Treatments · ERPERP Therapy for OCD and Anxiety in Los Angeles
Does your teen struggle to get out of the house without checking everything twice, then twice more.
Are you in college, working in overdrive to hide your rituals from your friends and roommates, because the thoughts behind them feel impossible to say out loud.
ERP is not about forcing you into your worst fear. It's a planned, gradual way to loosen the grip that obsessions and compulsions have on your day.
Recognizing the loopYou might be here because…
If you're a parentYour child has an order for how things have to happen, and one step wrong means starting over.
Your teen knows their rituals don't make sense. They do them anyway.
You've started following their rules yourself, because it keeps the peace.
If you're a young adultYou've tried to just stop the rituals, and the urge only got louder.
You reread the text before sending it, then once more after it's gone.
You go back over the same memory again and again, just to be sure, and no one can see any of it.
None of this means anyone is being difficult. Compulsions are how a person finds relief from a thought they can't shake, and the relief always wears off.
The treatmentWhat is ERP therapy?
ERP stands for Exposure and Response Prevention and is considered the gold-standard treatment for OCD. It has two parts: exposure and response prevention. The second part is where the real learning happens. Every time you resist a ritual, you give your brain new information: the feared outcome didn't happen, and you were able to handle the uncertainty.
Exposure
Facing the situations and thoughts that set off the obsessions, on purpose, in an order we plan together
Response prevention
Practicing not doing the compulsions that usually follow.
The mechanismHow does ERP therapy work?
Here's the loop:
A thought arrives: did I lock the door? Dread spikes, so you go back and check. The dread drops. The next time the thought shows up it's louder, because your brain learned that checking is what kept you safe. ERP interrupts the second half of that loop, and ERP treatment moves through it in three steps.
ERP therapy is often paired with ACT when sitting with uncertainty is the harder part, and with parent coaching when the whole family has been drawn into the rituals.
The course of treatmentWhat the work looks like
01
We map the loopEarly sessions are for understanding the pattern: what the obsessions are, what the rituals are costing you, and what everyone at home has been doing to help. Nothing is asked of you yet.
02
We build the ladderYou rank the situations that set things off, from mildly uncomfortable to genuinely hard, and we start low.
03
We practice, and it carries overWe rehearse in session, then you repeat it between sessions, at home, where the compulsions usually happen. We adjust based on how each step actually went.
Your clinicianMeet Brooke Sundin, LMFT
Hi, I'm Brooke. I'm an LMFT and the owner of Light Minds Child and Family Therapy, with more than ten years of experience with children, teens, and young adults. Anxiety and OCD are the areas I work in most, and ERP is at the center of that work.
Credentials & trainingLicense: California #124192
Additional: TPMF1613 (FL), 14231277-3902 (UT), 2995 (TN)
Education: MS Marriage and Family Therapy, California State University, Long Beach
Certifications: SPACE (Yale Child Study Center), ACT (Institute for Better Health)
ConditionsWhat ERP therapy treats
Where I focus mostOCD
You lose parts of the day to obsessions, and the compulsions you perform to quiet them bring relief a few minutes at a time, at a growing cost. This is what ERP was built for, and it works on the compulsions instead of trying to argue with the thoughts.
Anxiety and phobias
Worry that has quietly narrowed what you're willing to do, or a single fear you now plan your week around. The same graded exposure applies, so the list of things you avoid starts getting shorter.
What that looks likeIntrusive and taboo thoughts
Maybe you have intrusive thoughts about harm, sex, or faith. Whatever they're about, they feel like evidence about who you are. Having a thought is not the same as wanting it, and treatment starts from that fact.
Contamination and washing
Your hands are cracked from washing, and somewhere along the way it stopped being about germs. Now it's about a feeling that won't clear, and we practice sitting with that feeling instead of scrubbing until it passes.
Checking and reassurance seeking
You know the stove is off, and you go back anyway. The answers other people give you never last either, so we practice doing it less, a step at a time, parents included where that applies.
"Just right" and symmetry
The fear isn't always that something bad will happen; sometimes, something simply feels off or incomplete, and the person feels compelled to fix it until it feels right. Exposures help them learn to tolerate that uncomfortable feeling without needing to make everything feel perfect.
Health anxiety
You've searched your symptoms enough times to scare yourself, and one clean test result never settles it for long. The work is learning to live with not knowing for sure rather than winning the argument about whether you're sick.
