“I now have so much space in my brain. For the first time in my life, I am getting to know who I really am, what I really want, and what I can achieve.”
That’s how a NOCD Member described the difference NOCD Therapy made in her life.
Peer-reviewed research tells a similar story: NOCD Members experience an average 43% reduction in obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) symptom severity. For a condition that can swallow entire days and make even the simplest tasks exhausting, that’s substantial.
And the improvements extend beyond OCD symptoms. The same study found reductions in anxiety and depression, along with improvements in quality of life.
But what does a “43% reduction” look like? And how does NOCD get its Members there?
What do the results actually mean?
What does that 43% reduction really mean?
It means getting your life back.
An improvement can mean better intimacy with your partner because you’re not feeling as disgusted by physical contact, better social relationships because you’re less afraid to leave the house, or better economic stability because OCD isn’t causing you to miss as much work.
Dr. Patrick McGrath, Chief Clinical Officer of NOCD
NOCD Members describe that change in their own words. One wrote: “Before NOCD I would avoid almost everything. The grocery store. The coffee shop alone. Answering the phone. Even texting friends back. I had already decided I was going to embarrass myself or someone would judge me. So I just didn’t go. But now I’m doing more of it than I ever thought I could.”
Another Member described feeling less consumed by OCD: “The OCD is still there…but it is manageable. I can work with it, live with it. There’s free space in my brain. The way I think and the way I worry is far less intense and consuming.”
That’s what 43% means.
What makes this progress possible?
NOCD Members work with licensed therapists who complete four months of specialized training in exposure and response prevention (ERP), the first-line treatment for OCD.
ERP involves gradually facing the things that trigger your OCD without performing compulsions. If you’re terrified of accidentally starting a fire, for example, OCD might have you repeatedly checking the stove for an hour before leaving home—and still turning around halfway to work to check it again. An ERP therapist might help you work up to checking the stove once and walking away, even when you’re afraid you’ve missed something. Over time, ERP can help loosen the fear’s grip on you, to the point where you can tolerate not checking multiple times.
But OCD doesn’t confine itself to the hours you spend with your therapist. It can show up at any hour of any day—in the home, on the highway, at work. Anywhere. And that means most of the work of ERP happens when people aren’t face-to-face with their therapist.
That’s why NOCD provides tools to support its Members when they’re between sessions. ERP exercises, therapist messaging, on-demand support during OCD episodes, an in-app community, and Member Advocates.
The model is remarkably effective. Studies show NOCD Members see significant improvement in less than half the therapy time of traditional outpatient therapy.
How do I know if treatment is working?
Every NOCD Member begins treatment with a diagnostic interview used to determine which condition—or conditions—they’re experiencing. After that, every three weeks, Members complete the primary assessment for their condition (e.g., the Dimensional Obsessive-Compulsive Scale for OCD), along with assessments of anxiety, depression, and quality of life.
That data helps you and your therapist evaluate your treatment, including your progress, how often you should be meeting, when it may make sense to reduce the frequency of sessions, which ERP exercises appear to be helping, and when the treatment plan may need to change.
But regular assessments add something that a general impression can’t: a timeline. If your scores started shifting around a particular week, you can look at what was happening during that period. Maybe you started a new exposure. Maybe something changed in your life. That gives you and your therapist far more to work with than a general sense that things are better or worse.
And because you complete the assessments yourself, your own account of how you’re doing becomes the record of your treatment. Working through your responses with your therapist can uncover more answers. A shift in your quality-of-life score, for example, can open a much deeper conversation about what’s going on and why.
How flexible are treatment plans?
Your treatment plan is tailored to how OCD affects you—your particular fears, compulsions, and goals. Even two people with what looks like the same problem may need very different ERP exercises because the fears driving their OCD aren’t the same.
And those plans aren’t set in stone. As treatment progresses, you and your therapist may change the exposures you’re working on, focus on a different element of your OCD, or reconsider how often you’re meeting. Assessments can help guide those decisions, but you don’t have to wait for one to speak up.
We also know having the best therapist for you is deeply important in your OCD treatment experience, and the NOCD team makes every effort to match you with the right therapist, with your feedback guiding every step. But if your needs and preferences change, it’s important to note that this doesn’t mean treatment has failed. At NOCD, Members can seamlessly change therapists and continue working toward the same goal with a better match.
Find the right OCD therapist for you
All our therapists are licensed and trained in exposure and response prevention therapy (ERP), the gold standard treatment for OCD.
What happens when you get better?
Eventually, those assessments may show that you no longer need to meet with your therapist as often. That’s a sign treatment is working—not that treatment is over.
As sessions become less frequent, you still have access to your therapist and resources in the app for as long as you need them. The support doesn’t disappear just because you need less of it.
That matters because OCD is chronic. Symptoms can flare up again during major transitions—a move, a new job, a new baby. But when they do, you’re not starting over. You already know how to respond, and your therapist already knows you.
And the results last even after treatment ends. One study found that NOCD Members’ reductions in symptom severity held up 12 months later.
Meaningful improvement isn’t just getting better. It’s staying better.
It’s been going on two years since my last session with my NOCD therapist. Since then I have constantly had to use the skills I learned. But my life has changed dramatically. […] I’m constantly having to make the decision to choose uncertainty. But that decision gets easier and easier as time goes on.
A NOCD Member
Bottom line
By combining specialized treatment, between-session support, and ongoing measurement, NOCD helps Members make meaningful improvements in their daily lives—and sustain that progress.
If you’re struggling with OCD or a related condition, you can schedule a free 15-minute call with the NOCD team to learn more about treatment and how NOCD can help you. We can match you with an OCD specialist who meets your needs and preferences and will build a personalized treatment plan tailored to your symptoms and goals. NOCD is available in all 50 U.S. states and several international countries, and is covered by insurance for over 147 million Americans.
