Counselling for obsessive-compulsive patterns, offered in person in Edmonton and St. Albert and virtually across Alberta, at a pace you set. Registered Psychologists registered with the College of Alberta Psychologists (CAP), Registered Provisional Psychologists under supervision, Registered Social Workers regulated by the Alberta College of Social Workers (ACSW), Canadian Certified Counsellors regulated by the Canadian Counselling and Psychotherapy Association (CCPA), and Mental Health Therapists. Psychologists practise under CAP Standards of Practice and the Canadian Psychological Association (CPA) Canadian Code of Ethics for Psychologist. 50-minute sessions, in person or virtual, weekdays and weekends.
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You may be asking yourself whether this counts. Perhaps nothing about your life looks unusual from the outside, you get to work, you answer messages, and no one has noticed anything. The part that takes the most out of you happens quietly, inside your own head, and you are not sure that qualifies as a reason to book an appointment.
You might also be carrying a private worry about what the thoughts mean. Many people who reach a page like this one have never said their intrusive thoughts out loud to anyone, because saying them feels like admitting to something.
Some of this may sound familiar. Checking something you already know you checked, then checking again because the certainty wore off in seconds. Running a mental review of a conversation to prove to yourself that you did not do anything wrong. Asking someone close to you for reassurance, feeling steady for a moment, then feeling the doubt return before the day is over. Arranging your routine around situations you would rather not risk.
These patterns are common human responses to distress and doubt, not evidence of a flaw in your character. The relief that follows a ritual is real, and it is also short-lived, which is part of why the cycle keeps its grip (Canadian Mental Health Association [CMHA] Nova Scotia Division, n.d.). Having intrusive thoughts is not the same as wanting them or acting on them.
You may wish to keep reading to see what this kind of counselling actually involves, what it does not involve, and what the research does and does not support. You can decide afterwards whether it feels relevant to you.
This service may be a good fit if you are:
This service may not be the right fit if you are:
Wholesome Psychology is not an emergency or crisis service. Booking a routine appointment is not a way to get urgent help, and we cannot respond to emergencies through the booking system.
OCD counselling here is talk therapy with a regulated mental health clinician about repetitive thoughts, urges, and behaviours and the way they affect your daily life. Sessions are a structured place to describe what is happening, look at how thoughts, feelings, actions, and situations relate to one another, and set goals that matter to you.
It is not a legal service, an investigation, or a crisis intervention. It is not a psychological assessment, and nothing on this page can tell you whether you have a condition. Counselling supports discussion, planning, and therapeutic work, and a diagnosis is something separate that follows a formal assessment process.
Your therapist sets no required pace. You decide how much detail to share and when. If a particular approach does not sit right with you, you can say so, and the plan can change.
What you share is confidential, within limits set by Alberta law and professional standards. Those limits are explained in plain language at the start of your first session, and a fuller explanation appears further down this page.
These are experiences people describe, not diagnostic criteria. Recognizing several of them does not mean you have a condition, and it does not mean you need any particular kind of treatment.
Most people experience unwanted or strange thoughts from time to time, and the difference is in how persistent and distressing they become rather than in the thoughts themselves (CPA, 2020). These patterns are responses that developed for a reason, usually an attempt to manage fear and uncertainty. They are not permanent features of who you are, and structured support can help you work with them.
There is no fixed number of sessions and no standard package. The work is collaborative, and your view of what is helping carries weight at every stage.
The approaches below are offered depending on a clinician's training, your consent, and the plan you build together. Not every clinician here provides every approach, and no approach suits everyone.
What it helps with: Breaking the loop between a feared thought and the ritual used to neutralize it, by facing triggers gradually while resisting the compulsion.
Evidence summary: Canadian professional guidance describes behaviour therapy built on exposure and response prevention as a well-established approach for many presentations of OCD, and reports that most people who completed courses of roughly 13 to 20 sessions showed lasting symptom reduction (CPA, 2020). Canadian public education material describes ERP as a first-line psychological treatment delivered by a trained therapist (CMHA Nova Scotia Division, n.d.).
