OCD Treatment in NYC: The Medication Side

No. I provide the psychiatric evaluation and medication management, and I coordinate with the ERP therapist who does the therapy. Exposure and response prevention is a specific skill and it should come from someone who does it regularly. If you do not have an ERP therapist in New York City yet, I will point you toward one. Most of my OCD patients are working with both of us at once.

OCD generally responds to selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors at doses substantially above those used for depression or generalized anxiety, and it takes longer to show benefit, commonly eight to twelve weeks rather than four. This is one of the most frequent reasons someone believes a medication failed them when the trial was simply stopped too early or held too low. Reviewing the actual dose and duration of every previous medication is one of the first things the evaluation covers.

Yes, and it is how a large share of my OCD patients arrive. Therapists cannot prescribe, so when ERP is being held back by symptom severity, the usual next step is a prescriber who understands OCD dosing. With your consent I speak with your therapist directly so medication changes are timed around your exposure work instead of cutting across it.

Yes. I am licensed in New York and New Jersey and provide OCD medication management by telehealth throughout New York State, including the initial evaluation and all follow-up appointments. In-person visits happen at the Fort Lee, NJ office, which is ten minutes from the George Washington Bridge. There is no in-person option inside New York City.

Around a third of people with OCD do not respond adequately to a first-line SSRI even at full dose and full duration. The next steps include switching within the class, trying clomipramine, or adding a low-dose augmenting agent with appropriate monitoring. Treatment-resistant OCD needs a prescriber willing to work through that sequence methodically rather than cycling through the same class repeatedly.

Intrusive thoughts occur in generalized anxiety, PTSD, autism spectrum presentations and psychotic disorders, and the prescribing differs in each. The evaluation distinguishes obsessions from worry, identifies whether compulsions are behavioral or purely mental, and establishes the subtype driving the picture, whether that is contamination, checking, symmetry, harm or scrupulosity. I record a Y-BOCS score at baseline so later changes are measurable rather than impressionistic.

Yes, and co-occurring conditions are common with OCD. Sequence matters, because some medications used for one condition complicate another. Antidepressants at OCD doses need particular care where bipolar disorder is present. Having one prescriber holding the whole picture is safer than assembling a regimen from separate providers who are not talking to each other.

No referral is needed. You can book directly through this site or call during business hours, and a free 15-minute discovery call is available first so you can check the fit before committing to an evaluation. New patients are currently being accepted for telehealth visits across New York and New Jersey and in-person visits at the Fort Lee office.