2 mins

What is OCD?

Video Description

Consultant psychologist Elena Touroni explains how obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) is a form of anxiety disorder and how sufferers usually engage in a compulsive behaviour to manage an obsessive or intrusive thought. https://www.thechelseapsychologyclinic.com Chelsea Psychology Clinic are a group of London psychologists and psychiatrists offering private psychological therapy and psychiatry treatment from their premises across central London and Chelsea. The private therapy sessions cover the following areas: – Acceptance & Commitment Therapy – Cognitive Analytic Therapy – Cognitive-behavioural Therapy – Couples Therapy – Dialectical-behaviour Therapy – Mentalisation Based Treatment – Mindfulness Based Cognitive Therapy – Schema Therapy

Video Transcription

Obsessive-compulsive disorder is a form of anxiety disorder. And people with obsessive-compulsive disorder have certain obsessions. So this manifests themselves in rumination or intrusive thought and then they engage in a compulsive behaviour in order to manage the obsessive thought or intrusive thought. So, for instance, a form of obsessive-compulsive disorder might be a fear of contamination. So if I have a fear that if I touch a surface then I’m gonna get germs, and I’m going to get very, very ill, I might even die. So the thoughts are extremely catastrophic in that situation, then that obsessive thought comes into my mind very automatically every time say, for instance, I’m touching a door handle or I’m even in my own home in my kitchen or I’m in any space where I have a worry about germs. And then what I do as a result is that I might repetitively wash my hands every time I touch something to the point that my hands might end up, you know, being severely damaged as a result of sort of this compulsive behaviour.

Dr Elena Touroni

Dr Elena Touroni

19 June 2022

"Dr. Elena Touroni is a skilled and experienced Consultant Psychologist with a track record of delivering high-quality services for individuals with all common emotional difficulties and those with a diagnosis of personality disorder. She is experienced in service design and delivery, the management of multi-disciplinary teams, organisational consultancy, and development and delivery of both national and bespoke training to providers in the statutory and non-statutory sector."

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Dr Stacie Tay

Dr Stacie Tay attained her BSc (Hons) Psychology at the University of Nottingham and worked as a psychologist at the Institute of Mental Health, Singapore, before returning to the UK to complete her Doctorate in Clinical Psychology at the University College London.   

Dr Tay has worked in a variety of settings within the NHS for more than eight years, including primary and secondary care, specialist psychological services and forensic inpatient settings. She currently works as a Clinical Psychologist at the North East London Foundation Trust.  

She has extensive experience working with individuals and groups, providing evidence-based psychological therapies including Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT), Interpersonal Psychotherapy, Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT), Compassion Focused Therapy (CFT) and Mindfulness-based approaches as well as Schema-informed therapy.   

Dr Tay’s clinical experience involves working with people who present with a range of mild to severe mental health difficulties. This includes depression, anxiety (OCD, social anxiety, panic disorder, generalized anxiety disorder, health anxiety, phobia-related disorders, PTSD), stress related issues, low self-esteem, complex trauma, interpersonal difficulties, grief and bereavement, and long-term health conditions.