Research shows it can take an average of 11 years to get a correct diagnosis for Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder. Many people with OCD are misdiagnosed with “generalized anxiety,” but the conditions are not the same and require different treatment.
Standard talk therapy can often make OCD symptoms worse, or fail to help address the core issues.
At Level Up Wellness Group, we understand that to move into remission, OCD requires evidence-based treatment from a specialist. Multiple systematic reviews and meta-analyses confirm that Exposure and Response Prevention (ERP) is the highly effective, first-line treatment for OCD, with durable long-term outcomes (McKay et al., 2015; Song et al., 2022; Franklin & Foa, 2011).
Our team, led by Dr. Melody Morin, provides expert, evidence-based care to help you recalibrate your brain’s alarm system. We work with you as a coach, using the gold-standard Yale-Brown Obsessive Compulsive Scale (Y-BOCS) for assessment and tracking, and helping you get “unstuck” so you can live a life guided by your values, not by your anxiety.
If your child has obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), we will also look at how the family may be accommodating or adjusting to the child’s symptoms and questionnaires will be sent out to assess this. Research shows that when families accommodate OCD behaviors a lot, it can increase difficulties and challenges for both the child and the family. The parent must be a part of treatment so we can address the parenting accommodation, which is key for treatment success
Other questionnaires will be provided on an as needed basis to assess anxiety and depression which commonly occurs with more severe forms of obsessive-compulsive disorder.
Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD) is a mental health condition marked by unwanted, intrusive thoughts (obsessions) and repetitive behaviors or mental rituals (compulsions) meant to reduce anxiety. These patterns can be distressing, time-consuming, and difficult to control without support.
Intrusive thoughts, images, and urges can trigger intense shame and guilt, especially if they are of a violent, sexual, or religious nature. Many people with OCD worry that having these thoughts means something is “wrong” with them, which makes them question their character and whether they are a good person.
The truth is that intrusive thoughts are normal brain activity. Everyone has them. OCD exaggerates these thoughts, making them feel threatening and unacceptable, which fuels the cycle of distress and compulsions.
Your specialist will support you in separating these unwanted thoughts from who you are as a person. Our office is a safe, non-judgmental space to say your thoughts out loud, often for the first time.
As specialists, we are transparent about the realities of treatment. While multiple large-scale reviews confirm ERP is a first-line therapy (Ferrando & Selai, 2021; Reid et al., 2021), we also know that about half of patients do not achieve full remission and that dropout rates can be a concern (Law & Boisseau, 2019; Exner et al., 2024).
This doesn’t mean ERP doesn’t work. It means how it’s delivered, and by whom, is critical.
This is why a specialist is necessary. Treatment requires more than just a protocol; it requires a clinician who can adapt the principles of ERP to you, build a deep trusting relationship, and navigate the complex cases that our clinic focuses on. Our team members have advanced training from bodies like the Behaviour Therapy Training Institute (BTTI) to ensure we are delivering this care effectively.
Nurse Practitioner
PANDAS/PANS
Primary Care Nurse Practitioner with over 15 years of experience caring for patients of all ages. She has a special interest in helping families navigate complex concerns related to PANS and PANDAS, conditions that are often misunderstood or misdiagnosed.
Nurse Practitioner
Mental Health & Addictions
Nurse Practitioner and Registered Counselling Therapist with over 25 years of diverse experience ranging from primary care to remote rural health. She currently sub-specializes in mental health and addiction medicine, focusing on patients facing complex physical and psychological challenges.
Registered Provisional Psychologist
Supporting Children, Families & Athletes Through Life's Challenges
She applies psychological principles to help individuals excel in high-pressure environments, from sports to professional settings. Her focus is on building mental toughness and optimizing performance.
Canadian Certified Counsellor
OCD, Neurodiversity & ADHD Support
She offers a warm and supportive environment for clients to explore their concerns and develop practical coping strategies. Her goal is to empower individuals to achieve greater well-being and personal growth.
