty Wellness Collective, we don't just treat symptoms, we help you understand your brain, work with it, and move forward despite uncertainty.
You need a therapist trained in OCD treatment, not just general talk therapy. We use specialized, evidence-based approaches including:
I-CBT (Inference-Based Cognitive Behavioral Therapy): addresses obsessional reasoning and de-mystifies doubt, so that we are able to stop buying into the stories our mind tells us. Extremely effective for mental compulsions
ERP (Exposure and Response Prevention): long considered the gold standard for OCD treatment, helpful for physical compulsions
ACT (Acceptance and Commitment Therapy): changes your relationship with our internal experiences (thoughts, feelings, sensations)
Whole-body, integrative approach: addresses lifestyle, biology, and the mind-body connection
Frequently Asked Questions:
What is the difference between anxiety and OCD?
1
Anxiety involves excessive worry about real-life concerns (work, health, relationships) and often includes physical symptoms like restlessness, tension, and panic. OCD involves unwanted thoughts or doubts (obsessions) and repetitive behaviors or mental rituals (compulsions) done to reduce anxiety or prevent something bad from happening. With OCD, the thoughts feel egodystonic (not aligned with your values), and compulsions provide only temporary relief, creating a vicious cycle.
What is I-CBT and how is it different from regular CBT?
2
I-CBT (Inference-Based Cognitive Behavioral Therapy) is a specialized approach for OCD that focuses on the reasoning process behind obsessions. Instead of doing exposures, I-CBT helps you understand how obsessional doubt develops and teaches you to trust your own judgment again. It's particularly helpful for people who struggle with traditional ERP or who have primarily mental compulsions.
Can you have OCD without compulsions?
3
Sort of. This is often called “Pure O” OCD which is a bit of a misnomer, because OCD always involves compulsions, but sometimes, you can’t see them. This might include mental reviewing, rumination, mental checking, reassurance-seeking through research, or trying to "figure out" if a thought is true. These mental compulsions are just as much a part of OCD as physical rituals, but they're invisible to others—which is why “Pure O” is often misdiagnosed as generalized anxiety.
What is health anxiety and is it a type of OCD?
4
Health anxiety (formerly called hypochondriasis) involves excessive worry about having or developing a serious illness. It can exist on its own or be a subtype of OCD. With health anxiety, you might constantly check your body for symptoms, Google diseases excessively, or seek repeated medical reassurance. If you're engaging in compulsions (checking, researching, reassurance-seeking) in response to health fears, it's likely OCD, and is treated well with I-CBT.
What is perinatal OCD and how is it different from postpartum anxiety?
5
Perinatal (pregnancy through postpartum) OCD often involves unwanted thoughts about your baby (often about harm, contamination, or something terrible happening), doubts about safety, and compulsive behaviors done to reduce anxiety, like excessive checking if the baby is breathing, seeking constant reassurance, avoiding being alone with the baby, or mentally reviewing to make sure you didn't hurt them. Although perinatal OCD often focuses on a baby, it doesn’t always. Pregnancy and postpartum increase vulnerability to developing OCD, and can focus on anything.
Postpartum anxiety involves general worry and physical symptoms like restlessness or panic, but without the intrusive thoughts and compulsions that define OCD. Perinatal OCD can start during pregnancy or postpartum and affects up to 11% of new mothers. It's treatable with specialized therapy, and having these thoughts doesn't mean you're dangerous, it means you care deeply about your baby's safety.
You don't need to fight your thoughts. You need to stop believing them.
Online Therapy for Anxiety and OCD in Maryland and Pennsylvania
We offer secure, HIPAA-compliant virtual therapy sessions throughout Maryland, Pennsylvania, South Carolina and Vermont. Whether you're in Baltimore, Bethesda, Annapolis, Rockville, Philadelphia, or anywhere else in these states, you can access compassionate, specialized care from the comfort of your home.
Let’s help anxiety stop running your life. Together, we'll make your life about the things you care about instead.