Toronto & Online Across Ontario
Postpartum OCD
Therapy In
Toronto
By Justin La Rose, RP, M.Psy · Registered Psychotherapist (CRPO) · Clinical Director, The OCD Clinic
Evidence last reviewed: October 2026
Postpartum OCD therapy at The OCD Clinic is Exposure and Response Prevention (ERP) with a Registered Psychotherapist, in person at Yonge and Bloor in Toronto or by secure video anywhere in Ontario. Sessions are 50 minutes: $250 with a senior clinician or $225 with an associate clinician. You can start with a free 20-minute consultation, and no referral is needed.
You love this baby. And your brain keeps handing you pictures of the worst thing that could happen to them, with you as the cause. You've moved the knives. You've handed off the bath. You haven't told anyone the actual words. This is the room where you can.
Is this for you?
This is for you if you're pregnant or a new parent and any of these sound like your week:
- Unwanted thoughts or images of the baby being hurt, by accident or by you
- Avoiding the bath, the change table or being alone with the baby
- Checking their breathing, the locks, the stove, again and again
- Asking your partner, your doctor or the internet whether people who think this are dangerous
- Hours lost replaying the day to make sure nothing happened
Dads and non-birthing parents too. If you're not sure what this is yet, start with what postpartum OCD is or intrusive thoughts about harming your baby.
What does postpartum OCD therapy look like?
Postpartum OCD therapy looks like a training plan, not a talk about your childhood. It's like having a personal trainer: we start with the two-pound weights, and trust me, we can make those hard. Here's how it runs.
1. A free 20-minute consultation
You tell us what's happening, in as much or as little detail as you want. We tell you honestly whether ERP fits, and whether we're the right people.
2. Assessment
The first sessions map your OCD: the thoughts, what you do to escape them, what you've started avoiding with the baby. We also look for anything that needs a doctor, like depression or sleep that's gone off a cliff.
3. A plan built with you
Together we rank the situations you avoid, from slightly hard to very hard. Bath time, the knife drawer, being alone with the baby. Nothing goes on the list you haven't agreed to.
4. Weekly ERP sessions
Each session runs a planned exposure and drops a ritual, then sets up practice for the week. Your partner can join when it helps, especially if they've been pulled into reassuring or taking over.
5. Finishing
As the rituals fall away, sessions space out and you run the plan yourself. The goal is that you fire us for the right reasons.
Want to see it from the inside? ERP therapy for postpartum OCD follows one composite parent week by week. If your partner is caught up in the reassuring, couples ERP brings them into the plan.
What does it cost?
- $250 per 50-minute session with a senior clinician
- $225 per 50-minute session with an associate clinician
- Free 20-minute consultation, no referral needed
- A receipt after each session for your extended health plan; HST isn't charged on psychotherapy
- Sliding scale spots on request if cost is the barrier
Full details are on fees. If private therapy isn't possible right now, the postpartum OCD treatment options page lays out the free hospital and public routes in Ontario too.
Online or in person?
Either. The office is at 2 Bloor Street West, at Yonge and Bloor. Online sessions run by secure video anywhere in Ontario, which for a lot of new parents is the difference between getting help and not. No sitter, no commute, and exposures happen in the rooms where the fear actually lives. Read more about online OCD therapy in Ontario.
For the curious: the science behind this
The short answer on the research
- First-line treatment: ERP, a form of CBT, is a first-line treatment for OCD in the American Psychiatric Association's practice guideline (Koran et al., 2007).
- Strength of the evidence: Across 37 randomized trials, CBT that includes ERP produced large effects compared with waitlist and placebo conditions (Öst et al., 2015).
- How it works: Exposure works through expectancy violation: you learn the feared outcome doesn't arrive, or that you can carry the uncertainty without the ritual (Craske et al., 2014).
- Online ERP: A meta-analysis of 22 randomized trials found no significant difference between remote and face-to-face CBT for OCD, though people with more severe symptoms may do better in person (Salazar de Pablo et al., 2023).
Most of this research studies OCD in general, not postpartum OCD specifically. Trials focused on new parents are still few, which is why the plan is built around your specific fears and adjusted as we go.
FAQ
What Do Parents Ask Before They Book?
Yes. Sessions run by secure video anywhere in Ontario, so you don't need a commute or a sitter. Online also lets exposures happen where the fear actually lives: your bathroom, your kitchen, your nursery.
No. OHIP doesn't cover Registered Psychotherapists in private practice. Many extended health plans do, and we email a receipt after each session for you to submit. Free public options exist too, and the treatment options page compares them.
In Ontario, the duty to report applies when there are reasonable grounds to suspect a child is or may be in need of protection. We explain the limits of confidentiality at the start, and we know what intrusive harm thoughts are and how they differ from intent.
No. You can book the free consultation directly. You don't need to know what this is called before you call.
Ready To Tell Someone The Words?
Book a free 20-minute consultation. No commitment, no pressure. Just a conversation about where you are and how we can help.
Book Free ConsultationHow we researched this page
This page describes how The OCD Clinic runs ERP for postpartum OCD, drawing on the American Psychiatric Association's practice guideline for OCD (Koran et al., 2007), a meta-analysis of 37 randomized trials of CBT and ERP (Öst et al., 2015), research on inhibitory learning in exposure therapy (Craske et al., 2014) and a meta-analysis of remote CBT for OCD (Salazar de Pablo et al., 2023). None of these studies focused on postpartum OCD alone, so how the plan adapts to new parents is clinical practice, not trial data.
A note on my perspective
I run a private clinic that treats OCD with ERP, and I'm paid when people book with us. Read what I write with that in mind. Public and lower-cost routes exist too, and the Ontario OCD treatment guide lays them out next to ours.
About the author
Justin La Rose, RP, M.Psy is a Registered Psychotherapist with the College of Registered Psychotherapists of Ontario (CRPO) and Clinical Director of The OCD Clinic in Toronto. He has worked in mental health for more than 25 years and treats OCD with Exposure and Response Prevention (ERP). You can confirm his registration on the CRPO public register.
Client stories on this site are composites, with names and identifying details changed. How we write client stories
How to cite this page
La Rose, J. (2026). Postpartum OCD Therapy in Toronto. The OCD Clinic. https://theocdclinic.ca/postpartum-ocd-therapy-toronto