Child Therapy Lead, Registered Social Worker
Nurturing Through Play Therapy & Parent Coaching
As the Child Therapy Lead, she is passionately dedicated to the mental health and well-being of young children. Her expertise lies in early intervention and creating a nurturing therapeutic experience for the youngest clients.
CEO & Founder | Registered Psychologist
Complex Mental Health for Teens & Adults
Waitlisting Therapy Clients | Accepting Assessments
As the founder and clinical director, she provides expert diagnostic assessments for complex cases.
Exposure and Response Prevention (ERP) is the gold-standard, evidence-based treatment for OCD. We understand the name can sound intimidating, so here’s a simpler way to think about it:
Think of your brain like a smoke alarm that’s gotten too sensitive. It goes off even when you’re just making toast. ERP helps us work together to recalibrate that alarm so it only sounds when there’s a real danger.
ERP has two essential parts:
Facing the fear alone isn’t enough; you must also resist the urge to escape or use safety behaviors. That powerful combination is what allows your brain to learn that the anxiety will naturally decrease and that you don’t need the ritual to stay safe. This is what recalibrates the alarm.
Compulsions are often misunderstood. They aren’t just visible actions; they can be mental rituals, avoidance, or reassurance-seeking. Our team is trained to identify all four types:
Some people hear about “Pure O,” which is described as OCD with only intrusive thoughts (obsessions) and no visible compulsions.
Experts in the field debate whether “Pure O” truly exists, because in almost all cases, the person is actually performing mental compulsions. These are internal habits we do to try to reduce anxiety, even if no one else can see them.
The first step to managing mental compulsions is becoming aware of when they happen. Once you can notice them, you can start practicing response prevention—resisting the urge to do the mental ritual (like replaying a conversation) while allowing the feared thought to just be there. Over time, this helps your brain learn that the anxiety will naturally decrease on its own.
While ERP is the core of our treatment, we integrate other evidence-based modalities to support your journey. Recent reviews (Faustino et al., 2025; Twohig et al., 2018) note that adding other therapies like ACT or Mindfulness doesn’t consistently outperform standard ERP.
Therefore, we don’t use these to replace ERP. We use them as an essential toolkit to support your ability to engage with ERP, which can be challenging.
This is the primary engine of change. It’s the “how-to” of recalibrating the brain’s alarm system and breaking the cycle of obsessions and compulsions. This is the only gold standard to support effective treatment of OCD.
ACT is used to support ERP by helping you change your relationship with your thoughts. It teaches you how to accept the presence of an intrusive thought or urge without engaging with it, allowing it to pass without needing to perform a compulsion.
In the context of OCD, CBT is used to support ERP by challenging the “core beliefs” that OCD latches onto. This can include addressing an inflated sense of responsibility, perfectionism, or an intolerance for uncertainty.
We use mindfulness skills to help you learn to observe your thoughts as “brain noise” or “brain static” rather than as important facts that you must act on. This helps you disengage from the thoughts and let them go.
DBT may be integrated into our treatment toolbox to support your capacity for emotional regulation and distress tolerance, which are essential for successful Exposure and Response Prevention (ERP)
This is the most critical part of our practice. Major systematic reviews on ERP explicitly note a lack of research on complex cases involving comorbid ADHD, Autism, or PANDAS/PANS.
This is where clinical expertise, not just academic protocol, becomes essential. Our team is specifically trained to navigate these complex, overlapping presentations where standard protocols may fail.
Meta-analyses (Mao et al., 2022) show that ERP combined with pharmacotherapy (like SSRIs) is more effective than medication alone and leads to better maintenance of gains.
Our therapists and medical team work together to ensure your care plan is connected, not fragmented. For moderate to severe OCD, we may not start ERP until medication is integrated to help support your emotional regulation. Our Nurse Practitioner, Allie Kusnierczyk, also provides integrative support, which may include supplements like N-acetyl cysteine (NAC) or magnesium. While systematic reviews note a lack of evidence for NAC as an adjunct to ERP, it is part of our evidence-informed clinical approach to treat the whole person.
