Common questions about OCD and anxiety therapy
Answers about getting started, fees, insurance, how long treatment takes and confidentiality. If your question is not here, ask me on the free call.
Before you commit to anything
The free call is where we work out together whether this is the right fit. It costs nothing, and if somewhere else would suit you better, I will say so.
What I treat
OCD and anxiety in adults, teenagers and children, including parent-based work where a child or teenager will not attend. I do not take on depression or behaviour problems as the main difficulty.
The first session and the course of treatment are described on the how I work page. If you are a GP or another clinician, there is a separate page for referrers, and if you are not sure whether what you are experiencing is OCD, the types of OCD page describes the common themes.
Sources for the course-length figures
- National Institute for Health and Care Excellence. Generalised anxiety disorder and panic disorder in adults: management. Clinical guideline CG113 (2011; checked 2020). nice.org.uk/guidance/cg113 (opens in a new tab)
- National Institute for Health and Care Excellence. Social anxiety disorder: recognition, assessment and treatment. Clinical guideline CG159 (2013). nice.org.uk/guidance/cg159 (opens in a new tab)
- National Institute for Health and Care Excellence. Obsessive-compulsive disorder and body dysmorphic disorder: treatment. Clinical guideline CG31 (2005; an update is in development). nice.org.uk/guidance/cg31 (opens in a new tab)
- Pediatric OCD Treatment Study (POTS) Team. (2004). Cognitive-behavior therapy, sertraline, and their combination for children and adolescents with obsessive-compulsive disorder. JAMA, 292(16), 1969-1976. doi.org (opens in a new tab)
- Lebowitz, E. R., Marin, C., Martino, A., Shimshoni, Y., & Silverman, W. K. (2020). Parent-based treatment as efficacious as cognitive-behavioral therapy for childhood anxiety: a randomized noninferiority study of Supportive Parenting for Anxious Childhood Emotions. Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, 59(3), 362-372. doi.org (opens in a new tab)
Common questions
How do I get started?
Email drdannycbt@proton.me or phone or WhatsApp 07455 827405, and say briefly what is going on and whether it is for you or for your child. I will offer you a free call of about 20 minutes, in which you describe what has been happening and I tell you whether this is work I do and roughly how long it tends to take. There is no charge and no obligation, and if I am not the right person I will try to point you towards someone who is.
Do I need a referral from my GP?
No. If you are claiming on private medical insurance, your insurer may want a GP referral before authorising treatment, so check their rules before the first appointment.
What are your fees, and do you take insurance?
Every session is £120 for 60 minutes, and there is nothing to pay up front. I am recognised by BUPA, AXA Health, Aviva, Vitality and WPA. The fees page has the full details, including the cancellation policy.
How long does treatment take?
Treatment is active and time-limited. There is no fixed number. Published guidance gives an idea: NICE describes 12 to 15 weekly sessions for generalised anxiety and 7 to 14 hours in total for panic disorder (CG113), up to 14 sessions for social anxiety (CG159), and more than 10 hours of therapist time for OCD with a moderate impact on daily life (CG31); the largest US trials used 14 sessions for childhood OCD (Pediatric OCD Treatment Study, 2004) and 12 parent sessions for SPACE (Lebowitz and colleagues, 2020). I give you an estimate by the end of the first session, and sometimes further assessment is needed before I can.
What hours do you work?
Weekdays, 9am to 5pm. If you need a late afternoon slot, for example for a child after school, say so when you get in touch.
Is what I say confidential?
Yes, within limits that I set out at the start. I would share information if there were a serious and immediate risk to your life or someone else’s, if I believed a child, or an adult at risk, was suffering or likely to suffer significant harm, or if a court required it, and wherever it is safe to I would tell you first. Where there is a serious and immediate risk I would usually also contact your GP and your emergency contact. If you claim on insurance, your insurer receives limited information such as dates and a broad treatment category. With teenagers, what they tell me is not reported back to parents word for word, but I do share the plan and how it is going. The full list of exceptions is in section 6 of my privacy policy.
Free 20-minute call
Not sure whether this is the right fit?
Start with a free 20-minute call. We talk through what is going on, I answer any questions you have, and I tell you whether I think I can help. If I cannot, I will try to point you to someone who can. The call is free and there is no obligation to book.
Weekdays, 9am to 5pm. No GP referral needed.