MARY HOSBROUGH, LCPC, OCD THERAPIST

At the end of the day, one approach is not better than another. In fact, what matters more than the therapy approach, is the therapy relationship.

I am here to help you feel heard, understood, and respected. I will help you choose a treatment based on your history, preferences, and wisdom about yourself.

Together we will work at your pace and for your reasons.


Why Autonomy Alliance?

You find yourself doing the same things again and again, trying so hard to figure things out. You may not even remember what it is like to feel like
you have a choice.

When you struggle with OCD, feeling in control of making your own choices is...everything. This is why I named my practice Autonomy Alliance.

Autonomy: Your right and capacity to choose your own way.

Alliance: You and I working together to help you find and follow your own way.

You are not your OCD.

You may have been living for years or even decades in fear and doubt from OCD. You care deeply about those you love and the things that are important to you. OCD makes you feel like you are protecting what you love, but in reality it pulls you farther away. It can make you think you are someone you are not. You distrust your senses, what you know, and who you are. I want to help you learn to trust yourself again.

Although you may feel consumed by OCD, it’s important to also see the whole you, the person you truly are, in spite of having OCD.

You bring with you your strengths, your values, your wisdom of what has helped you and what hasn’t, your preferences, your worldview.

I bring an in-depth professional and personal understanding of OCD and the evidence-based ways to treat it.

We need both your wisdom and mine working together to understand and dismantle your OCD. When we work together, although we use the structure of an evidence-based model, we do so in an individualized, personalized way.

I use approaches that work, and I make sure they are working for you. We will define and measure progress together. I create a culture of feedback, where you can feel safe telling me when I might not be getting something quite right, so we can make adjustments and constantly fine tune our approach.


What makes me different from many other OCD therapists?

While I value and use Exposure and Response Prevention (ERP), I do not insist that ERP is the only treatment option. The field of OCD treatment made astronomical progress in promoting ERP as the gold standard for treating OCD. In the 1960’s OCD was considered untreatable. ERP offered hope and recovery and became the gold standard for good reason. It works! (pretty well most of the time)

However, there are a good number of people who do not improve with ERP, or they improve for a time, but then OCD returns. Some people are not interested in ERP for many reasons. Until recently, those who did not want or did not benefit from OCD were told to come back and try again another time. Unfortunately, these people were often told they “failed” treatment.

That is not acceptable! Treatment failed them.

There is another evidence-based model of understanding and treating OCD called Inference Based Therapy (I-CBT). It is relatively new in the United States, but it has over 20 years of research supporting its efficacy. I believe people should have options and choices in their treatment, and I am happy to offer both ERP and I-CBT for OCD.


Am I the right therapist for you?

Although I do not talk about myself much in therapy, I show up as myself authentically, and I am transparent about my own lived experiences, identities, privileges, and areas of continued learning, especially if it is relevant to our work together.

I am queer, ADHD, recently identified Autistic, and in remission from my own OCD.

I also have deep respect for and the ability to empathically understand views and values different than my own. This is essential in OCD work, because OCD is all about what you know vs what you are doubting. You can “know” differently than me, and that is okay. If I can help you feel safe enough to identify and share what you know, we can identify and resolve what you are doubting.

I provide a safe space for you to speak the unspeakable, to uncover and overcome shame, to truly find and be yourself. OCD will try to lead you to believe you are or could become someone you are not. Our work can help return you to your real self.

People do not change when they feel pressured, criticized, forced, or told what, when, or how to do it.

I want to offer you a place where you can make changes in the way that’s right for you.

I’m here to…

  • Help the therapy process feel safe. 

  • Support you as you explore and resolve your ambivalence. 

  • Provide the structure to help you move towards change, at your pace. 

  • Work with you as you make decisions and learn the skills and strategies you need.

  • Empower you to make your own choices rather than feeling controlled by OCD.

Learn more about how I treat OCD.

My Qualifications

 

Education & Licensure

  • Illinois Licensed Clinical Professional Counselor
    License # 180011543

  • National Certified Counselor

  • MA, Clinical Mental Health Counseling Bradley University 2015

Training & Experience

  • My ongoing I-CBT training is in consultation with Frederick Aardema, co-creator of I-CBT. I am part of a grass roots group of clinicians who are bringing awareness of I-CBT to the US. I cofacilitate weekly learning discussions for therapists learning and practicing I-CBT.

  • Trained in ERP through NOCD and Cognitive Behavior Institute.

  • I participated in Rumination Focused ERP training with creator of the approach, Dr. Michael Greenberg.

  • Trained in Motivational Interviewing through multiple trainings by Motivational Interviewing Network of Trainers members, and through MINT Training of New Trainers.

  • Past and continued training in Feedback Informed Treatment through International Center for Clinical Excellence.

  • I am trained in EMDR through an EMDRIA certified consultant, and I am in EMDR consultation, pursuing certification.

Professional Associations

  • Member of International OCD Foundation (IOCDF)

  • Member of the Anxiety and Depression Association of America (ADAA)

  • Member of Motivational Interviewing Network of Trainers (MINT)