Our team’s advanced training also allows us to effectively treat “OCD-Related Disorders,” which share similar compulsive features. These include:
Systematic reviews confirm there is no established research for treating OCD with comorbid ADHD. This is where our clinical expertise is paramount. Our team is trained to assess these overlapping presentations, which can feature more impulsivity or hoarding compulsions, and develop an integrated treatment plan that addresses both conditions. We will take an approach that is based on your needs and how these two diagnoses may be impacting your life.
Evidence for ERP in Autistic clients is limited, but growing. The key is modifying the protocol. A Cochrane review (Elliott et al., 2021) and other studies (Kose et al., 2017) highlight the need for adaptations, which our team is trained to provide:
PANDAS/PANS can mimic OCD but are distinguished by an acute onset, association with infection, and additional symptoms like separation anxiety, irritability, and emotional lability (Łojek & Rzeszutek, 2025). Clinical guidelines (Jaspers-Fayer et al., 2017) recommend routine screening for this, as the management implications are different. Our medical team has a process in place to investigate this, including lab testing and referrals, and will work with your therapist to adjust the treatment plan for these complex cases.
CEO & Founder | Registered Psychologist
Complex Mental Health for Teens & Adults
Waitlisting Therapy Clients | Accepting Assessments
As the founder and clinical director, she provides expert diagnostic assessments for complex cases.
Registered Provisional Psychologist
Guiding Youth & Young Adults Through Anxiety, Stress & Life Transitions
She creates a safe and engaging space for young people to navigate the challenges of adolescence and young adulthood. Her practice is centered on building resilience and fostering self-understanding in her clients.
Canadian Certified Counsellor
OCD, Neurodiversity & ADHD Support
She offers a warm and supportive environment for clients to explore their concerns and develop practical coping strategies. Her goal is to empower individuals to achieve greater well-being and personal growth.
Child Therapy Lead, Registered Social Worker
Nurturing Through Play Therapy & Parent Coaching
As the Child Therapy Lead, she is passionately dedicated to the mental health and well-being of young children. Her expertise lies in early intervention and creating a nurturing therapeutic experience for the youngest clients.
Registered Psychologist
Guiding Youth & Adults Through Anxiety, Trauma & Addictions
She offers both therapeutic support and formal assessments, providing a versatile and integrated approach to care. While her therapy services are currently waitlisted, she remains available for new assessment clients.
Yes! Many of our therapists are covered by Alberta Blue Cross, Greenshield, SunLife, and other major providers. We also offer direct billing whenever possible.
This depends on your goals and severity of symptoms. Many clients notice improvement after 6–12 sessions with ERP or CBT, but we tailor your plan together.
Absolutely. Virtual therapy is just as effective for OCD when provided by a trained professional. You can do sessions from the comfort of home anywhere in Canada.
Intrusive thoughts do not define who you are. They are normal brain activity. OCD exaggerates these thoughts, making them feel threatening and unacceptable, which fuels a cycle of distress and shame. Many people with OCD worry that having these thoughts means they are a “bad person,” but this is a distortion caused by the disorder. Our specialists will support you in separating these unwanted thoughts from your character and values.
Yes, ERP is challenging and can feel scary. That is why a trusting relationship with your specialist is the key to success. We will never make you do something you haven’t agreed to. You are in control. We work with you to create a hierarchy, and together we decide when to “dial up” the challenge (when it feels too easy) or “dial it down” (if it feels too overwhelming).
This depends on the severity of your OCD and your commitment to the process. To see results, you must do the homework that is assigned, and you must do it daily. For mild to moderate OCD, many guidelines recommend starting with low-intensity ERP is 8-20 treatment sessions. (). For moderate-to-severe cases, a combined approach of ERP plus an SSRI is often recommended (Mao et al., 2022). Your specialist will develop a plan for you. A day-program for moderate to severe OCD is typically 2+ hours of session per week plus homework over 4-8 weeks.
Yes, a formal assessment is very helpful. OCD is frequently misdiagnosed as “generalized anxiety,” but general counselling is often not effective for OCD and can sometimes make it worse. A formal assessment, often using the gold-standard Y-BOCS, ensures you receive the right, evidence-based treatment (ERP) tailored to your specific symptoms.
