If you live with OCD, you probably already know it’s not about being “neat and tidy.” OCD is intrusive thoughts, images, or urges that show up uninvited, followed by compulsions (physical or mental) aimed at making the anxiety go away. It can attach itself to anything: contamination, harm, relationships, sexuality, religion, morality, or just a nagging sense that something is “not right.” For a lot of people, the thoughts themselves feel so out of character or distressing that they don’t tell anyone, which only makes the shame and isolation worse.
What Is I-CBT?
Inference-based cognitive behavioural therapy (I-CBT) is a newer, evidence-based approach to treating OCD. Where traditional CBT and ERP (exposure and response prevention) focus on reducing anxiety through repeated exposure to feared situations, I-CBT takes a different angle: it targets the reasoning process that leads someone to trust an intrusive doubt in the first place.
In OCD, the brain treats a purely imagined possibility as if it were real evidence, a process called an “obsessional doubt.” I-CBT helps you notice when you’ve drifted from the real, sensory world into a hypothetical story, and rebuild trust in your own direct experience instead of the “what if.” For many clients, this feels less confronting than traditional exposure work, because you’re not being asked to sit with distress on purpose. You’re learning to catch the reasoning error earlier, before the anxiety spiral even starts.
What Therapy Looks Like at Unfurl
Sessions are entirely online, so you can work with a psychologist from wherever you are in Australia. We take a neuroaffirming, non-judgemental approach, which means there’s no shock, no moralising, and no need to over-explain or justify your intrusive thoughts before we can get to work. Many of our clients are also autistic, ADHD, or AuDHD, and we tailor the pace and structure of therapy accordingly, because rigid, one-size-fits-all OCD protocols don’t always fit a neurodivergent brain.
Who This Is For
This approach suits Gen Z and Millennial clients looking for a modern, evidence-based alternative (or addition) to traditional ERP, neurodivergent clients who want therapy that adapts to them, and LGBTQIA+ clients who want an affirming space from the first session, with no need to explain or defend who they are.
If intrusive thoughts have been running the show for too long, you don’t have to keep white-knuckling it alone. Have a look at our OCD Therapy service page to see how we can help, or book a session to get started.
