OCD Treatment in Los Angeles:
Exposure and Response Prevention with Experts

Our Psychologists Have Been Featured In

How OCD Keeps Itself Going

The thought lands. You push it away, neutralize it, or check to be sure. For a few minutes, the anxiety eases… and then the next thought arrives, and the loop starts over. Every ritual you complete quietly teaches your brain that the thought really was dangerous, so the next one comes back faster and louder.

The longer it runs, the more of your life it takes. Rituals that once took seconds stretch into minutes. Avoidance that started small reshapes whole weeks. And the effort of looking fine to everyone around you is its own exhausting job; most people are worn down long before they reach out. Exposure with Response Prevention (ERP) for OCD works by interrupting that loop at the one point you can actually control: what you do when the thought arrives.

How We Treat OCD at Cognitive Behavioral Therapy Los Angeles

Your first session or two go to mapping your OCD specifically, the exact obsessions, compulsions, and avoidance patterns you're caught in, so the treatment that follows targets how your OCD actually works, not a textbook version of it.

The treatment is Exposure and Response Prevention, ERP, the form of CBT with the strongest evidence for OCD. Exposure means deliberately approaching the thought or situation OCD tells you to avoid. Response prevention means resisting the compulsion you'd normally use to make the anxiety go away. Done together, week after week, ERP teaches your brain two things at once: the thought isn't dangerous, and the compulsion isn't necessary.

ERP is paced. Together with your psychologist, you build a hierarchy: your fears ranked from most to least manageable, and you start on a step you can actually complete. Each exposure you get through makes the next one easier. Nothing is sprung on you, and you don’t start at the top.

Short weekly questionnaires and exposure logs track what you're practicing and how your anxiety is responding, so we can see when the work is paying off and when the plan needs to change. Most courses of ERP here run twelve to twenty weekly sessions, depending on how complex your OCD is. By the end, you'll have a working set of exposure skills, a clear plan for the moments OCD tries to return, and a written relapse-prevention strategy you keep.

And if every version of exposure therapy you can picture feels like too much, that's exactly what the free consultation is for: to find out what your first few weeks would actually look like, before you commit to anything.

Start Feeling Better This Week.

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What to Expect

Sessions run 50 minutes, weekly to start. You can meet your psychologist in person at our Westwood/Brentwood office on Wilshire Boulevard, our Pasadena office on South Marengo, or via telehealth from anywhere in California. Evening slots are available with most therapists. Every session has the same clear shape: a quick review of the week's exposures, the active ERP work, and a specific plan for what to practice next.

CBT LA is an “out-of-network provider.” If you have PPO insurance, these plans often reimburse 50 to 80 percent of the fee when you use the superbill we provide. We also accept Health Savings Accounts and FSAs.

It all starts with a free 15-minute phone call: We’ll ask about what your OCD looks like, answer your questions, and match you with the psychologist whose specialty fits yours. And if outpatient ERP isn't what you need, we’ll tell you that on the call.

Why CBT LA for OCD

Doctoral-level expert psychologists with OCD-specific training

Every therapist at CBT LA holds a doctorate in clinical psychology, and several have advanced, OCD-specific training in ERP and related disorders. Several are faculty at top graduate psychology programs and supervise postgraduate therapists in OCD treatment. At many LA practices, the OCD specialist you meet at intake hands you off to a more junior clinician for the actual work. Here, the doctoral psychologist who knows OCD is the one you work with from session one.

Paced ERP, calibrated to where you start

Good ERP is always at your own pace. We build your hierarchy with you and begin with exposures you can actually manage, then climb from there. The version of ERP that scares people off — the clinician who throws you at your worst fear in week two — isn't what evidence-based treatment looks like, and it isn't what happens here.

Measurement at every session

Brief weekly questionnaires and session ratings show whether your symptoms are easing in the areas you're working on. If the numbers stall, the plan changes. It's also how we know when treatment is genuinely done, so sessions end at the right point, instead of drifting on out of habit.

If you want to see what a graded exposure plan would look like for your OCD in particular, that's exactly what the consultation call is for.

Stop Avoiding And Start Your Comeback Today.

Frequently Asked Questions

Does ERP actually work for OCD?

ERP is the most-studied treatment for OCD, with a large, consistent research base across subtypes. No therapy can promise a specific result for any one person, but the evidence behind ERP is stronger than for any other approach to OCD, including talk therapy or medication alone.

My OCD is a specific subtype. Will the clinician understand it?

Yes. Several of our doctoral psychologists work specifically with contamination, harm, scrupulosity, relationship OCD, just-right OCD, and HOCD. Intrusive thoughts about harm, sex, religion, or relationships aren't wishes or desires; they're simply the content OCD latches onto, and treatment works the same way no matter which theme it picks.

I'm afraid of even starting exposure therapy. What then?

That's how most people arrive, and it doesn't disqualify you from treatment. We don't open with exposures. We begin by mapping what OCD is doing in your life and building your hierarchy together. When the first exposures come, they're set to feel challenging but doable. Nothing is ever sprung on you.

What if I've already done ERP and it didn't work?

Bring it up on the call. ERP often stalls when it's run without a complete response-prevention plan, or when it targets the wrong compulsion. We'll ask what you did, what shifted and what didn't, and tell you honestly whether what we'd do differently is worth your time.

What if outpatient ERP isn't the right level of care?

We'll tell you on the consultation call and point you to the right place. Very severe mental health problems or active safety concerns can call for a higher level of care, like an intensive outpatient program. We know the providers across Southern California who do that work well. We'd rather refer you to the right fit than start treatment that isn't the right fit.

Start With a Free 15-Minute Call

OCD has a way of making the smallest next step feel impossible. So we've made this one as small as it gets: a free 15-minute phone call. You'll tell us about what you’d like help with, and we’ll listen, answer whatever questions you want to ask, and match you with the right doctoral psychologist in Westwood, Pasadena, or by telehealth across California. No charge, and no obligation to book anything else.

And if outpatient ERP isn't the right level of care for you, we'll tell you that too, and help you find what is.

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Reviewed by Dr. Albert Bonfil, PsyD.
Updated June 2026.

Learn More About Types of OCD

Contamination OCD

Harm OCD

Checking OCD

Sexual Orientation OCD

Peer-reviewed Articles Cited:

*Simpson HB, Foa EB, Liebowitz MR, Ledley DR, Huppert JD, Cahill S, Vermes D, Schmidt AB, Hembree E, Franklin M, Campeas R, Hahn CG, Petkova E. A randomized, controlled trial of cognitive-behavioral therapy for augmenting pharmacotherapy in obsessive-compulsive disorder. Am J Psychiatry. 2008;165(5):621–630. doi:10.1176/appi.ajp.2007.07091440

**Foa EB, Liebowitz MR, Kozak MJ, Davies S, Campeas R, Franklin ME, Huppert JD, Kjernisted K, Rowan V, Schmidt AB, Simpson HB, Tu X. Randomized, placebo-controlled trial of exposure and ritual prevention, clomipramine, and their combination in the treatment of obsessive-compulsive disorder. Am J Psychiatry. 2005;162(1):151–161. doi:10.1176/appi.ajp.162.1.151