Paige Geraghty

I've always been drawn toward the helping profession. I grew up as the daughter of a nurse, so bedside manner was something that came naturally. I've always been interested in the spectrum of people's experiences. I don't want to hear only good things from people. I want to explore the good, the bad, the ugly, and everything in between.

I've always thought it was an interesting and misunderstood diagnosis. I have found that I love treating OCD. People find so much relief in working with someone who is trained to validate the experience they're having.

Trauma is my main background. I've worked with serious mental illnesses, and with children and adolescents on behavior modification and emotional regulation. I'm currently working with the perinatal population. I want to break down the stigma and shame for people going through that and be a place of education.

It really takes a commitment to active practice. This is different from traditional talk therapy. The more you're committed to practicing the skills, the more benefit you'll see.

Please tell me, 'I am afraid to share these thoughts.' We'll talk it through. I'll validate and support you. Know that I've heard a whole spectrum of seemingly wild things. People with OCD are often holding in taboo thoughts. In those first couple of sessions, just saying them out loud in front of someone who won't respond as if they're terrible things to say helps. People can start to give their intrusive thoughts and compulsions back to OCD. They can recognize when it happens and say, 'Hey, that's actually my OCD.' That is really effective. I've also had a lot of members who are able to recognize something positive in their OCD: 'I am so worried about this because I care about it so much. If I care about this, that means I'm empathetic. This relationship is important to me; my children are important to me.' It's recognizing an inverse relationship between OCD thoughts and what we value.