Outpatient OCD Treatment Near You

Are you struggling with repetitive behaviors or intrusive thoughts that affect your daily functioning? Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), a chronic mental health condition, may be the cause. Fortunately, help for people with mental health disorders is available at Rubicon Mental Health Center near you in Watchung, New Jersey. We serve individuals from New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and New York with compassionate, whole-person, evidence-based mental health care, including outpatient OCD treatment. Learn more about OCD, the symptoms and causes, and what treatment may look like at Rubicon Mental Health Center.

Key Takeaways

• Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) is a chronic mental health condition that causes recurring thoughts (obsessions) and repetitive behaviors (compulsions).
• There is no single cause of OCD, but factors like genetics, brain structure and chemistry, trauma, stress, etc., can all play a role.
• Diagnosing OCD requires a comprehensive evaluation of the patient’s symptoms and their severity.
• OCD treatment typically includes Exposure and Response Prevention (ERP) and medication, although other modalities and services may be used.
• Rubicon Mental Health Center provides outpatient OCD treatment near you in Watchung, New Jersey, including a Partial Hospitalization Program, Intensive Outpatient Program, and Outpatient Program.

What Is OCD?

Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) is a chronic mental health disorder that causes uncontrollable, recurring thoughts, known as obsessions, and repetitive behaviors or rituals, known as compulsions. Obsessions can include thoughts, images, or impulses that repeat and are not in the person’s control. Common obsession themes may include:

• Fear of contamination, germs, or bodily fluids
• Doubting whether a task has been completed, such as locking the door or turning off the stove
• A need for symmetry, exactness, or perfectionism
• Intrusive harmful, sexual, or blasphemous thoughts

Compulsions are often performed to relieve the intense anxiety caused by obsessions or to make the obsessions go away. Common compulsions include:

• Excessive cleaning, bathing, or handwashing
• Repeated checking of things, such as doors, stoves, etc.
• Arranging items in a particular order
• Mental rituals, such as silently repeating phrases
• Repeated body movements
• Doing activities in multiples

The symptoms of OCD typically take up at least 1 hour per day of the person’s life, causing them to experience significant distress, heightened anxiety, and a reduced quality of life.

How OCD Can Intensify Other Mental Health Disorders

People with OCD also often have other mental health conditions, including depression, anxiety, eating disorders, or substance use issues. OCD can significantly intensify other mental health disorders because of the overlapping neurological pathways and cyclical behavior it’s known for. The obsessions and compulsions can make the diagnosis and treatment of co-occurring conditions more complex, which may lead to heightened severity and a challenging recovery.

The Dangers of Untreated OCD

OCD is considered one of the most disabling mental health conditions because it severely affects productivity, functionality, and quality of life. If a person doesn’t get OCD treatment, their disorder can get worse progressively, affecting hours of their day and impacting work, relationships, and other areas of life. Therefore, prompt treatment is crucial to help individuals with OCD regain stability and restore a higher quality of life.

What Are the Causes and Risk Factors of OCD?

OCD is a condition that impacts people of all ages, races, genders, and backgrounds. There is no single cause of OCD, and no one group of people is more predisposed. However, researchers believe that OCD results from a combination of biological, environmental, and genetic factors. They include:

• Brain structure and chemistry: People with OCD often have structural differences in the frontal cortex and subcortical structures of the brain, as well as differences in chemicals like serotonin.
• Autoimmune reactions: In rare cases, sudden-onset OCD in children is caused by a specific bacterial infection that causes an autoimmune response called Pediatric Autoimmune Neuropsychiatric Disorders Associated with Streptococcal Infections (PANDAS).
• Genetics: OCD often runs in families, but there isn’t a single gene that causes it. People with first-degree relatives who developed OCD in their young adult lives have an increased risk of developing it.
• Trauma and stressful life events: Physical, sexual, or emotional trauma in childhood increases the risk of developing OCD symptoms later in life, while stressful life events can trigger or worsen OCD symptoms.
• Other mental health conditions: People with other mental health conditions, such as anxiety, depression, and substance abuse, have a higher risk of developing OCD.
• Personality traits: Children who are more reserved, have regular negative emotions, or display early signs of anxiety and depression are more likely to develop OCD.

Although these are common patterns in OCD diagnoses, there is still significant research being carried out to narrow down the causes and risk factors of OCD.

How Is OCD Diagnosed?

Diagnosis of OCD is fairly straightforward, although a diagnosis can only be given by a licensed mental health professional, such as a psychiatrist, psychologist, or Advanced Psychiatric Nurse Practitioner. The diagnostic process doesn’t involve tests but rather an evaluation of the individual’s symptoms. Clinicians often use certain diagnostic questionnaires to gauge symptom severity, such as the Yale-Brown Obsessive Scale (Y-BOCS) or the Mental Health America Online OCD Screening Tool.

