Lindsay Saunders, MPsy., RP (Qualifying)

I provide individual therapy to children, adolescents, and adults. I specialize in obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) and anxiety disorders such as social anxiety, panic disorder, and generalized anxiety disorder (GAD), as well as specific phobias such as agoraphobia and emetophobia.

I also work with depression, body-focused repetitive behaviours (BFRBs, such as Trichotillomania (hair-pulling) and Excoriation (skin-picking)), body dysmorphic disorder (BDD), misophonia, trauma, perfectionism, people pleasing tendencies, low self-esteem, managing stress, grief and loss, relationship issues, and dealing with life transitions. I have experience in working with people with Autism, Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) and disordered eating.

I have experience in working with a variety of OCD themes, such as:

• Harm OCD

• Moral scrupulosity OCD

• Relationship OCD (ROCD)

• Existential OCD

• Contamination OCD

• False-memory OCD

• Real event OCD

• Just-right OCD

• Religious OCD

• Sexual orientation (SO-HOCD or HOCD)

• Meta OCD

• Sensorimotor/ hyperawareness OCD

• POCD

• Health/illness anxiety

• Perinatal OCD

• Suicidal OCD

• Hit-and-run OCD

• Staring OCD

I treat all types of intrusive thoughts, obsessions, and fears, such as disgust OCD, compulsive speech OCD, incel OCD, the fear of losing your mind or going crazy, the fear of losing things, the fear of forgetting/hoarding memories, the fear of getting pregnant, the fear of impregnating someone, superstitious-related OCD, and visual Tourettic OCD (VT-OCD or TOCD), and all other OCD presentations.

I have received specialized training in various therapeutic methods, including Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT), Exposure and Response Prevention (ERP), and Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT). I utilize Habit Reversal Training (HRT), Comprehensive Model for Behavioural Treatment (ComB) and Dialectical Behavioural Therapy (DBT). I integrate key principles and techniques from Internal Family Systems (IFS) – and when needed, to compliment and help facilitate learning, I may engage in art and play within the therapy process.

I am certified in Supportive Parenting for Anxious Childhood Emotions (commonly referred to as SPACE), a parent-based treatment designed to help children and adolescents with anxiety disorders, OCD and related problems (such as Avoidance/Restrictive Food Intake Disorder (AFRID), and Failure to Launch syndrome).

The aim of SPACE treatment is to empower parents and caregivers to effectively respond to their child’s anxiety - while also promoting autonomy and independence, and fostering a sense of accomplishment in the child. I work with parents, helping them understanding how their behaviours (specifically providing the child accommodations) may be fueling the struggles – and I work with parents on modifying their behaviours, through responding more supportively, as we work on reducing and eliminating the accommodations that some parents may have been making in response to their child’s anxiety symptoms.

Unlike traditional therapy models where the child is the primary focus, SPACE treatment is designed to be exclusively parent-based. I work solely with the parents or caregivers, which allows treatment to be delivered without the need for a child/adolescent collaboration.