Justin La Rose, RP · 25+ Years in Mental Health · 15,000+ Clinical Hours
OCD Treatment Toronto - ERP TherapyTalk therapy wasn't built for OCD. ERP was.
You've talked about your fears long enough. The OCD Clinic is a dedicated Exposure and Response Prevention practice by La Rose Counselling Services. ERP is backed by decades of randomized controlled trials and recommended by every major clinical guideline. For people who've tried everything else.
ERP therapy for OCD with an OCD therapist in Toronto. In person, online across Ontario. Sessions $250, free 20-minute consultation.
Free OCD Severity Screening
Free OCD
Screening
This self-assessment is based on the Yale-Brown Obsessive Compulsive Scale (Y-BOCS)[Goodman et al., 1989], the most widely used measure of OCD severity. It's a screening tool, not a diagnosis. Only a qualified clinician can diagnose OCD. It takes about 5 minutes, no email required. You'll receive a severity estimate and general information about what treatment for OCD typically involves, based on your responses.
We will conduct a full clinical assessment with you before your first session to get a complete picture.
Three Ways We Can Help
How Can We
Help You?
Understanding OCD
What OCD
Actually Is
OCD is not a personality quirk. Your brain runs a specific pattern - intrusive thoughts trigger anxiety, anxiety drives compulsions, and compulsions make everything worse. Over time, the cycle tightens.
Trigger
Something you see, hear, feel, or think sets off the cycle.
Intrusion
An unwanted thought, image, or urge enters your mind. You didn't choose it.
Interpretation
Your brain says: this thought means something. This could be real. This is dangerous.
Anxiety
Fear, dread, disgust, or a feeling that something is terribly wrong.
Compulsion
You do something - check, wash, count, ruminate, seek reassurance - to make the feeling go away.
Relief
It works. Briefly. Then the cycle starts again, stronger than before.
The compulsion provides relief - briefly. But it teaches your brain that the thought was dangerous, which all but ensures it comes back stronger. That's the trap.
The good news: once you understand the pattern, you can break it.
The Treatment
How ERP
Therapy Works
ERP stands for Exposure and Response Prevention. It's the treatment with the strongest evidence base for OCD - the approach with the most research backing. Here's how it works in plain language:
Exposure
You gradually face the thoughts, images, and situations that trigger your OCD. Not to traumatize yourself - to learn that you can handle the discomfort without doing a compulsion.
Response Prevention
You refrain from doing the compulsion. No checking. No washing. No ruminating. This is where the real change happens - your brain learns that the anxiety passes on its own.
New Learning
Over time, your brain stops flagging these thoughts as dangerous. The intrusions become less frequent, less intense, and easier to dismiss. That's recovery.
The Honest Truth
ERP is not easy. The first 4-6 weeks can feel uncomfortable - you're deliberately facing things you've been avoiding, without doing the compulsions that used to bring relief. But after that initial period, most people start to feel genuine, lasting improvement. 6–8 in 10 people who complete ERP see significant improvement.*
ERP's results hold after treatment ends.† Unlike medication, where symptoms commonly return after stopping, improvement from ERP persists, because you've learned something, not taken something.
*Response rates among treatment completers across randomized controlled trials (Foa et al., 2005; Law & Boisseau, 2019). Individual results vary. †Law & Boisseau, 2019.
Interactive Guide
The OCD Cycle
OCD keeps you stuck in a loop. ERP breaks it. Step through to see exactly how it works - and how you get out.
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How OCD Works
OCD works like a trap. Once you understand how it works, you can start to break free. Step through this to see exactly what happens inside the cycle - and how ERP gets you out.
About
25+ Years in Mental Health.
15,000+ Hours.
100s of OCD Clients.
I'm Justin, Registered Psychotherapist and Clinical Director at La Rose Counselling Services. I've worked in mental health for more than 25 years, spent over a decade in clinical practice, and sat across from hundreds of clients who were once in your shoes. I built this practice for people stuck in the cycle.
I'm an OCD specialist, but for me this has never been a job. It's a calling. I treat OCD with ERP because it works, and it's the treatment with the strongest evidence base for OCD. But no one who sits across from me is a walking set of symptoms. You're a whole, complicated person with a whole life, and every client needs something a little different. My team and I build treatment from ERP and shape it around the person in front of us, meeting you where you are, wherever that is. Whether you work with me or one of the therapists on my team, we'll be honest about what to expect, and we won't waste your time.
I help clients understand and overcome OCD. I also train therapists to understand and work with clients managing OCD. At The OCD Clinic, we work as a clinical team, all therapists have been trained in my approach to treating OCD, and I supervise all clinical cases. If you're a therapist who wants to broaden your understanding of OCD or ERP, reach out.
25+
Years in Mental Health
100s
OCD Clients
15K+
Therapy Hours
FAQ
Questions You Actually Have
The fact that these thoughts distress you is itself strong evidence that they don't reflect who you are. OCD latches onto the things you care about most - your morality, your relationships, your safety. Genuinely dangerous people don't agonize over their thoughts. They don't end up on this page at 2am looking for answers.
ERP protocols in the research typically run 12-16 weekly sessions. Milder presentations sometimes respond in 8-12; long-standing or complex OCD can take longer. You'll get an honest estimate after your assessment, not a promise. The honest truth: the first 4-6 weeks usually feel like the hardest. You face things you've been avoiding without the compulsions that used to bring relief. But you aren't facing them alone. You're facing them with a therapist who understands you, ERP, and is supporting you every step of the way. After those initial 4-6 weeks, most people start to feel genuine relief.
Talk therapy helps you understand your feelings. ERP helps you change your relationship with them. You face the thoughts and situations that trigger your OCD without performing compulsions. The anxiety passes on its own. Most people with OCD have done years of talk therapy without improvement. ERP is the treatment with the strongest evidence base for OCD.
Individual OCD sessions are $250 (50 min), and the first 20-minute consultation is free. Sliding scale options are available, just ask. Most extended health benefits plans cover psychotherapy from a Registered Psychotherapist - contact your provider to confirm your coverage.
ERP has the strongest research backing of any OCD treatment - across randomized controlled trials, 6-8 in 10 people who complete ERP see significant improvement. When it falls short, it's usually one of three things: the therapist didn't deliver ERP correctly (unfortunately common), the person wasn't ready to commit to response prevention, or co-occurring conditions needed attention first. We assess for all of this upfront.
Yes. We offer online sessions across Ontario. Research shows online ERP matches in-person effectiveness for many people. Some clients benefit from in-person ERP. For clients in the Toronto area, we can coordinate in-person sessions on an as-needed basis. We've seen many clients experience success with exclusively online therapy, and many others who have benefited from in-person for exposure exercises, along with online sessions for check-ins and response prevention.
Not in the first session, and not until you're ready. We know there are thoughts you've never said out loud. That's normal. We work at your pace. Our therapists have worked with the full range of OCD presentations - intrusive, distressing, and deeply uncomfortable. No thought has ever changed the way we see a client. Whatever you're carrying - we've heard it before, and it won't change how we work with you.
Still have questions? We have more answers. Read more →
You Don't Have To Live Like This.
Book a free 20-minute consultation. No commitment, no pressure. Just a conversation about where you are and how we can help.
Where would you like to start?
I'm ready to book a free consultI want to email youI want to complete a free online OCD assessment