Alison Capaldi

Cognitive Behavioral Therapy has been shown to be effective for a range of issues. CBT is based on the idea that there is a relationship between our thoughts, feelings, and behaviors. Issues people experience are seen result of unhelpful ways of thinking and learned patterns of unhelpful behavior. By learning to recognize distorted thinking patterns and gaining an understanding of behavior, people can relieve their symptoms and become more effective in their lives.

Acceptance and Commitment therapy emphasizes acceptance to deal with negative thoughts, feelings, symptoms, or circumstances. Treatment focuses on accepting life experiences and emotions as they come, without judging or trying to change them. Learning to accept things as they come helps people to commit to healthy, constructive actions that are in line with an individual's values and goals.

Exposure and Response Prevention is the most effective treatment for OCD. It encourages people to face their fears expose themselves to a situation that triggers obsessions and distress, and then resist the urge to carry out compulsions or avoidance behaviors. By confronting fears repeatedly and learning to not give in to compulsions, the distress that is associated with obsessions subsides, and individuals learn to accept their thoughts. ERP uses a fear hierarchy to do this in a manageable way.

I am passionate about working with adolescents and young adults. Being a teenager is hard! It is a time of change and growth and there can be a lot of stress that is associated with this experience. I aim to be a supportive, non-judgmental, accepting person to help guide teens through normative life stressors and transitions while providing tools to solve problems and reduce stress.

I am trained in Exposure and Response Prevention and have extensive experience employing this treatment in order to effectively treat OCD. I also incorporate principles of Acceptance and Commitment Therapy to help people learn to accept their difficult internal experiences and use their values and goals to help guide their choices.

I believe that anxiety is maintained by unhelpful patterns of thinking and learned behaviors. I work based on the idea that every individual is the expert of their own anxiety. Treatment consists of helping people realize how their thoughts and behaviors contribute to their experiences, providing them with skills to manage their symptoms, and then working together to change unhelpful thoughts and behaviors in order to help people live a more fulfilling life.