Wendy Durant

Cognitive Behavioral (CBT)

Cognitive Behavioral Therapy is one of the primary approaches I use in my practice. I have more than two decades of experience using CBT to help individuals who are navigating anxiety, obsessive compulsive disorder, trauma related stress, depression, and life stressors. CBT helps clients understand how thoughts, emotions, and behaviors are connected, and how these patterns can sometimes keep us feeling stuck or overwhelmed. In our work together, we gently explore the thinking patterns that may be contributing to distress and learn practical ways to shift those patterns. Clients often find relief in understanding how their mind works and discovering tools that help them respond to challenges with greater clarity and confidence. I also incorporate behavioral strategies such as skill practice and gradual exposure to feared situations. For individuals experiencing OCD or anxiety, CBT is often integrated with Exposure and Response Prevention to help reduce avoidance and compulsive behaviors. This process helps clients build resilience, tolerate uncertainty, and regain a greater sense of freedom in their daily lives.

Sex Therapy

Sex therapy is one of the areas I specialize in within my practice. I work with individuals and couples who want support navigating concerns related to intimacy, sexual functioning, desire differences, identity, or relationship dynamics. My goal is to create a safe, respectful, and nonjudgmental space where clients can talk openly about topics that are often difficult to discuss elsewhere. Many people come to therapy carrying shame, confusion, or anxiety around sexual concerns, and an important first step is helping normalize these experiences while providing clear, supportive guidance around sexual health and intimacy. My approach is integrative and draws from Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, attachment and relationship focused frameworks, and mindfulness based strategies. Together we explore the beliefs, past experiences, and expectations that may influence a person’s relationship with sexuality. Clients often find it helpful to better understand how thoughts, anxiety, or pressure can affect intimacy and to learn practical ways to approach these experiences with greater confidence and self compassion. When working with couples, we often focus on strengthening communication, increasing emotional safety, and helping partners better understand one another’s needs, boundaries, and desires. I guide couples in having open conversations about intimacy and navigating differences in desire in ways that foster connection rather than conflict. I also support individuals who are working through compulsive sexual behaviors or concerns related to sex addiction. In these situations, therapy focuses on understanding patterns, developing healthier coping strategies, and rebuilding a more balanced and intentional relationship with intimacy and sexuality. Throughout this work I maintain a sex positive, trauma informed perspective that honors each client’s values, identity, and comfort level. My goal is to help people develop a healthier relationship with their sexuality, reduce distress around intimacy, and build deeper connection and satisfaction in their relationships.

Exposure Response Prevention (ERP)

Exposure and Response Prevention is a central treatment approach in my work with individuals experiencing obsessive compulsive disorder and related anxiety disorders. I have extensive experience implementing ERP in telehealth and outpatient settings, helping clients gradually confront intrusive thoughts, feared situations, and uncertainty while reducing compulsive behaviors that maintain the anxiety cycle. ERP is widely recognized as the gold standard behavioral treatment for OCD, and it is a core component of the work I provide to clients who struggle with obsessions, compulsions, avoidance, and reassurance seeking. In my practice, I begin by helping clients develop a clear understanding of how OCD operates. Many individuals initially believe that their intrusive thoughts are dangerous or meaningful, which increases anxiety and fuels compulsive responses. Through psychoeducation, we explore the OCD cycle and identify how attempts to neutralize or avoid distress often reinforce the problem over time. This foundational understanding helps clients approach exposure work with greater confidence and motivation. Once we have established a shared understanding of the OCD cycle, I collaborate with clients to develop a personalized exposure hierarchy. Together we identify triggers, feared outcomes, and compulsive responses, then organize exposures from lower intensity situations to more challenging ones. Exposures may involve confronting feared thoughts, images, situations, or uncertainty while intentionally refraining from compulsive behaviors such as checking, reassurance seeking, mental rituals, or avoidance. I guide clients through these exercises in a structured and supportive way so they can learn through experience that anxiety naturally rises and falls without the need for compulsive relief. Response prevention is equally important in this process. Clients learn to notice urges to perform compulsions and practice allowing those urges to pass without acting on them. Over time this helps retrain the brain to tolerate uncertainty and reduces the perceived threat associated with intrusive thoughts. I emphasize that the goal of ERP is not to eliminate intrusive thoughts entirely, but to change the client’s relationship with those thoughts so they no longer dictate behavior or create significant distress. In addition to structured exposures during sessions, I support clients in practicing ERP strategies in their daily environments. Homework assignments and real world exposure exercises are integrated into treatment so clients can apply what they learn outside the therapy session. This helps build confidence and reinforces long term behavioral change. While ERP remains the primary intervention, I often integrate principles from Acceptance and Commitment Therapy and mindfulness based approaches to help clients develop a more flexible and compassionate relationship with uncertainty and intrusive thoughts. This integrative approach allows clients to strengthen psychological flexibility while continuing to practice exposure and response prevention. Overall, my goal in using ERP is to help clients regain freedom from the restrictive patterns created by OCD. Through repeated exposure and consistent response prevention, clients learn that they can tolerate discomfort, disengage from compulsions, and move toward a life guided by their values rather than fear.

