CBT SoCal’s Dr. Martin Hsia discusses OCD treatment on the Open Mind Night Podcast

CBT SoCal’s Dr. Martin Hsia recently joined Robyn Tamahana, LMFT on the Open Mind Night Podcast, a podcast that discusses all things related to mental health and mental illness. The Open Mind Night Podcast launched earlier this year featuring interviews with guests who are professionals who treat mental illness, people who work in institutions servicing mental health needs, educators, and people who live with mental illness. Dr. Hsia has the honor of being Robyn’s Tamahana’s 3rd guest helping to increase the dialogue surrounding mental health and mental illness.

Dr. Hsia is the Clinical Director at CBT SoCal, a lecturer, and a supervisor of therapists and psychiatry residents. He specializes in the treatment of OCD, anxiety, and insomnia. Dr. Hsia discussed a variety of issues such as the difference between OCD and anxiety. For example, OCD is a specific form of anxiety involving ruminating thoughts and compulsive behaviors aimed at reducing anxiety but ultimately prolong anxiety and suffering. Dr. Hsia also discussed various subtypes of OCD such as postpartum OCD in which a parent experiences unwanted thoughts or images of harming their baby. The parent experiences these thoughts as terrifying and engages in behaviors such as compulsive reassurance seeking from others in order to ease their anxiety.

Dr. Hsia also discussed exposure with response prevention (ERP), which is the gold standard treatment of OCD. He explained that ERP involves exposing someone with OCD to a situation that would trigger an obsession while also empowering the person to prevent themselves from engaging in a compulsion. For example, if someone suffers from obsessions related to germs and contamination, ERP might involve touching something the person fears is contaminated without washing afterward. Dr. Hsia explained that treatment would start with exercises that are mildly uncomfortable and grow more challenging as the person’s distress tolerance increases.

If you are interested in learning more about OCD treatment contact us to schedule a free phone consultation.