Reclaim Your Life.

Exposure and Response Prevention for OCD and Related Anxiety Disorders Offering In Person Therapy in Ventura and Online Across California

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WHO WE ARE

About Ventura OCD Therapy

Are you suffering from unwanted thoughts and compulsive behavior? Do you feel as though you get stuck in a loop of fear and distress until your rituals temporarily ease the anxiety? Are you ready to reclaim the hours spent each day in avoidance and rumination?

Welcome, I’m Teva Johnstone. As a therapist in Ventura, I help people suffering from Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder, stress, and anxiety. I’m so glad you landed here.

I treat adults, children, and teens suffering from Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder, anxiety disorders, specific phobias like emetophobia, and parenting stress.

Many of my clients are located in Ventura County in the city of Ventura, near Ojai, Camarillo, Newbury Park, and Thousand Oaks. I provide in person therapy at my office in Ventura (near Ventura College) or via secure Zoom across California.

I can assist your recovery from time consuming habits, rituals, rumination, and avoidance. Together we will explore your particular troubles, collaborate on a plan for recovery, and take gradual but concrete steps towards healing.

It’s okay if you’ve had mental health struggles for as long as you can remember, the next chapter is starting now!

If you're searching for an OCD Specialist in Ventura or anywhere in California, I’d be happy to support your recovery. Contact me to get started on your healing journey.

Teva Johnstone, Licensed Clinical Social Worker No.103826

HOW WE HELP

Ventura Obsessive-Compulsive Therapy

How Treatment Can Help

As a psychotherapist in Ventura with specialized training in the treatment of Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder, anxiety, and specific phobias, I practice evidence-based therapy guided by your goals.

My approach uses gold standard Exposure and Response Prevention (ERP) combined with Motivational Interviewing, and skills-based techniques to learn to stop ruminating and restore your agency.

ERP is the first-line treatment for OCD. It is an Exposure-Based Cognitive Behavioral Therapy that is structured yet personalized and flexible. Treatment planning is collaborative and rooted in your unique needs, cultural values, and ideas about the life you want.

WHAT WE TREAT

Compassionate Therapy for Obsessive-Compulsive Anxiety

With over a decade of experience as a therapist, my style is warm, direct, and forward moving. When using structured therapies like ERP, I maintain a relational approach and tailor treatment for your individual needs.

My clients feel safe to share things that are embarrassing, scary, or taboo. They feel validated in their pain but they don’t wish to stay in a space of exclusive validation. Many clients have come to me specifically requesting to be challenged, with the understanding therapy is about change and resilience.

While in treatment with me at my office in Ventura or via Telehealth anywhere in California, clients are supported as they do the hard work of breaking free from compulsive behavior and anxious avoidance.

Mental Health Conditions Treated

  • Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder

  • Specific Phobias (Emetophobia)

  • Adult, Child & Teen Anxiety Disorders

  • Parenting Stress

  • Hoarding Disorder

  • Tech-Focused Compulsive Behavior (Internet addiction)

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Take the first step towards freedom with OCD therapy

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.

OCD and anxiety treatment helps us learn to face things that challenge us. We learn we can leave the prison of compulsions and avoidance. Treatment isn’t easy, but it’s a crucial step towards freedom.

Help is available in person in Ventura or online anywhere in California.

Rewrite Your Story With Therapy in Ventura and Online in California

  • Woman in recovery from anxiety and OCD

    Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD)

    Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder is a mental health condition characterized by persistent, unwanted thoughts (obsessions) and repetitive behaviors or mental acts (compulsions) that sufferers feel compelled to perform. Obsessions can cause anxious distress, and time consuming rituals and avoidance. Compulsions are often attempts to alleviate the anxiety generated by the obsessions or to prevent a feared outcome. Ultimately compulsive rituals and avoidance reinforce the cycle of OCD. ERP treatment builds courage, resilience, and helps you develop a different relationship with anxiety and uncertainty. It’s possible to find freedom and learn to hold your fears with flexibility and gentleness. I can help.

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  • Two children are running down a sandy beach with dunes and grass, during late afternoon or early evening.

    SPACE for Child Anxiety & OCD

    You can support your child’s tendency for extreme worry, avoidance, and compulsive behavior with family-centered evidence-based therapy. I treat anxiety and Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder in children and teens using the SPACE Program (Supportive Parenting for Anxious Childhood Emotions), Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT), and ERP (Exposure and Response/Ritual Prevention), a form of CBT. The approaches I use are compassionate and empowering. As a parent myself, I know you need high quality treatment with evidence that it actually works.

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  • Person with brown hair in a bun, wearing a denim jacket and brown hoodie, standing by the water and looking at the sunset or sunrise over the lake or sea.

    Anxiety Disorders & Specific Phobias

    Anxiety disorders and specific phobias are mental health conditions that can significantly impact your quality of life. Anxiety disorders include a range of conditions, including generalized anxiety disorder, panic disorder, social anxiety disorder, and specific phobias. These disorders look like excessive fear or worry that is disproportionate to the actual threat posed by the situation. People with anxiety disorders may spend a significant about of time ruminating about their worries. Effective treatment for anxiety disorders and specific phobias includes evidence-based therapeutic approaches like Exposure and Response Prevention (ERP) and Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT).

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  • Therapy for social media addiction

    Tech-Focused Compulsive Behavior (Internet Addiction)

    Mental health treatment is available for compulsive use of your smartphone, social media, online gaming, online gambling, online shopping, and other forms of obsessive-compulsive digital behavior that concern you. If you want to reverse your virtual habits, therapy can help you achieve concrete behavioral change while simultaneously addressing the underlying issues that may accompany your compulsive use. If you feel addicted to your phone, it is possible to take your life back. If you’re tired of hacks that don’t work in the longterm, reach out for help from a therapist who has a deep understanding of the issue and can help you break free.

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“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