Finding a therapist who understands OCD can be a battle all its own, especially if the high cost of care puts effective treatment out of reach. Mike, a NOCD Therapy Member, shares how he was able to finally access the help he needed and learn to manage OCD.
From a young age, Mike was consumed by obsessive thoughts and compulsions that went far beyond typical worries. As he grew older, his obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) took a toll on his relationships and overall well-being. He was wracked with fears that he might have a serious illness, resorting to compulsions in an attempt to quell his anxiety. His friends and family didn’t understand what he was going through, and Mike felt even more isolated. “It was a confusing time in my life. I was becoming a prisoner in my own mind,” he recalls.
Mike didn’t know it at the time, but the change he needed would be coming soon. Here’s how he regained his life from OCD.
A step forward: learning about ERP
As the OCD cycle increased its hold on Mike’s life, he started to experience intense burnout. He knew he needed help. He began researching OCD, and found the book Brain Lock by Dr. Jeffrey Schwartz, which proved especially helpful in understanding the condition he was living with. Determined to feel better, Mike tried using self-help techniques he’d learned, but he soon recognized that he could only get so far on his own.
Mike learned that there was an effective form of treatment for OCD, and it was backed by decades of research: exposure and response prevention (ERP) therapy. Proven to significantly reduce OCD symptoms for the vast majority of people with OCD, it was exactly what Mike was looking for. But there was one huge problem: the life-changing treatment was prohibitively expensive. Because most trained ERP therapists don’t take insurance, individual sessions cost $350 on average—a price that was well out of Mike’s budget.
Just as he was starting to feel discouraged, Mike found a resource that could make ERP therapy possible without the overwhelming expense—a place where specialized OCD treatment was actually covered by his insurance.
The turning point: finding NOCD
When Mike discovered the NOCD community, he saw others sharing their struggles with OCD and found a true sense of belonging. But these folks weren’t just talking about their symptoms—they were actually learning to manage their OCD with ERP. And they weren’t paying thousands of dollars out-of-pocket for treatment either. They were able to use their health insurance.
Mike booked a free intake call with NOCD and found solutions to two of his major problems. First, that evidence-based OCD treatment was financially attainable; and second, that he was able to be matched with a therapist who truly understood his OCD. “I felt exceptionally unburdened by the weight of wondering when and how I was going to get help,” Mike shares.
NOCD has strong partnerships with many major insurance companies, making ERP therapy affordable and accessible for over two thirds of Americans. This was a game-changer for Mike—he never could have afforded the treatment he needed otherwise. It was with a fresh sense of hope that he shared his insurance info with NOCD, and learned within days that therapy would be covered by his plan.
Though Mike had tried standard talk therapy before, he rarely felt comfortable sharing that he had OCD—therapists never fully grasped what he was going through. But in his very first session with NOCD, he knew that this time it would be different. “Within just a few minutes, I could tell that my therapist knew exactly what I was dealing with and what we needed to do,” he explains.
After Mike completed his first session, he appreciated how transparent everything was in the NOCD app: “It just told me directly: ‘You owe a $45 copay.’ I could even set up automatic payments.” The nagging worry about affording effective treatment finally eased off—Mike could focus fully on working with his therapist and getting better, one day at a time.
Now five years later, Mike is in the maintenance stage of his recovery, using the skills he gained in NOCD Therapy to manage his symptoms. OCD is no longer in control of Mike’s life—he is.
What is a copay?
- When you use insurance to pay for care, you usually have to pay out of pocket until you meet your deductible—this can vary widely depending on your specific plan.
- Once you meet your deductible, you often only pay a specific amount per therapy session, known as a copay.
- On average, NOCD Therapy members using insurance pay a copay between $0 and $50 per session—this varies depending on your individual plan.
Spreading hope for the OCD community
Sadly, Mike’s struggle to find specialized therapy for OCD at an affordable price is familiar to many others. Living with OCD is stressful enough on its own—when you add the financial strain of treatment costs, along with the difficulty of finding therapists with the training needed to treat OCD, it can feel impossible to overcome.
Being able to pay for ERP therapy with health insurance is still quite new for the OCD community—over just the past three years, we’ve built partnerships with many major insurance providers in the US, so people like Mike can focus on their recovery instead of logistical stress. Today, over two in three Americans with commercial insurance can access evidence-based OCD treatment as a covered benefit.
Reflecting on his journey, Mike emphasizes the importance of taking that first step towards getting help, even if it feels overwhelming. “At the bare minimum, just set up one session,” he says. “It’s completely under your autonomy. You can always make your own decisions on what you feel is best.”
How can I tell if I’m able to afford OCD treatment?
At NOCD, we do our best to make therapy costs as clear as possible, but the exact amount you’ll owe depends on the details of your insurance plan. This means we can’t provide anyone with a precise figure until their insurance company processes the bill.
Mike describes the billing process as similar to what you’d experience when visiting your doctor for a checkup. His copay was $45 per session, and he was provided with a clear breakdown of costs. He notes that it took about a month from his first session to receive the bill, which is pretty standard for most healthcare services, though this timeframe can vary based on your insurance provider.
If you’re looking for a clearer idea of what you might owe before starting therapy, book a free 15-minute call with NOCD and we can walk you through how you can get this information from your insurance company. They can provide an estimate based on your specific coverage and benefits. Just keep in mind that this can take some time, so plan ahead if it’s important for you to have all the details sorted before beginning treatment.
Find the right OCD therapist for you
All our therapists are licensed and trained in exposure and response prevention therapy (ERP), the gold standard treatment for OCD.
We’re here to help
We want everyone to have the tools and support they need to conquer OCD, just like Mike did. We are constantly expanding our network of insurance partners to make sure ERP is affordable and accessible to as many people in the OCD community as possible.