Evidence-Based Therapy for OCD & Anxiety
Online across Alberta; in-person in SW Calgary
Who I work with: OCD, Anxiety, and Related Conditions
I provide individual therapy for adolescents and adults with OCD, anxiety disorders, and related conditions — including:
OCD (all presentations) — common examples: contamination, checking, symmetry and "just right" concerns, harm, relationship-focused (ROCD), sexual orientation (SO-OCD), scrupulosity (moral/religious), existential, sensorimotor, real-event, and "Pure O."
Anxiety disorders — including generalized anxiety, panic disorder and agoraphobia, social anxiety, specific phobias, and health anxiety.
Related conditions — excoriation (skin-picking) disorder, trichotillomania (hair-pulling), hoarding disorder, and body dysmorphic disorder (BDD).
Most people have been managing these on their own for a long time before reaching out.
How I work: ERP & ACT for OCD, Anxiety, and Related Conditions
Therapy is delivered entirely online across Alberta, including for people in rural and remote communities where specialized treatment for these conditions is often unavailable locally, as well as in person in Calgary.
Therapy typically begins with Exposure and Response Prevention (ERP), the gold-standard treatment for OCD and a core evidence-based approach for anxiety disorders, with Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) integrated throughout and cognitive behavioural (CBT) techniques drawn on as needed. This phase is active and skills-based: structured exposures supported by cognitive and acceptance-based techniques, developed in session and practiced between meetings. For related conditions such as skin-picking, hair-pulling, and hoarding, ACT and behavioral techniques such as Habit Reversal Training play a more central role.
In most cases, the early stages of therapy are structured and behaviourally driven: designed to target the core processes that maintain OCD, anxiety, and related conditions, including compulsions, rumination, avoidance, and reassurance-seeking.
Many people choose to conclude therapy once active ERP is complete, or continue with periodic booster sessions as needed. Others move into less structured, more insight-oriented work, particularly when OCD, anxiety, or related conditions have shaped personality over time, contributed to repetitive patterns in relationships, or overlap with other concerns (e.g., depression, addiction, existential concerns) that were already present.
In that work, I draw on contemporary psychodynamic and existential approaches: attending to disavowed emotions, relationship patterns that keep replaying, and the defensive patterns which, though they may have once been adaptive, now narrow someone's capacity to live authentically and fully.
Who I am: Michael Grisonich, Registered Provisional Psychologist
I'm Michael Grisonich, a Registered Provisional Psychologist (P8389) with the College of Alberta Psychologists. I practice under the supervision of Chris Shorrock, R. Psych. (3955).
I hold a Master of Arts in Counselling Psychology from Yorkville University. My specialist training includes Exposure and Response Prevention (ERP) and Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) for OCD and anxiety disorders through the Cognitive Behavior Institute, along with short-term dynamic psychotherapy training through ASADIS.
Alongside a group of talented psychologists and therapists, I practice out of Carbon Psychology in the Mission neighbourhood of Calgary.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is ERP therapy?
Exposure and Response Prevention (ERP) is a structured, research-backed form of cognitive behavioural therapy for OCD. It involves gradually facing feared thoughts, situations, or images while resisting the urge to perform compulsions, which reduces OCD's hold over time. It's considered the gold-standard treatment for OCD.
What is ACT therapy?
Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) helps you make room for difficult thoughts and feelings instead of fighting them, and take action aligned with what matters to you even when anxiety or intrusive thoughts are present. It's integrated throughout treatment alongside ERP.
Is OCD treatable?
Yes. OCD is one of the most misunderstood but also most treatable mental health conditions when treated with ERP. Most people see meaningful symptom reduction within a structured course of treatment.
Do you treat panic attacks or agoraphobia?
Yes. Panic disorder and agoraphobia are treated using exposure-based therapy, the same evidence-based family of approaches used for OCD, adapted specifically to target panic-related triggers and avoidance, combined with ACT to change the relationship with the physical sensations of panic itself.
Do you treat conditions related to OCD, like skin-picking or hoarding?
Yes. Alongside OCD and anxiety disorders, treatment is also available for excoriation (skin-picking) disorder, trichotillomania (hair-pulling), hoarding disorder, and body dysmorphic disorder (BDD), using ACT and behavioral techniques such as Habit Reversal Training.
Do you offer online therapy across all of Alberta?
Yes, and it's the primary way this practice delivers therapy. As a Registered Provisional Psychologist practicing in Alberta, sessions are provided by secure video anywhere in the province, including Edmonton, Red Deer, Lethbridge, Grande Prairie, and Medicine Hat, with in-person sessions also available in Calgary. Research on telehealth-delivered ERP, including studies published in the Journal of Medical Internet Research, has found it produces meaningful symptom improvement comparable to in-person treatment, extending specialized OCD and anxiety care to people who would otherwise have no local access to it.
Can I get specialized OCD or anxiety treatment if I live in a small town or rural area of Alberta?
Yes. Because sessions are delivered by secure video, location isn't a barrier. This matters especially for OCD and anxiety specifically, since specialized, ERP-trained treatment is concentrated in major cities and often unavailable locally in smaller Alberta communities.
Is therapy covered by insurance in Alberta?
Registered psychologist services are private pay and not covered by Alberta Health Care, but many extended health benefits plans include coverage for psychology. A receipt is provided after each session for reimbursement.
How is this different from general counseling?
This is a specialized, condition-focused practice rather than general talk therapy. Treatment for OCD, anxiety, and related conditions follows a structured, evidence-based protocol built around ERP and ACT, rather than open-ended supportive counseling.
How do I get started?
Book a free 15-minute consultation call, by phone or video, to talk through what you're experiencing and see if this is the right fit. Because fit matters, it's worth speaking with a few therapists before deciding where to start.
I offer 15-minute consultation calls, by phone or video, to discuss your reasons for considering therapy and answer any questions you have. These calls are also a chance to get a sense of whether we'd work well together — and because fit matters, I always encourage people to speak with a few therapists before choosing where to start.
Interested in beginning therapy?
Have a question, or wish to refer a client to me?
Reach out by email and I’ll do my best to respond within two business days.