Panic
It comes out of nowhere and feels like an emergency. We practice exercises for panic attacks, then work on the fear of the next one, which is usually what keeps the cycle going.
Who I work withERP treatment for teens, young adults, and children
TeensTeens build their own exposure ladder, and I work separately with parents on what to do when their teen comes to them for reassurance.
Young adultsYoung adults plan the exposures with me and practice them on their own between sessions, which is where most of the progress happens.
ChildrenI use child-friendly ERP with children ages 8+, and SPACE to work directly with parents when a child isn't ready for therapy of their own.
Getting startedHow we start ERP therapy
We start with a free 15-minute call. You tell me what's been going on, I explain how I work, and we get a sense of whether it's a good fit.
Honest fitWhen ERP isn't the right place to start
ERP takes real effort before it pays off, so it isn't always the first move.
If the bigger problem right now is grief, or a mood that has flattened everything out, or something hard happening at home, we start there. Those are all things I treat, and exposure work can wait until we’ve addressed the immediate concerns. If someone's in crisis, that comes first, always.
TESTIMONIALSWhat clients say
“Brooke's experience and expertise is seen easily through the welcoming environment she creates. I've always felt seen and at ease when discussing a multitude of personal topics. Can not recommend her enough!”
D.R.“Brooke is a thoughtful and insightful clinician. She has helped our teen daughter rebuild her confidence and ability to handle anxiety. She's also given us tools as parents to support our daughter at home.”
L.N.Common questionsQuestions people ask about ERP therapy
What is ERP therapy?
ERP is short for exposure and response prevention, a type of cognitive behavioral therapy built for OCD. You face what sets off the obsessions, in planned steps, and you hold back the compulsions that would normally follow. The International OCD Foundation calls it the most important type of CBT for OCD. It's structured, planned in advance, and nothing is sprung on you.
Is ERP going to make me do something I'm not ready for?
No. We agree on every step before it happens, and we start far below the hardest thing on your list. If a step turns out to be too much, we go down a rung and rebuild from somewhere steadier. You're never being tested against your worst fear; each step is small enough to finish, and finishing is how you learn the dread passes on its own. The International OCD Foundation describes the same collaborative, graded approach.
Does ERP therapy really work?
Yes. It's one of the most researched treatments in mental health, and the evidence for OCD and phobias is especially solid. The International OCD Foundation calls it the most important type of CBT for OCD. If you've tried it before and it didn't hold, there's usually a reason: it might not have been ERP exactly, the ladder may have started too high, or the visible compulsions stopped while the mental ones kept running underneath. All three are fixable.
Do you accept insurance?
Light Minds is an out-of-network provider. I provide superbills you can submit to your PPO for potential reimbursement. I also offer a limited number of sliding scale slots.
How long does ERP therapy take?
It varies. Some people benefit from a few months of focused work; others continue longer-term. Sessions are 50 minutes, typically weekly. We'll check in regularly about progress and adjust as needed.
Is ERP therapy effective online?
Yes. Research shows online therapy is as effective as in-person for anxiety, depression, and OCD, and ERP translates well to video. With OCD there's an added advantage: the rituals usually live at home, so we can practice in the room where they actually happen instead of reconstructing it from memory in an office. Being licensed in four states also means access to someone trained in OCD treatment when there isn't anyone nearby.a
Does ERP help with the compulsions nobody can see?
Yes. Mental compulsions, like going back over a memory again to be sure, work the same way visible rituals do: they buy a moment of relief and keep the loop running. Treatment is the same too. We name them, and you practice cutting them short.
What if my teen refuses to do the exposures?
It's common, and it doesn't stop anything. The first call can be just you. And if your teen won't try therapy for now, we can start with SPACE instead: sessions with parents that change how you respond to the rituals at home. Most teens come around once they see that nothing gets forced.
How do I find an ERP therapist in Los Angeles?
Ask any therapist you're considering what they'd actually do in session; someone trained in exposure work will have a concrete answer. Look for a practice built around anxiety and OCD, and use the consultation to see how the conversation feels. I've written a longer guide on finding an anxiety therapist in Los Angeles.
Location & telehealthAreas we serve
I’m based in Los Angeles, CA, and I'm licensed in California, Florida, Utah, and Tennessee. All sessions take place over secure video, so there's no commute and no waiting room.
Curious if ERP is right for you?
If anything on this page sounded familiar, that's reason enough to reach out. I provide a free 15-minute consultation to answer questions and assess fit.