Sam Greenberg, Psy.D.
I became a psychologist because I enjoy philosophy and working with children. It is a happy intersection of both.
Anxiety has always been an area of interest for me. I wanted to know more about it and how to handle it, what the influence of the family was in reducing anxiety or evoking it. OCD, BFRBs, school refusal, and selective mutism were a part of my focus area. I have worked with Dr. Shank and Dr. Labellarte and other OCD experts for over 5 years on hundreds of Anxiety and OCD cases. There are many facets of treating OCD successfully. What works for one client, does not always work for another. One thing I noticed was that cases where the parents and the support system were more involved and educated about anxiety, the client improved and at a faster rate. Even in tough cases. When Supportive Parenting for Anxious Childhood Emotions (SPACE) training became available, I quickly became trained in that approach.
As a group of OCD experts, we have changed our approach to treating OCD based on the research and what we, as providers, have seen. Children and adolescents spend an hour of therapy a week – but consider if the parents can support and affirm that therapy effectively the other (roughly) 60 available/free hours, not only will things change, but the family system will become stronger as a result. Parents don’t find it easy at first, but it is more effective and parents find it more rewarding.
About half of the people I work with have Anxiety, OCD or related challenges. I don’t limit my practice to only Anxiety and OCD. I find that the diversity of treating a variety of different clients helps keep me open to a variety of approaches. Some conditions look like OCD but are often underlying issues of something else.
Being a psychologist is a rewarding career. Many of my most rewarding experiences are those that involve working through OCD – using CBT and other tools – to see people get their lives back on track, build rewarding relationships, and enjoy the everyday moments.