Anna Scetinina, M.A., RP

I provide individual therapy to children, adolescents, and adults suffering from stress, perfectionism, low self-esteem, anxiety disorders (social phobia, agoraphobia, specific phobias, GAD, panic disorder), depression, emetophobia, body dysmorphic disorder, body-focused repetitive behaviour (BFRB), including trichotillomania (hair-pulling) and excoriation (skin-picking), and tic disorder (TS, motor and vocal tics). 

Therapeutic Approach
I use ACT (Acceptance and Commitment Therapy), CBT (Cognitive Behavioral Therapy), ERP (Exposure and Response Prevention), ICBT (Inference-based Cognitive Behavioral Therapy), Solution-Focused Therapy, and mindfulness-based interventions. I have received training in these modalities and trauma work.

Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD)

Our clinic specializes in treating obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD). I offer individual sessions helping clients who have different types of obsessions, including the following:

Contamination obsessions. Fear of germs or chemicals, feeling of disgust in response to triggering situations.

Harm OCD. Intrusive thoughts about harming self or others or fear of something terrible happening to self or loved ones.

Hit-and-run OCD. Fear of accidentally harming pedestrian without noticing while driving.

Insult OCD. Fear of saying the wrong things, such as something inappropriate, insulting, or offensive.

Sexual orientation OCD (SO-OCD, HOCD). Intrusive thoughts and doubts about sexual orientation.

Moral scrupulosity obsessions. Obsessions about things being right or wrong, anxiety about being a good person/bad person.

Existential OCD. Existential obsessions about life and one’s purpose in life.

Religious obsessions. Worries about acting sinfully.

Just-right OCD. Urges to do things in a specific way, have objects in particular places, need to touch things a certain way, anxiety about things feeling incomplete or incorrect);

POCD. Fear of being or becoming a pedophile.

Relationship OCD (ROCD). doubts about relationships, doubts about attraction to the partner or partner’s attraction, doubts whether to stay or end the relationship.

Real event or real-life OCD. Intrusive thoughts about past events causing intense fear and guilt.  

False memory OCD. Intrusive thoughts about events that could have taken place and feeling unsure whether a specific memory is accurate.

Hoarding and digital hoarding. Difficulty letting go of possessions because of a perceived need to keep them when they have no sentimental value, need to save digital content/files and keep them in order.

Memory hoarding OCD. Obsessive need to ensure things are remembered.

Magical thinking. Believing that having a thought/memory/feeling can cause actual events happening and needing to prevent that by doing mental or physical rituals.

All other “pure-O” OCD presentations. Disturbing intrusive thoughts of a different nature without the presence of physical rituals/compulsions.
All other unique OCD presentations, such as TOCD (Tourettic OCD), staring OCD, sensorimotor OCD (hyperawareness of bodily functions, sensations, smells, sounds), disgust OCD, OCD about bodily fluids and excretions, sticky substances, and meta OCD (OCD about having OCD, intrusive thoughts about recovery process).

If you have any of these types of obsessions, you probably engage in some of these compulsions:

- Physical compulsions (cleaning, checking, knocking, touching, confessing, apologizing, searching/googling, arranging, repeating, seeking reassurance);
- Mental compulsions (counting, self-reassuring, reviewing, comparing, self-criticizing, playing scenarios in your head, ruminating, neutralizing, thinking positive thoughts, engaging in compulsive reasoning);
- Avoidance (avoiding triggering places, objects, words, thoughts, memories, people).

If you are dealing with these obsessions and compulsions, I can help you understand how OCD works and what things you presently do that keep your OCD going. We can plan together what changes to make to reduce your ineffective responses and help you build a life you want, where you (not your OCD!) are in charge. As part of the treatment process, we will work on reducing family accommodations and increasing family support.

Emetophobia

Emetophobia is an intense fear throwing up or others throwing up. This fear often causes a sufferer a lot of shame, makes them avoid doing things, eating specific food (or restrict/limit eating), and going places, and makes them put all their efforts into trying to prevent the fear from coming true. They also have a lot of difficulty tolerating the uncertainty of everyday life. Together, we can work on helping you free yourself from emetophobia, build a life worth living, and start doing things you have been avoiding due to your fear.

Illness anxiety/hypochondria

Having health concerns is normal, but when you have illness anxiety, you may be preoccupied with and having an intense fear of developing a serious illness or having an undetected serious illness, and this fear takes a lot of your time, pulls you out of being present, and can significantly impact your life.If you frequently check your physical symptoms, google or avoid googling, call doctors, or avoid calling doctors, seek reassurance, I can help you learn to respond to your thoughts, sensations, and feelings more flexibly. Together, we will work on breaking the cycle of anxiety and helping you learn to live with uncertainty while fully engaging in your life.

Perfectionism

If your desire for achievement and delivering great work has turned into a rigid rule and your mind demands that you do things perfectly, you might be dealing with unhelpful perfectionism. It can show up in excessive time spent studying, checking, and reviewing material, and yet no matter how much time you spend, you feel your work is 'never good enough.' I work with students devastated when they don't get a 100 on a test and with professionals who sacrifice their family life and self-care for endless attempts to perfect their work reports. If this sounds familiar, we can explore your fear and help you learn to let go of doing things that limit and drain your life and let your values guide your actions.

Depression
Loss of interest in life and in doing activities that you found enjoyable in the past, persistent sadness, irritability, change in appetite or sleep schedule, lack of energy, guilt, suicidal thoughts, and ideations - these are things that you might experience when you are depressed. We can work together on helping you find motivation in life, explore your values, reduce doing things that keep your mood low, and increase behaviors that enrich your life to overcome depression.

Misophonia
People with misophonia are emotionally impacted by common sounds, such as people breathing, chewing, yawning, tapping, or making repetitive noises. If these or other sounds make you feel fearful, disgusted, angry, or panicky and give you intense anticipatory anxiety before social events or make you avoid triggering situations, you probably are struggling with misophonia. In therapy, you learn to use your attention flexibly, expanding your focus and shifting it where you choose to while learning to tolerate distressing sounds better and reduce their impact on your life.

Working with children and teens
Many of my clients are children and teens ages 9 to 17. They come with various concerns, including perfectionism, phobia, social anxiety, OCD, behavioral issues, and emotional regulation issues. Sometimes, e-therapy with a child is challenging; in such cases, I provide parental training to help parents respond to their child’s behavior more effectively. I incorporate engaging exercises, art, and visuals into my therapy work when working with younger clients. Coordinating and planning support for the child or teen with parents is essential for success in recovery. At the first session, we plan how to provide updates, discuss concerns and progress maintaining child’s confidentiality and respecting the parent’s right to information.

Parental Training
If you need support in dealing with parental stress and your children’s challenging behaviours, we can work together on identifying your goals and needs and work on making changes in your behaviour and your responses to triggering situations that will have a positive effect on your children’s behaviours.

I also work with parents of younger children to help them address their children’s anxiety, fears, and intrusive thoughts using a specialized approach called SPACE (Supportive Parenting for Anxious Childhood Emotions).

Our Therapists’ Introductory Videos