Person-centered (Rogerian)

Person centered therapy is a foundational approach that informs the way I engage with clients across all areas of my clinical practice. My work is grounded in the belief that individuals possess an inherent capacity for growth, insight, and change when they are provided with a safe, supportive, and nonjudgmental therapeutic environment. I draw from the principles of person centered therapy to create a space where clients feel genuinely heard, respected, and understood as they explore their thoughts, emotions, and experiences. In practice, this approach begins with establishing a strong therapeutic alliance built on empathy, authenticity, and unconditional positive regard. I strive to meet clients where they are without imposing assumptions or judgment. Many individuals come to therapy feeling misunderstood, ashamed, or uncertain about how to articulate their experiences. Through reflective listening and careful attention to their perspective, I help clients clarify their feelings and gain deeper awareness of the patterns influencing their lives. Person centered therapy is particularly valuable when clients are navigating identity development, relationship challenges, trauma, or life transitions. In these situations, clients often benefit from a therapeutic space that prioritizes their autonomy and personal meaning making. Rather than directing the conversation toward predetermined outcomes, I support clients in identifying what matters most to them and discovering their own path toward healing and growth. While my practice integrates several evidence based modalities, the person centered framework remains the foundation of how I approach therapy. Even when using more structured methods such as cognitive behavioral therapy or exposure and response prevention, I maintain a collaborative stance that respects the client’s lived experience and pace of change. This balance allows clients to engage in skill development and behavioral change while still feeling supported and empowered within the therapeutic process. Overall, person centered therapy shapes the tone and structure of my work by emphasizing empathy, collaboration, and respect for each client’s unique story. My goal is to foster a therapeutic environment where clients feel safe enough to explore difficult experiences, build self understanding, and develop the confidence to move toward meaningful and lasting change.

Acceptance and commitment (ACT)

Acceptance and Commitment Therapy is an approach that I frequently integrate into my clinical work, particularly with clients experiencing anxiety disorders, obsessive compulsive disorder, trauma related stress, and difficulties with emotional regulation. My experience with ACT involves helping clients develop psychological flexibility so they can respond to challenging thoughts and emotions in ways that support their values and long term wellbeing rather than becoming stuck in avoidance or control strategies. In practice, I introduce ACT by helping clients understand the difference between trying to eliminate uncomfortable internal experiences and learning to relate to them differently. Many individuals arrive in therapy feeling trapped in cycles of overthinking, avoidance, or attempts to control thoughts and emotions that feel overwhelming. Through ACT based interventions, clients learn that distressing thoughts and feelings are a normal part of the human experience and do not have to dictate behavior. A core component of my work involves helping clients develop skills in cognitive defusion. Clients learn to observe thoughts as mental events rather than absolute truths that must be obeyed or solved. This is particularly helpful for individuals who struggle with intrusive thoughts or persistent rumination. By creating space between themselves and their thoughts, clients often experience a reduction in the urgency to react or engage in maladaptive coping behaviors. Mindfulness and present moment awareness are also important aspects of ACT in my practice. I guide clients in developing awareness of their internal experiences without judgment, which helps them remain grounded even when difficult emotions arise. These practices support emotional regulation and allow clients to approach situations with greater clarity and intention. Values exploration is another central element of ACT that I emphasize in treatment. Many clients benefit from identifying what truly matters to them in areas such as relationships, personal growth, health, and purpose. Once these values are clarified, we work collaboratively to identify small, meaningful actions that move them toward the life they want to build, even when uncomfortable thoughts or emotions are present. I often integrate ACT with other evidence based approaches, particularly Exposure and Response Prevention for individuals with obsessive compulsive disorder and cognitive behavioral strategies for anxiety and depression. This integrative approach allows clients to practice exposure to feared situations while also developing acceptance of internal experiences and committing to actions that align with their values. Overall, my goal in using ACT is to help clients shift from struggling against their internal experiences to building a more flexible and meaningful relationship with them. By strengthening psychological flexibility and values driven action, clients are better able to navigate life’s challenges while remaining connected to what is most important to them.