OCD Therapy Ventura
With Teva Johnstone
OCD Therapy Ventura With Teva Johnstone
Help for Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder, Emotional Eating, and Behavioral Addictions
Are you suffering from upsetting thoughts and intense emotions that feel too big to manage on your own? Do you find that you’re turning to compulsive mental or physical rituals, avoidance, or food in an attempt to feel better? If you struggle with intense feelings and you’re ready to explore new ways of managing anxiety, I’m so glad you’re here.
Licensed Therapist and OCD Specialist
I’m Teva Johnstone, Licensed Therapist in California and Licensed Clinical Social Worker*. As a Psychotherapist in Ventura with a decade of experience in the field, I help people suffering from Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder and related compulsive or addictive behaviors, such as Emotional Eating and Internet Addiction.
I offer in-person and online therapy in California to help you build awareness and grow in agency so you can break patterns that are out of alignment with your goals.
With a warm and straightforward approach, I treat adults impacted by OCD, out-of-control eating, and various online addictions. I work effectively with obsessive-compulsive traits like unhelpful perfectionism and black & white, all-or-nothing thinking that keeps us stuck.
I can assist your recovery from time anxiety driven rituals and mental loops that are difficult to stop on our own. Together we will explore your particular obsessive-compulsive difficulties and collaborate on a gentle path forward. We will take concrete steps towards recovery at a pace that feels right to you. We will use highly effective, personalized, and empirically supported treatment like Exposure and Response Prevention (ERP) for OCD and Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT) for stress eating and Binge Eating Disorder.
*Teva Johnstone, Licensed Clinical Social Worker No. 103826
Specializing in OCD, Emotional Eating & Compulsive Behavior
Mental Health Therapy in Ventura and California
As a Licensed Therapist in Ventura with specialized training in treating people with of Obsessive-Compulsive conditions, I practice evidence-based therapy guided by your values and goals.
I use an integrative approach to gold standard treatment for OCD, Exposure and Response Prevention (ERP). This means therapy is individualized and I treat you as a whole person with an important history and unique needs.
With Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT) I can help you grow in courage and skills for emotional regulation so you can stop being held hostage by the feelings that lead to out-of-control or binge eating.
Treatment planning is collaborative and guided by your values and goals.
Rewrite Your Story With Therapy in Ventura and Across California
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Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD) Therapy
Sufferers of Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder are troubled by unwanted thoughts, images, or urges also called obsessions. In an attempt to reduce the distress triggered by obsessions, OCD sufferers engage in rituals or repetitive behaviors and avoidance to neutralize the anxiety. Repetitive behavior that attempts to manage anxiety or other forms of distress is called compulsions. Ultimately compulsive rituals and avoidance reinforce the cycle of OCD. ERP treatment builds courage and agency while stopping compulsive rituals and avoidance. Therapy can allow you to find freedom from OCD and develop an empowered relationship with anxiety.
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Emotional Eating & Binge Eating Disorder Therapy
Emotional eating and stress eating is a compulsive behavior in which food is used to cope with intense feelings of anxiety, depression, boredom, or excitement. Emotional eating feels out-of-control and exists on a spectrum, with some sufferers qualifying for Binge Eating Disorder. With emotional eating we eat to manage uncomfortable feelings rather than eating for true physical hunger. Due to a variety of individual factors, hunger cues may be hard to decipher and cravings may feel unrelenting. People who emotionally eat may struggle to stop despite the risks. Therapy can help you stop eating behavior that feels emotionally driven and out of control.
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Internet Addiction Therapy
Compulsive Internet Use or Internet Addiction is a Behavioral Addiction, sometimes called a Process Addiction. Suffers feel they can’t stop the online behavior despite the harm caused to themselves and/or their families. Online technologies hijack the reward centers of the brain influencing sufferers to keep returning to the addictive behavior. People with Internet addiction commonly experience cooccurring depression, loneliness, anxiety, and obsessive-compulsive traits. Many come to therapy after repeated failed attempts to stop on their own and disruption to their mental health and social relationships. Therapy can help build awareness and effective strategies for managing addictive technology.
Compassionate Therapy for Obsessive-Compulsive Conditions in Ventura
Get Help for OCD, Compulsive Eating & Internet Addiction
With over a decade of experience as a therapist, my style is warm, direct, and forward moving. When using structured therapies like ERP or DBT, I maintain a relational approach and tailor treatment for your specific needs.
I provide a space where you are safe to share obsessional thoughts that are embarrassing, scary, or taboo. People who work with me feel seen in their pain are gently challenged to grow beyond patterns of compulsive behavior that feel stuck. The therapy I practice is grounded in scientific theories of change and resilience.
While in in-person therapy in Ventura or online therapy in California, you will be supported as learn skills for managing intense emotions while not engaging in compulsive rituals. Together, we will take deliberate steps to help you break free from stuck behavior, harsh self-criticism, and anxious avoidance.
In Person and Online Therapy in California
Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder
Emotional Eating and Stress Eating
Binge Eating Disorder
Internet Addiction and Problematic Use
Anxiety and Phobias
“I urge you to find a way to immerse yourself fully in the life that you’ve been given. To stop running from whatever you’re trying to escape, and instead to stop, and turn, and face whatever it is. Then I dare you to walk toward it.”
— Anna Lembke, MD
Take the First Step Towards Freedom With Exposure-Based CBT in Ventura & Santa Barbara Counties
Break Free From Stuck Patterns With Psychotherapy for the OCD and Compulsive Eating
It can be hard to imagine recovery when you’ve been stuck in obsessive-compulsive patterns for a while. It’s important to know you are not alone and highly effective treatment is available both in person and online.
Exposure-based Therapy helps us learn mastery over things that challenge us. We learn we can leave the prison of rumination, rituals, and anxiety-fueled avoidance. While facing our fears and intense emotions may seem daunting at first, this is a crucial step towards freedom OCD, emotional eating, and addictive online behavior.
Many of the people I treat are located in Ventura County, in the cities of Ventura, Ojai, Oxnard, Camarillo, Newbury Park, and Thousand Oaks. I provide in person therapy at my office in Ventura (near Ventura College) and via secure Zoom across California. I also work with people many in Los Angeles and San Francisco.
If you're searching for an OCD Specialist in Ventura County or anywhere in California, I’d be happy to support your recovery. Contact me to schedule an intake session or join the waitlist.
Effective Therapy In Person & Online
Exposure and Response Prevention (ERP)
Rumination-Focused ERP (RF-ERP)
Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT) for Emotional Eating & Binge Eating Disorder
Integrative & Holistic Psychotherapy for Behavioral Addictions