An OCD diagnosis will be made when an individual displays obsessions and compulsions that take up a good portion of time, typically at least an hour per day. These obsessions and compulsions also interfere with the person’s daily life and functioning.

OCD Treatment at Rubicon Mental Health Center in New Jersey

There is no one-size-fits-all treatment for OCD, but first-line treatments often include Exposure and Response Prevention (ERP) therapy and medication. Other second- and third-line treatments, such as Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) and other medications, may be used if first-line treatments aren’t effective.

At Rubicon Mental Health Center, we provide evidence-based OCD treatment in a supportive outpatient setting. We have 3 main levels of care to accommodate patients who need different levels of support. They include:

• Partial Hospitalization Program (PHP): Patients attend sessions 5 days per week for 6 hours a day. Treatment often lasts 30 to 45 days.
• Intensive Outpatient Program (IOP): Patients attend sessions for a minimum of 3 days per week, but they can attend for up to 5 days. Sessions run for around 3 hours a day and typically last for 10 to 12 weeks.
• Outpatient Program: Patients attend sessions 2 to 3 days a week for 1 hour a day. The length of the program varies depending on the patient’s needs.

Patients with OCD can participate in any of our outpatient programs. We will perform a detailed clinical assessment to help determine which level of care will best meet their needs.

Therapy Modalities Used

At Rubicon Mental Health Center, our care team includes master’s-level mental health professionals, including clinicians, case managers, therapists, and psychiatric advanced practice nurses (APNs). The team collaborates to provide personalized treatment plans for each patient, addressing their emotional, psychological, and behavioral needs with compassionate, evidence-based approaches. The therapy modalities we use for OCD treatment include:

• Exposure and response prevention (ERP): ERP is the gold standard for treating OCD. It is a form of cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT)that focuses on training the brain to break the OCD cycle by confronting fears (exposure) and actively deciding not to perform compulsions (response prevention).
• Dialectical behavior therapy (DBT): DBT is a type of talk therapy that focuses on teaching skills to accept reality and successfully change unhealthy behaviors. It is often used alongside ERP.

Other modalities, including motivational interviewing (MI), holistic therapies, group therapy, and family counseling, are also often used to supplement first-line therapies.

Medication Management

Medications are another first-line treatment for OCD. Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitors (SSRIs) are effective and typically well tolerated for people with OCD. Treating OCD with SSRIs requires higher doses and longer durations of treatment than for depression or anxiety. Medication is often combined with talk therapy to provide a stronger defense against OCD symptoms. At Rubicon Mental Health Center, we provide medication management services to ensure doses are accurate, side effects are manageable, and the medication is effective.

When Is Outpatient OCD Treatment the Right Fit?

If you are dealing with OCD symptoms and are wondering if outpatient treatment is right for you, it’s helpful to consider a few factors before deciding. They include:

• Level of care: If you are in severe crisis or are at risk of hurting yourself, you likely need more supervision than outpatient care can provide. Inpatient programs might be a better fit. If you need structured support but not 24/7 monitoring, outpatient care might be ideal.
• Attendance: If you still need to work or take care of children, outpatient programs allow you to handle daily responsibilities while still getting comprehensive treatment.

Weighing these factors can help you decide whether outpatient OCD treatment is right for you. Keep in mind that Rubicon Mental Health Center offers 3 levels of outpatient care to meet you where you are.

Co-Occurring Conditions

At Rubicon Mental Health Center, we specialize in treating co-occurring mental health disorders and substance use disorders (SUDs). This means that we can treat individuals with OCD who also struggle with SUD. Our sister center, Rubicon Recovery Center, also provides dual diagnosis treatments for individuals with co-occurring mental health and substance use disorders.

We tailor each patient’s treatment plan to their individual needs and diagnoses, factoring in clinical needs, family dynamics, financial circumstances, and more. We also focus on underlying barriers that can impact care, going beyond the diagnoses to address real-life pressures that can impact both mental health and substance use recovery.

Insurance and Admissions

Insurance coverage of outpatient OCD treatment varies depending on the plan and benefits. However, OCD treatment, including ERP and psychiatric medications, is typically covered by insurance. Under federal mental health parity laws, health insurance plans must treat mental health conditions at the same level as physical health conditions.

At Rubicon Mental Health Center, we accept most major private insurance plans, including Aetna, Blue Cross Blue Shield, Cigna, and UnitedHealthcare. We offer a free insurance verification process to help you understand your benefits, coverage, and potential out-of-pocket costs. Reach out to our Admissions Department at admissions@rubiconbhc.com for more insight on insurance and admissions.

Find Help for OCD Near You in NJ, PA, & NY

Freedom from OCD symptoms is possible. Turn to Rubicon Mental Health Center near you in Watchung, NJ, where wellness is just a phone call away. We serve individuals from New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and New York, and we’re here for you 24/7. Contact us online or call (908)-678-1870 today to learn more about our OCD treatment.