Treatment Methods Available
Dr. Phillipson is currently seeing patients in person, via Skype, and telephone.
Please call (212) 686-6886 ext. 203 to contact Dr. Phillipson, or Email: ocdzone@aol.com to inquire further.
Individual Therapy
Primarily cognitive-behavioral interventions, including exposure with response prevention, cognitive restructuring, relaxation training, social skills training, and stress management.
Individualized home based challenges are an essential component of the therapeutic process. Typically one must be willing to commit a total of 15 to 20 minutes per day toward his or her between-session therapeutic process. The exercises are generally based on a graded hierarchy from least to most challenging exposures.
Video Conferencing
(Skype therapy)
Dr. Phillipson now offers Skype video conferencing sessions, in which a face-to-face interaction can be achieved with anyone around the globe. This service is offered at no additional charge and is very user friendly. Please refer to the link to download the free software. Skype sessions are payable by credit card through our in-house processing program.
Telephone Therapy
A highly effective treatment alternative for individuals living outside of the metropolitan New York area. In recent years, Dr. Phillipson has successfully worked with clients from around the world. This option is available for anyone who does not otherwise have access to expert treatment. Phone sessions have proven successful since Dr. Phillipson's first article gained notoriety on treatment for the purely-obsessional client. Telephone sessions are only offered if Skype is not possible.
Call: 212.686-6886
Group Therapy
Weekly Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder groups co-led by Dr. Phillipson and graduate interns. Groups meet Tuesday evenings 6:45 PM (US-Eastern Time) and Friday evenings at 6:00 PM. The duration of each group session is an hour-and-a-half, and comprises approximately 10 people. Fee for group sessions is $45 per week. The group's process involves the provision by more senior members to newer members support and guidance related to their own progress. Their is a behavioral component to group sessions, and each week, home-based challenges are assigned. The group is a great opportunity for people to establish relationships with others who can appreciate the daily challenges of this potentially disabling condition. An OCD Support group is also available Monday evenings, and it is co-led by Dr. Rafi Kalman and graduate interns at 6:45 PM with a fee of $45 per week. Please call (212) 686-6886 to inquire about attending a group session, or to make an appointment for a screening.
Additionally, we offer an online video chat support group for individuals with OCD. This group is similar to our in-person groups in terms of content, focus and theoretical approach. The online group meets weekly on Thursday nights at 8pm (eastern standard time) and is intended for individuals living in the United States who are unable to get to the Center for Cognitive-Behavioral Psychotherapy. The group is facilitated by Dr. Jonathan Sandler, Ph.D with a fee of $50 per week.
We also offer a Family and Friends of Individuals with OCD group. All loved ones of those who have been struggling with the condition are welcome to join. The seven-week group will be held on Monday evenings from 8:15 pm to 9:30 pm and will begin in March 2019 with a prepaid cost of $350 for the entire module. Sessions will consist of emotional support and practical feedback from fellow members, as well as psychoeducation and professional guidance from group co-facilitators. If you are interested in reserving your spot or would like additional information, please contact Jonathan Sandler, Ph.D., or Georgiana Paolillo, M.S. Candidate in Mental Health Counseling, at 212-686-6886 or email us at cbtcenter686@gmail.com. We look forward to helping you navigate your personal experiences with OCD sufferers!
We are now also offering an ongoing group for individuals with Obsessive Compulsive Personality Disorder and Clinical Perfectionism (OCPD), which helps individuals achieve insight into their maladaptive patterns of behavior and build skills to help them achieve their goals in a balanced and productive way. This group will meet in person at 7:15pm on Wednesday evenings. This group is also a wonderful opportunity to receive empathy and support from like-minded peers. This group is led by Sam Greenblatt, a pre-doctoral fellow, who previously worked on developing and establishing an OCPD group at Northwell Health's OCD Center. If you are interested, please email Samuel Greenblatt at samccbp@gmail.com.
Intensive Therapy
The Center for Cognitive-Behavioral Psychotherapy is now offering an intensive outpatient treatment program for individuals struggling with Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD). The intensive outpatient treatment program is designed to benefit those who have traditional forms of OCD including contamination concerns or germ concerns, those who experience intrusive thoughts or those who experience an over-attached responsibility to protect others through physical or metaphysical harm factors (see What is O.C.D.?). This program is appropriate for individuals who have had other treatment failures. Individuals who may have a more severe symptom presentation may benefit from this program. In addition, this program is advantageous for those requiring a short-term treatment effect, such as individuals in jeopardy of losing employment due to the impairing nature of their symptom presentation, or persons who have difficulty managing the cost of the more typically protracted treatment process. Additionally, those who have had difficulty abiding to the discipline required to complete homework in between sessions individually, as required by more traditional treatment, may benefit from the support and guidance of an intensive treatment team. Those who may feel uncomfortable in a more traditional inpatient psychiatric unit where they would be sharing space with persons who experience more diverse and severe psychological pathologies may find this program to be advantageous. The benefits of engaging in an intensive program are supported by research which suggests that individuals enrolled in an intensive exposure-based program are capable of achieving and maintaining similar goals as individuals enrolled in a standard weekly treatment program. An essential component in maintaining treatment success is the weekly follow up appointments. This component involves an integration and application of the success attained during the intensive period into the person’s home based life experiences.
The initial step of the program involves a phone screening to assess the individual’s qualifications for the program. This time-intensive program is overseen by Dr. Phillipson and is directed by our treatment team of licensed psychologists and pre-doctoral psychology fellows. This program entails engaging in exposure and response prevention (EX/RP) therapy. Anxiety-provoking challenges are comprehensively outlined during the initial stages of treatment. During ensuing sessions, these challenges are confronted in collaboration with the support, guidance and expertise of our treatment team. Sessions last from 2-5 hours per day, occurring up to 5 days per week. In addition to engaging in EX/RP, this program is inherently sensitive to contributing personality conditions which have deleterious effects to the treatment process. These contributing personality conditions (i.e. Borderline Personality Disorder, Narcissistic Personality Disorder and Obsessive-Compulsive Personality Disorder) typically impede the relationship building process. The identification and inclusion of these personality factors represents a vital enhancement to the constructed treatment plan.
Please call (212) 686-6886 ext. 203 if you would like more information about this program.