Anxiety Institute McLean OCD & Anxiety Therapy

I cannot recommend this program enough. The staff is caring and knowledgable about ocd and anxiety. Becca Birman is an outstanding clinician who brings expertise, warmth and genuine compassion to her work. She is known among psychiatrists and fellow therapists as an expert in treating, ocd, phobias and emetophobia. I have consulted with her on challenging cases. She is a wonderful resource for other clinicians. If you or a loved one is struggling with ocd or anxiety-related issues, Rebecca is one of the best!

Excellent overview of pediatric OCD, what it is and how it is treated, explaining the differences from OCD in adults.

Stay away from this place! We would not recommend it. We went for an intake/visit, learning more about the program, to see if it would be a right fi; it turned out we were further tramatized on top of the stresses we've already been dealing with (reason we seeked out the program to get help). Ms. Berman, the clinic director, made a haste, unpleasant recommendation only after meeting us briefly. She does not know us, does not know our medical or any history, and we have NO client-provider relationship with her whatsoever; we only just met and she took things out of context and made a recommendation with a THREAT -- if we didn't do it, she would have to report to police and CPS!(?) We were shocked - for the type of profession she works, there is no compassion or understanding for people who seek help but such black-and-white judgement? The recommendation she made we were already aware of and working with our doctor. Even our doctor whom we had working relationship with didn't make such haste threat! Ms. Berman even called our doctor, without our consent to contact our providers, and interfered our following appointment with the doctor. A few hours after we met with Ms. Berman, we felt we were FORCED to do what she recommended, which put us in a very difficult situation and which added so much more stresses, unnecessary stresses, on top of the condition/weight we already had. We did it not because it felt right or it would add any benefit to us, but OUT OF FEAR that Ms. Berman would report to any authority! How could this be right!? Yes we knew in the line of her work, there's obligation for practioners to notify authority under some circustances, BUT, again, she doesn't know us at all! We went to Anxiety Institute to learn more about the program, not to ask any medical advice. We found Ms. Berman unempathetic, quick-to-judge, taking things out of context, and abusing her power to threat. It was such an unpleasant experience we had with her, and even more unpleasant and unnecessary experience we had to go through afterward because of her threat! If there's anything good coming out of this experience, it would be her action that scared us away and we found another provider/program that is professional, experienced, compassionate, understanding and accepting, to working with. Stay away from Anxiety Institute, again, in the line of their work, which is supposed to provide healing, help, and you would think people there would be more understanding than others; unfortunately, we felt being stabbed in the back, which was really, unpleasant and unnecessary. We are still recovering from the trama that Ms. Berman caused.

Truly an "A Team" to tackle this complex subject. Favorite parts? Understanding the cycle of anxiety, aka "The Natural Course of an Emotion." Eamples of listening skills (e.g.,“I want to make sure I heard that” or “Did I hear that?”) that do not involve fixing anything. Destigmatizing unhealthy or highly processed foods, if nutritional intake is of major concern. Thank you, again.

Great presentation with incredibly informative discussion on the nuance of providing treatment for OCD through a neurodivergent affirming lens. Very interested in more information on this topic.