‘Integrative’ at the core of what we do
Integrative = combining two or more things to form an effective unit or system.
The Latin root of the word “integrate” is “integrare,” which means “to make whole.”
Our approach is rooted in the evidence based treatment for OCD. The Cognitive Behavioural Therapy approach - Exposure and Response Prevention Therapy (ERP) is seen as the ‘gold standard’ therapy for OCD, and so all of our therapists have a solid foundation in ERP. Alongside that we are at the cutting edge of OCD therapy and so we use other newer evidence based therapies like Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT). We are also exploring newer therapeutic approaches that show promise in the treatment of OCD such as Inference-Based Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (I-CBT), Metacognitive Therapy and Functional Analytical Psychotherapy (FAP).
We are deeply guided by the principles of Compassion based therapies in our approach. We utilize Compassion Focused Therapy, which has shown promise in clinical trials for treatment resistant OCD. This means we work with clients to create an empathic and supportive environment to work on OCD recovery and we help clients increase their sense of self-kindness and compassion. OCD recovery work is challenging and we find the value of compassion to be incredibly supportive to the process.
We are an integrative therapy practice, meaning we bring together an integration of the best practice approaches from multiple therapies. Alongside the evidence based approaches for OCD above, we use other therapy approaches that emphasise treating the whole person and also not seeing the person as broken, but rather a whole person experiencing difficulties. This means at the heart of our work, we see therapy as a relational process set in the client’s world, where the person's context, history and relational difficulties all feed into the system surrounding the OCD. These other factors can increase the stress on the individual that can exacerbate symptoms. When worked on, this means the client can have a supportive context to work on OCD recovery. We believe it is important to also attend to these relational and historical factors, when they are relevant to a client. We are trained in therapy approaches and therapy models to work with difficulties that can be present alongside OCD (comorbidities) such as depression, addiction, trauma, generalised anxiety, and relationship difficulties.
We offer SPACE which stands for Supportive Parenting for Anxious Childhood Emotions to support parents of children and adolescents who do not want to do therapy at this time.
Our approach is deeply collaborative where we work with clients as a team. We agree goals for therapy, the pacing of therapy tasks and we regularly reflect together on how the therapy process is going.
Our approaches are also drawn from our own lived experience of having OCD and what has helped us in OCD recovery. Stuart and Jonny both have histories of OCD and have experienced first hand the power of effective therapies.