OCD Counselling in Ireland

Mind Healing Counselling offers OCD counselling online across Ireland and in person in Limerick. Sessions are 50 minutes. Your first session is €40, and individual sessions after that are €80.

What OCD actually is

Obsessive-compulsive disorder has very little to do with being tidy. It’s a loop. An unwanted thought, image or urge shows up and brings a spike of anxiety, doubt or disgust. That’s the obsession. Then you do something to make the feeling go away. You check, wash, ask, count, avoid, or go over it in your head until it feels settled. That’s the compulsion.

The relief is real, but it doesn’t last. Every time the compulsion brings the anxiety down, your brain learns that the thought was dangerous and the ritual was what kept you safe. So the thought comes back louder, and the ritual has to work harder next time.

People with OCD often feel deeply ashamed of their thoughts, especially when those thoughts are violent, sexual or blasphemous. It helps to know this. Intrusive thoughts are something almost everyone has. OCD latches onto the ones that clash most with who you are, which is exactly why they’re so distressing. Having a thought is not the same as wanting it, and it says nothing about your character.

How we treat OCD

The approach with the strongest evidence for OCD is cognitive behavioural therapy with exposure and response prevention, usually shortened to ERP. It’s the treatment our work is built around.

ERP is done gradually and together. You and your counsellor map out the situations and thoughts that trigger your OCD and rank them from mildly uncomfortable to very hard. Then, starting near the bottom, you practise facing a trigger without doing the compulsion that usually follows. The anxiety rises, peaks and then settles on its own. Each time that happens, your brain collects a bit of evidence that the ritual was never what kept you safe.

You’re never thrown in at the deep end, and you set the pace. Nothing goes on the list without your agreement.

Alongside ERP, your counsellor may draw on acceptance and commitment therapy and mindfulness. These change how you relate to the thoughts themselves, so you can let them be there without having to argue with them, solve them or push them away.

Reassurance, and why we handle it differently

Asking for reassurance is one of the most common compulsions, and one of the hardest to spot. “Are you sure I locked the door?” “Do you think I’m a bad person?” Each answer brings a little relief, then the doubt comes back and needs feeding again.

So your counsellor won’t simply keep reassuring you, even though that might feel like the kind thing to do. They’ll explain why, and help you find a different way to sit with the doubt. It can feel uncomfortable at first. It’s also where a lot of the progress happens.

When the rituals happen in your head

Some people with OCD have few visible compulsions. Instead the rituals are mental: reviewing conversations, checking your feelings, praying a certain way, mentally “neutralising” a bad thought, or arguing with it until it feels resolved. This is sometimes called “Pure O”, although compulsions are still there, just out of sight.

Mental compulsions respond to the same approach. A big part of the early work is learning to notice them, because you can’t resist a ritual you haven’t spotted yet.

Who you’d see

You’ll be matched with a counsellor who has experience of working with OCD and of using ERP. Every counsellor at Mind Healing Counselling is registered with the APCP, BACP or IACP.

If you’re a parent looking for help for a teenager, our teen and adolescent counselling is for young people aged 13 to 17.

Working alongside your GP

For moderate or severe OCD, therapy and medication together can work better than either on its own. If you’re already taking medication, or you’d like to explore it, your GP is the right person to talk to. We’re happy to work alongside them.

If you’d like to read more first, our article on obsessive-compulsive disorder covers the basics.

Fees and booking

Your first session is a €40 introductory session, a chance to talk through what’s going on and decide together whether this is the right fit. Individual sessions after that are €80. Sessions take place online across Ireland or in person at our Limerick city centre office, with evening and weekend times available. Most people are seen within a week.