Limitations: Those figures describe people who finished treatment, and up to a fifth decline ERP or stop early, often because of the discomfort exposure involves (CPA, 2020). Individual responses vary.
What it helps with: Examining and testing the beliefs that give intrusive thoughts their weight, which can be particularly relevant when obsessions rather than visible compulsions are the harder part.
Evidence summary: Cognitive strategies are commonly combined with exposure and response prevention, and Canadian guidance describes this combination as helpful for people who struggle mainly with obsessions and for reducing fear of exposure exercises themselves (CPA, 2020). A network meta-analysis of 61 randomized controlled trials involving 3,710 participants found all CBT treatment formats studied were more effective than control conditions (Wang et al., 2026).
Limitations: Trial averages do not describe individuals, and effect sizes across the formats studied varied considerably. Access depends on finding a clinician with relevant training.
What it helps with: Making structured therapy workable when travel, schedules, caregiving, or avoidance of leaving the house make weekly in-person sessions difficult.
Evidence summary: The same network meta-analysis compared delivery formats and found no statistically significant differences between individual, remote, guided self-help, time-intensive, and family-involved formats, while unguided self-help performed less well than most guided formats (Wang et al., 2026). The authors concluded that most delivery formats can serve as alternatives to conventional individual CBT.
Limitations: These comparisons come from research trials that may not reflect routine clinic conditions, and suitability for virtual work is assessed case by case. Some presentations are better supported in person.
What it helps with: Helping partners and family members respond to reassurance-seeking and rituals in ways that support recovery rather than reinforce the cycle.
Evidence summary: Clinical education material from the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH) describes family accommodation, such as providing repeated reassurance or taking part in rituals, as a pattern that can maintain obsessional fears, and identifies family-based psychoeducation and work to reduce accommodation as an effective component of treatment (CAMH, n.d.). Family-involved formats were among those examined in the network meta-analysis (Wang et al., 2026).
Limitations: This work depends on willing and available family members, and the source is clinician-facing education material rather than a systematic review.
Progress is rarely a straight line. Symptoms often ease and return in response to stress and life events, and a difficult stretch does not undo the work already done (CPA, 2020).
Some people find relief from just 2-3 sessions, often in the form of naming the pattern, feeling understood, and having a plan rather than a change in symptoms themselves. Structured exposure-based courses described in Canadian professional guidance ran longer than that, in the range of 13 to 20 sessions (CPA, 2020). Others work over a longer period, particularly when other concerns are present alongside the obsessive-compulsive patterns.
Several things influence how therapy goes. The nature and history of your experiences matter, as do your current circumstances, how much practice happens between sessions, and the fit between you and your therapist.
No therapy guarantees an outcome, and nobody can tell you in advance how you will respond. If the fit is not right, changing therapist or changing approach is always available to you, and asking for that change is a normal part of the process rather than a setback.
What you say in session stays between you and your therapist, with a small number of legal exceptions.
Psychologists at this clinic are regulated by the College of Alberta Psychologists (CAP) and practise under the CAP Standards of Practice and the Canadian Psychological Association (CPA) Canadian Code of Ethics for Psychologists. Alberta has more than one privacy law, and which one applies depends on the setting. The Personal Information Protection Act (PIPA) generally governs private organizations operating in Alberta, including private clinics providing psychological services. The Health Information Act (HIA) governs custodians as defined in that Act, such as parts of the public health system, and can become relevant when health information moves between a private clinic and those settings (CAP, 2026).
Confidentiality has limits. Your therapist may be required to disclose information when:
Your clinician will explain these limits in plain language during your first session, before you share anything personal. You are welcome to ask how records are stored, who can access them, and what happens to them over time, and you can ask all of that before disclosing anything you would rather keep private for now.
Sessions are 50 minutes. You can meet your therapist in person at our Edmonton or St. Albert locations, or virtually from anywhere in Alberta.
We ask for 24 hours notice to cancel or reschedule. Late cancellations or missed appointments incur a fee.
Hours: Monday to Friday 8 AM to 9 PM, Saturday and Sunday 9 AM to 5 PM. Virtual counselling is available across Alberta.
Phone: 780-904-4880. Email: info@wholesomepsychology.ca.
