About Aniela Oberle, M.A, LMFT: 

Hi! Thank you for being here. One of the things I love most about treating OCD is helping people discover that they are not their thoughts. I've seen firsthand how convincing intrusive thoughts can feel and how easy it is to mistake them for something meaningful. I also know that recovery doesn't come from proving the thoughts are false, but rather, changing our relationship to them and they anxiety that they cause. 

Research shows that intrusive thoughts are incredibly common. 80% of people experience strange, unwanted, or disturbing thoughts at some point in their lives. The difference is that OCD tells you that you have to figure the thought out, make sure it isn't true, find certainty, protect yourself/the people you love, or somehow prove that you're still a good person.

I've seen how exhausting that cycle can become and I've also seen how life-changing it can be when people learn that they don't have to keep fighting with their own minds.

What I believe: 

• Your thoughts do not define your character, make you a bad person, or diminish your worth or values.

• Compulsions do not mean you're "crazy."

• You are stronger than OCD tells you.

• You can learn to trust yourself again.

• Anxiety can exist without controlling your choices or your life. 

My Goals: 

• Facilitate healing through helping you change your relationship to uncertainty and the parts of you that feel difficult to accept.

• Help you build enough confidence that intrusive thoughts/compulsions no longer control your life.

Why a Specialized Approach?:

Before specializing in OCD, much of my work as a therapist focused on trauma, anxiety, and relationship patterns. That experience continues to shape how I practice today.

I know that many people with OCD also carry experiences that influenced how they learned to relate to fear, uncertainty, responsibility, or safety, such as trauma, depression, relationship issues, etc. While treating OCD requires specialized methods like ERP, I believe it's equally important to understand the whole person sitting with me in the (virtual) therapy room. I believe in understanding and addressing all of the parts/complexities of my clients and figuring out a therapy plan that works best for them.

My Background:

After receiving my master's degree in counseling psychology, I completed my clinical work in an intensive outpatient and partial hospitalization setting, where I supported adults and teens working through PTSD, depression, anxiety, suicidality, self-harm, OCD, and substance use. 

Before becoming a therapist, I spent many years working as a yoga and meditation teacher and leading creative mindfulness workshops. I have always felt purpose in helping people reconnect with themselves and creating/facilitating spaces where they can do their own healing work. My hope is that in our work together, I can provide the same for you. 

What clients can expect from our work together:

I’m passionate about helping my clients achieve:

• A healthier relationship with intrusive thoughts/obsessions

• Tools for management of compulsions/rituals 

• Greater tolerance and acceptance of anxiety 

• Greater self-confidence, self-trust, and self-compassion

• The ability to stop organizing life around anxiety and start doing more of what matters most to them.

• Greater understanding, examination and healing of beliefs and experiences that tend to get fused with or exacerbated by OCD. 

• More clarity around what they're experiencing: i.e - "is this anxiety, OCD, or something else?"

Who I work best with:

Many of my clients are working professionals, graduate students, healthcare workers, mothers, creatives, and emotionally sensitive women balancing demanding careers and home lives.