Cyndi Lowe, Ph. D

clinical psychologist

OCD/ ERP specialist

CA license # PSY 27710

real people therapy

510. 705. 3015

drcyndilowe@lmi.net

SERVICES

ABOUT THERAPY

WHY GO TO THERAPY?

World getting smaller
Doing rituals/ compulsions
Can't stop thinking about something bad happening
Rituals isolating you from family & friends
Feeling confused
Depressed. Anxious. Alone.
Grieving
Need someone to talk to
Having problems you're not sure how to resolve
Having thoughts, feelings, images, sensations or acting in ways you don't understand or are afraid to share
Not sure where your life is going
Avoiding feelings, situations or aspects of your life
Avoiding things/ people you love
Want to change but don't know how

WHAT CAN THERAPY PROVIDE?

Tools
Building tolerance for difficult feelings, including fear, frustration, disgust
New perspective
New behaviors
Symptom relief
Someone to bounce new ideas off of
Help & support for change
Deal with old problems
Learn to work with challenging situations.
Help managing difficult feelings.
Homework: Practice new skills outside sessions
Guidance, structure, education--based on standards of research and practice
Motivation

HOW IS IT DONE?

Setting & meeting goals
Facing fears
Doing exposures &
Stopping rituals (ERP)
HW between sessions: reading, writing about symptoms and solutions
Learning to stop rumination
Talking it through
Considering solutions
Understanding your thoughts, feelings, actions
Examining your life: deciding what you want to change and how to change it, and what you want to keep.
Breathing, mindfulness & meditation exercises
Exploring how your childhood may affect you now.
Using technology to help you understand your habits/body better & stay on track with your goals.
Role plays

Listen. Are you breathing just a little and calling it a life? -Mary Oliver

ABOUT US

ABOUT ME

Hello and thanks for visiting my site!

I'm a licensed psychologist working with adults with different life problems and diagnoses. I am currently devoting about 95% of my practice to clients with OCD. I do evidence-based ERP, CBT & mindfulness training with a smattering of depth work, as appropriate. I have/do consult(ed) with a variety of experts, including senior members of the IOCDF Scientific Advisory Board, am a graduate of the IOCDF's Behavior Therapy Training Institute (BTTI), and I attend yearly conferences & trainings to keep my skills sharp.

Real People Therapy:

I came from the east coast 30+ years ago, and it took time to realize that even though we live in the same country & speak the same language, people in NY and CA express themselves very differently. I call my approach "Real People Therapy" because though I have lived in CA most of my adult life, I still have an "east coast communication style:" I tend to give honest opinions, am comfortable talking about difficult issues, and don't always adhere to rules of social correctness. I can sometimes be "no-nonsense" and very practical. Additionally, I am a real person who has dealt with problems that may be similar to yours, and I relate to people in genuine ways.

I tend to dress and behave casually. I am not particularly business-like. I want to be comfortable, and I want you to be, too! I prefer friendly and equal relationships with clients and try to make myself available between sessions for questions or check-ins (not compulsions!) about the work we're doing. With OCD work, sometimes we need a little help to stay on track!

One Approach Does Not Fit All:

Every person is unique. Because of this, I have trained in many styles of therapy, am happy to share with you what I've learned and can work with you in a variety of ways. I originally trained as a depth psychotherapist, and my graduate work focused on childhood trauma. For almost a decade now, I have been primarily providing CBT & behavioral work in the form of exposure therapy--a complete 180 from where I started. My true love is ERP: I see more people make greater improvements in their symptoms and quality of life using ERP than any other modality I've used. OCD is treatable with ERP!

I also often bring my pup to sessions; please let me know if you'd like him to come to yours!

You are the expert on your own life:

I can make suggestions or give my opinion, but ultimately, no one knows what's better for you than you do. For me, therapy is a collaboration.

Who, What & How?:

I see individual adults, couples and, families. I provide both long- and short-term therapy. Office, video, telephone, & onsite sessions are all possible. OCD & mindfulness groups are sometimes available, based on need/ interest. We can figure it out together to get you what's right for you!

What you seek is seeking you. -Rumi

A LITTLE MORE ABOUT HOW I WORK!

I love ERP. I think it's an incredibly powerful model of change. So I use it as a framework and a starting point. We talk about what your symptoms are and what's holding you back. And then we work on breaking those rules--the ones that are in your head, limiting your life. Some of this is OCD or anxiety-related. But what if you have other issues besides OCD? For most people, that's the case. Or what if your OCD has become twisted up or entwined with other issues so it's hard to see that it's even OCD anymore? Sometimes clients tell me they've been through OCD therapy/ ERP before, but found it limited or regimented. They didn't feel they could talk about other life issues that came up. That they couldn't just talk freely. They felt they were expected to create hierarchies and do exposures and keep the therapy limited to that.

So can you talk about other things in therapy with me? YES! Do we always have to do ERP? No! Is it OK if your case is "complicated?" Absolutely. Not everything is within the scope of my practice, and I'll be straight with you if it's something I can't do. However, I do feel comfortable addressing many issues; I was originally trained as a depth psychotherapist, which is a broader approach. While I prefer that all my clients learn the ERP framework as soon as possible--even if we don't use it right away-- I have many tools at my disposal from different modalities and can apply these at any given time, as appropriate. Likewise, there are many approaches to OCD/ERP and my goal is to try to teach you as many of these as possible, so you have them in your toolkit as well. Any one technique or approach does not typically apply to the full range of symptoms and I am not married to any one of these. It's more important to find what works for you.

Here's what I like about ERP and why I use it as a framework:

1.) It's structured. This way, we have something to come back to and we don't lose our way.

2.) It's active. You feel like you're doing something. Goals are important for feeling better. Also, if you've got any depression lurking in your OCD, doing something-anything can really help!

3.) ERP work can be about building tolerance to uncomfortable feelings, in particular: anxiety & uncertainty. However, many other feelings can arise with OCD, e.g. disgust, guilt, terror, confusion, frustration. These can be particularly hard to tolerate. Once you get good at managing these, you can also start building tolerance to other feelings for other life situations, and then we're in the realm of emotion regulation. This widens out to the rest of your life, not just OCD.

4.) It's customizable. If an exposure is too hard, we can break it down into bite-sized chunks. This makes it much more do-able and more in line with where you actually are at. Clients often want to tackle exposures that are way too hard out of impatience to feel better. It's really important to allow yourself to be humbled and go with your actual pace! Then once we start moving in a positive direction, you can really see how far you've come!

5.) It's clear. Being able to discuss the above directly in therapy, making a plan together, is clarifying. You know what the work is, where you're at with it, and how far you have to go. The therapist's role as helper in achieving these goals is also very clear.