No. You choose what to say and when. Some people describe the content of their thoughts in the first session, others take months, and some work mainly with present-day patterns such as checking, avoidance, and reassurance-seeking without going into the specifics at all. Therapists who work with obsessive-compulsive presentations are used to hearing thoughts people find shameful, and a thought is not a confession.
Yes, within legal limits. Your therapist can disclose information when there is a risk of serious harm, when child abuse or neglect is suspected, or when a court orders it. Private clinics in Alberta are generally governed by the Personal Information Protection Act (PIPA), with the Health Information Act (HIA) applying to custodians as defined in that Act. See the confidentiality section above for the fuller explanation, and ask your clinician anything you want clarified before you share personal details.
There is no fixed answer. Some people come for a short series of sessions to get oriented and make a plan. Structured exposure-based work described in Canadian professional guidance ran in the range of 13 to 20 sessions (CPA, 2020), and some people work longer than that, particularly when other concerns are present. Progress is reviewed regularly, and you can stop, pause, or change direction at any point.
Fit matters, and it is not a reflection on you or the clinician when it is not there. You can tell your therapist directly, or contact the admin team at 780-904-4880 and ask to be matched with someone else. New clients may access their first session at 50% off to help find the right therapeutic fit.
Yes. Virtual sessions are available across Alberta and are held under the same confidentiality standards as in-person appointments. Research comparing CBT delivery formats found no statistically significant difference between individual in-person and remote delivery (Wang et al., 2026). Whether virtual work suits your situation is something you and your clinician decide together.
No. Counselling is not a diagnostic assessment, and no page or conversation can establish a diagnosis on its own. Obsessive-compulsive disorder is classified in ICD-11 under obsessive-compulsive or related disorders (World Health Organization [WHO], 2025), but a classification system describes categories rather than any individual. If you want a formal assessment, that is a separate service and your clinician can explain what it involves.
That is a common reason people read a page like this. You can call the admin team at 780-904-4880 with general questions about how the service works. If the person you are worried about is an adult, they will need to book for themselves, since consent belongs to the client. If you are a parent asking about a child, see the section below. Reducing the reassurance and accommodation that families often provide is itself part of the work, and it usually goes better with support (CAMH, n.d.).
Our team includes Registered Psychologists, Registered Provisional Psychologists, Registered Social Workers, Canadian Certified Counsellors, Mental Health Therapists, and Student Therapists. Each credential carries a different scope of practice and a different fee, and the admin team can explain the differences if that helps you choose.
All psychologists here are registered with the College of Alberta Psychologists. Registered Provisional Psychologists practise under the supervision of a fully registered psychologist while they complete their registration requirements, which is a requirement of the CAP Standards of Practice rather than a clinic preference (CAP, 2023). Registered Social Workers are regulated by the Alberta College of Social Workers (ACSW), and Canadian Certified Counsellors are regulated by the Canadian Counselling and Psychotherapy Association (CCPA). None of the clinicians here prescribe medication.
Many of our clinicians have training in cognitive behavioural therapy, exposure-based approaches, anxiety, and related presentations. Training and current availability vary between clinicians, so we encourage you to ask directly. You can read individual profiles on Our Therapists, use the Match with a Therapist tool, or call the admin team at 780-904-4880 for guidance.
Obsessive-compulsive patterns often begin early. Canadian professional guidance notes that most people report onset in late adolescence or early adulthood, and that OCD is also seen in childhood with a symptom pattern similar to the one seen in adults (CPA, 2020).
We offer counselling for children, adolescents, and young adults. Therapists working with younger clients use age-appropriate methods, which may include play, drawing, and shorter or more frequent activities, and they explain what therapy involves in language a child can follow.
Caregivers are part of this work. Family responses that are meant to help, such as answering the same question again or joining in a ritual to settle a child, can end up holding the pattern in place, and clinicians work with caregivers on responses that support the child instead (CAMH, n.d.). You can read more about child and youth mental health services or ask the admin team which clinicians currently see younger clients.
If you would like to take a next step, you can:
New clients may access their first session at 50% off to help find the right therapeutic fit.
Starting the conversation is enough.
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